Top 10 tips to support your child through their exams
Preparing for and sitting exams can be very stressful for everyone in the family. As a parent you can really help your children through this time, just by being there for them and encouraging them to talk about their feelings and fears. Here are a few ideas to make exam time more bearable! Staying Calm, Feeling Good, Being Effective
How Can You Help Your Child and Prepare Them to Perform?
Every day you can support your child to make choices which can impact how they perform during the exam period
- Being a role model
- Help them set goals
- Keep them active
- Healthy eating
- Time out
- Sleep patterns
- Unplugging
- Staying cool & calm
- Belief
- Be supportive
Role Model
Set a good example by modelling the behaviour you want your child to adopt…
- Planning for the week
- Eating healthily and well
- Keeping hydrated
- Leading an active life
- Staying calm
- Being organised
- Good sleep habits
Goal Setting
Encourage them to keep their goals planner visible – e.g. printed and displayed on their bedroom wall Help focus them and talk to them about their goals regularly
Give positive reinforcement
Connect with them about ‘why’ and ‘what’ they want to achieve
Active
Encourage them to keep active on a daily basis
Carry out exercise in manageable chunks e.g. 3 x 20 min sessions throughout the day
Plan to do active things together on a weekend
Go out for a walk together and get some fresh air
Help them plan out their weekly exercise schedule in advance
After exercise your brain functions well, so encourage a revision session afterwards
Healthy Eating
Hydration is key to brain functioning so make sure your child carries a bottle of water with them
Eating the right food and drink can energise your system, improve alertness and sustain your child through the long exams
Plan your family meals for the week – breakfast, snacks, lunches and evening meals
Carry out a weekly food shop and make sure you write a list
Avoid high sugary and fatty foods or drinks
Aim to eat clean, fresh and healthy foods
Have a couple or ‘treat’ meals / or meals out per week
Use the Mark Lloyd recipes and meal planner as guidance
Encourage them to eat breakfast everyday
Time Out
Encourage them to build in opportunities to take some time out every week, away from study. For example:
- Going out for food
- Seeing friends
- Having a bath
- Listening to music
- Reading a book
- Doing a hobby
- Going shopping
- Going to the cinema
Sleep Patterns
Young people need between 8 – 9 hours sleep per night
Help your child create a relaxing evening routine
Make sure they don’t eat too late at night
Avoid giving them caffeine or sugary drinks late at night
Make sure they don’t work or revise too late before going to bed
Encourage them to switch off from social media / technology at least an hour before bedtime
Unplugging
Encourage them to unplug from technology everyday
Help them switch off from technology at least 30 mins- 1 hr before going to sleep
Support your child to appreciate the world around them rather than being governed by their phone
Make sure they put their phone away, & on silent, while they are concentrating on tasks / revision / homework
Help them learn to have the control to not be obsessed with their phone
Choose some time each day/week to switch off and unplug from technology with them
Staying Cool & Calm
Set a good example by staying calm yourself
Create a relaxing environment for your child
Help them plan out coping strategies to deal with their stress
Give them positive distractions away from studying
Help them understand their stress & to focus on controlling the controllable
Promote a balance of their academic studies & other activities during the week
Belief
Give them the belief in themselves to help them achieve
Give them positive reinforcement
Boost their confidence daily
Celebrate any successes and reward them e.g. if they have achieved their mini-goals
Try not to set your expectations too high
Show them how proud of them you are
Highlight things to make them feel good
Be Supportive
Just be there for them
Be a good listener
Be approachable
Encourage them to take breaks in between revision
Show some understanding of what they are going through
Help them deal with their emotions & feelings
Offer caring advice
Exam Information
Please see below for information regarding our internal and external examinations here at Handsworth Grange Community Sports College.
Exam Board Information/websites:
- AQA - www.aqa.org.uk
- Edexcel - www.edexcel.com
- OCR - www.ocr.org.uk
- WJEC - www.wjec.co.uk
Year 11 Intervention Timetable
Week x
- Monday - Science (Biology/Chemistry/Physics)
- Tuesday - Option Block A
- Wednesday - Option Block B
- Thursday - Maths
- Friday - Options
Week y
- Monday - Science (Biology/Chemistry/Physics)
- Tuesday - Option Block C
- Wednesday - Option Block D
- Thursday - English
- Friday - Options
Intervention runs on a two week rotating timetable – detailed below
Science, English and maths run regular intervention on the given dates (unless communicated otherwise to pupils) and cover key topics that are advertised to pupils in-school
Option subjects follow a blocking system – subject teachers will communicate to pupils when interventions run and who should attend
Science and maths run additional morning intervention sessions but these are by invite only – if a pupil is invited it is vital that they attend
- Week x - 8 January
- Week y - 15 January
- Week x - 22 January
- Week y - 29 January
- Week x - 5 February
- Week y - 12 February
- Week x - 26 February
- Week y - 5 March (trial exam week)
- Week x - 12 March
- Week y - 19 March
- Week x - 26 March
- Week y - 16 April
- Week x - 23 April
- Week y - 30 April
We operate exams for all year groups in the same way in order to make every student clear about our expectations whether these are 'internal' or 'external' examinations.
Please find below a list of up to date information pages regarding examination procedures at Handsworth Grange Community Sports College: