60 Days to GCSE Success

By Tim Matthews

Facing up to GCSE exams is a tough time for both students and parents! The examination system in the UK is very different to the experience most parents had growing up. This book aims to pull together evidence based strategies that are proven to have impact and improve attainment and progress. Students want to do well for numerous reasons - in over twenty years of teaching I have yet to meet a single student that deep down doesn’t want to do well. Often the difference between getting grades that open doors to wider choices and grades that don’t isn’t down to the capacity or potential of the individual student, it is down to the systems used to support achievement. Some students fall into an effective system because their parents or older siblings found something that works, others manage to work it out for themselves, both of which leave too much to chance for my liking.

This book provides a system lasting 60 days, that, if stuck to, will provide the basis for students to build upon the great work they have done alongside their teachers and achieve the grades they deserve!

As a teacher of many years I have spent a large amount of time supporting students to achieve. Often, many students present similar issues: not knowing how to revise or sometimes spending large amounts of time doing activities which will not bring the impact that their investment of time deserves! Students often look to their parents for advice about what to do, yet often parents themselves are not sure how to help as the exam system has changed significantly in recent years.

That is why I have created this book. It is designed to provide students (and their parents) information about how to prepare for upcoming exams by using techniques that will bring maximum impact. The plan is structured to make it easily accessible and systematic so that it can be easily followed. There is a degree of repetition - this is necessary to reinforce learning. Also the plan involves frequently creating and completing Multiple Choice Quizzes - please do not ignore them!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tim Matthews
• Release date: Jan 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463741764

Book preview

Facing up to GCSE exams is a tough time for both students and parents! The examination system in the UK is very different to the experience most parents had growing up. This book aims to pull together evidence-based strategies that are proven to have impact and improve attainment and progress. Students want to do well for numerous reasons - in over twenty years of teaching I have yet to meet a single student that deep down doesn’t want to do well, although the narrative they share may sometimes suggest otherwise!

Often the difference between getting grades that open doors to wider choices and grades that don’t isn’t down to the capacity or potential of the individual student, it is down to the systems used to support achievement. Some students fall into an effective system because their parents or older siblings found something that works, others manage to work it out for themselves, both of which leave too much to chance for my liking!

This book aims to provide a system that, if stuck to, will provide the basis for students to build upon the great work they have done alongside their teachers and achieve the grades they deserve!

I hope it is useful - when things get tough - no matter if you are a student or parent - stick at it!

Contents

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

Nelson Mandela

Table of Contents

Foreword

Contents

Principles

Intro

Parents

Students

Basics

Creating Good Multiple-Choice Questions

Meanings

Let’s Go! Days 1 – 60

Day 61 and beyond

Outro

60 days to GCSE success:

Principles

The 60 days to exam success program is based upon the key principles of: distributed and deliberate practice, interleaving, self regulation, metacognition and self-testing. It builds upon the hard work already done by students and their teachers in building levels of subject knowledge and understanding about the application of this knowledge. The principles of this program help to improve retention, recall and the application of pre existing knowledge to exam scenarios. Below are short descriptions of the approaches that underpin the 60 day program.

Deliberate Distributed Practice

This is a method where specific practice is broken up into a series of short sessions. Often to achieve improvement the skill is broken down into component parts. In this instance it relates to regularly practising individual exam questions which when combined improve the result in the overall exam. It has been shown that learning is more effective when broken up into a series of shorter, more spaced out sessions rather than if everything is attempted to be learned in one go.

Interleaving

This is sequencing learning so that blocks of unrelated information are studied one after the other. For example studying Maths, then History, then Science and back to Maths again. This forces the student to have to work hard to recall information, strengthening the ability of the individual to recall information about each topic or subject.

Metacognition

This is essentially learning about learning. In the 60 day program it is centred on understanding where an individual student has secure knowledge or gaps then addressing these gaps to improve performance.

Self-Regulation

Successful students are often the most self-regulating. They are able to set specific goals and work towards achieving them. The 60 day program provides a structure for students to use, helping them become more self-regulating and responsible for their own learning.

Self Testing

Students who regularly undertake self-directed testing are more likely to retain and recall key information, producing improved exam results. Regular testing produces greater recall than simply reading required material.

60 days to GCSE success:

Intro

Intro:

As a teacher of many years I spend a large amount of time supporting students to achieve. Often, many students present similar issues: not knowing how to revise or sometimes spending large amounts of time doing activities which will not bring the impact that their investment of time deserves! Students often look to their parents for advice about what to do, yet often parents themselves are not sure how to help as the exam system has changed significantly in recent years.

That is why I have created this book. It is designed to provide students (and their parents) information about how to prepare for upcoming exams by using techniques that will bring maximum impact. The plan is structured to make it easily accessible and systematic so that it can be