What others might refer to as ‘holidays’ is actually an invaluable opportunity for Year 12s to fine-tune knowledge and techniques that will make a real difference during exams.
Exam revision packs are one of the useful tools that teachers will have provided. Practising ‘remembering’ is the most effective way of being sure that you CAN actually recall vital details.
Students are also encouraged to practice individual exams under the same conditions as the formal exam. So, if your English exam is at 9 am on a Tuesday morning, then do your English exam reviews at 9 am on Tuesdays. Strange though this may seem, it will help to best set you up psychologically and physiologically for the main event.
Have a look at these excerpts from articles from the UK’s Guardian Newspaper:
Effort, not flow
… when revising, you have to focus on the things you know least well, not the things you know best. You should study for an exam by testing yourself at writing full answers in exam conditions
Unfortunately, it’s far more satisfying to revise what we know, since this triggers a rewarding sense of familiarity, rather than focus on our weaknesses…
Revision shouldn’t be for reassuring yourself about what you know, it needs to be the deliberate effort to identify what you don’t.
Practise output, not input
… it may feel good to get completely familiar with the material before practising writing answers, but it omits from our study practice the exact skill we are marked on. You wouldn’t practise for a tennis match by never playing tennis, and you shouldn’t study for an exam by never testing yourself on writing full answers in exam conditions. For any test, we need to rehearse exactly the thing we’ll be required to do.
… we all share a tendency to put in the least effort when we study, and rely on feelings of familiarity, which aren’t a good guide to learning, can help transform how you use them.
Depressing as it sounds, it could help to know that if you always enjoy revising, you’re probably doing it wrong. It’s meant to be hard.
The Wellbeing Team also offers the following websites with tips for managing exam stress….
Students
https://au.reachout.com/everyday-issues/exam-stress
https://au.reachout.com/articles/how-to-manage-your-time
https://au.reachout.com/articles/5-steps-to-study-success
Parents
