Mrs Rogers' Weekly Words Lent 6

The rule of eight, ably presented by Ed, Emma and Anna in our photo of the week. In the immortal words of Evelyn Knight (and the Ray Charles singers) 'Lucky, lucky, lucky me - I work eight hours, and sleep eight hours. That leaves eight hours for fun!' This has become our Sixth Form students anthem over the past couple of weeks as they step up to the February half term nine day challenge!

With mock exams straight after half term I am confident students will adopt the routine suggested, ensuring they do not try to complete eight consecutive hours of smart, targeted revision but break up their study sessions with regular breaks and physical exercise. Year 12 and Year 13 students have their mock timetables and the wonderful Mrs Hall went through exam procedure today, reminding them to be in school no later than 8.45am (our normal expectation anyway) to ensure they are calm before starting their papers. Mrs Hall has also sent the relevant information to each student via their email account, so they can check the details again.

Year 13 students have also been issued with their personal exam schedule for the external series starting in May. They are very clear that these must be checked for any clashes and then kept safely at home - perhaps a photo of it on their mobile phone could be a useful back up plan. Technology does have plenty of positive uses!

Benjamin Franklin's famous words remain apt - 'If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.' Revision timetables are in place, now students need to stick to their schedule and tick off tasks as they go, either on the Adapt App they can access for free on their mobile phones or on their paper versions. When a student adheres to the plans they have made they will enjoy strong performances in their exams, achieving positive outcomes. My top tip during the recent series of revision based lunchtime workshops I have been running was to repeat a question or past paper three times; once with all the notes available, creating model answers, secondly just from recall and finally against the clock. Top performing A Level students across the country confirm this, along with collaborating with their teachers for support is the major reason for their success.

Wishing you and all our students a refreshing and productive break.