Abi Ludlow, English teacher and KS3 Lead at Richard Lander School in Truro tells parents exactly what you need to know about your child’s revision schedule, and where you fit in!

The main thing that parents can do when their children are sitting their GCSEs is to be engaged in the process. By reading an article like this, you’re already making an effort and seeking to become more informed about what it is like doing your GCSEs these days, so you’re off to a flying start!

As a teacher, it feels a little biased to tell you how fantastic schools are and how much they can do to help during this time, but they really can be a great support. Use everything they have on offer. Many schools run GCSE consultation evenings where they give parents an overview of years 9-11; if your school offers one of these, go! And if they don’t, encourage them to run one. Otherwise they’re likely to have a wealth of information and resources on their website so make sure to root around and find what’s useful.

What’s happening when

Get to know your child’s assessment timetable and put dates in the family calendar or on the fridge. This shouldn’t be used as a way of creating more stress for them, but should act as a way of letting everyone else in the house know when the crunch times are and when that child might be in need of some extra support or quiet time. 

Parents’ evenings are normally held just after mock exams so that teachers have a good gauge of how each student is performing. It’s natural for parents to want to discuss their child’s behaviour with their teachers but make sure you’re also using this precious face-to-face time to ask a lot of questions. How are they doing? How far through the course are they? What can I do to help? What resources do you recommend? You can have several questions at the ready and ask the same ones to every teacher so that you can assess how your child is doing in each subject. 

Breaking up revision

Try to engage your child in setting up their revision timetable as best as you can. You can sit with them and work out where their strengths and weaknesses are in each subject and then plan when they should be working on what. Use all the tools at your disposal, whether that’s online resources, videos or using Tassomai to identify specific problem areas. Make sure they prioritise revising the topics they are least confident and familiar with, as this is where they will feel the most benefits from their revision.

Be sure to set them up with some past papers to do at home. They’re easily available for all subjects online (just check you have the right exam board) and help to take the fear out of the exam process. If you’re comfortable and used to the layout and question style of a paper before you go into an assessment setting, then you’re more likely to succeed just from being at ease. 

Getting in some quiet time

It has obviously been very difficult for most families to find any peace and quiet over the last few years but it is important to try and give your child the space and silence they need for good revision. I know a lot of students like to study with music playing but this isn’t something they will have in the exams and it is good to get used to working in silence. Try to find a way to give them some silent working practice in their weekly routine, whether that’s when you’re taking a younger sibling out of the house, giving them the use of your office space, or taking them to a local library. 

It is also useful to make sure they’re set up and ready to revise before they sit down for a revision session - if they spend the first 15 minutes trying to track down their post-it notes and revision cards, it’s unlikely they will be fully focused once they have everything in place. All it takes is a little organisation.

Planning revision

Kids are so good at getting out of their work. My daughter is in year 7 and just trying to get her to work 10 minutes a day for an end of year maths test was a challenge! I’m not looking forward to her GCSEs… but the key to getting the best out of them is to be as consistent as you can. Work backwards from the exams and plan when revision needs to take place - this way they are more likely to achieve a good work-life balance and not feel overwhelmed by the task ahead of them. 

There will always be elements of revision that you can’t get directly involved with, like if they’re completing quizzes on Tassomai or doing something in silence, but there are loads of ways to make it interactive and interesting for them. Making flashcards with questions on one side and answers on the other can be really useful so that you can test them on their own notes and knowledge, and prompt them when they need help.

Parents, be active! 

Talk about exams, have conversations about their revision, discuss what they learnt at school today over dinner - get involved! Dialogue and conversations around the GCSEs are so important and helpful for students. It can understandably be a really scary time for some parents if they don’t have the best memories of their own exams, but that fear doesn’t need to be passed down a generation. 

Rewards work! I’m not saying buy them a new PS4 every time they spend 10 minutes on Tassomai or staring at a textbook, but recognising and saying “you’ve worked so well this week let’s go out for a walk and I’ll buy you breakfast on Saturday” can really help to change their mindset and realise they’re making progress. It’s all about being present and recognising the hard work they’re putting in.

Make sure you have conversations with their Head of Year if you are looking for resources and aren’t sure where to start. Schools are brilliant, but sometimes they struggle with reaching the parents and passing information on if it isn’t being actively sought out. There’s only so much they can do to try and engage parents, so make sure you make the most of what they have available. I can tell you that teachers absolutely love hearing from engaged parents and giving them their best recommendations for online resources, so reach out if you’re unsure about anything and you’re bound to get a good response.

The most important thing is that your child knows you’re there for them and support them no matter what. Reassure them that revision isn’t a test, it’s a learning experience and you’re not meant to know everything right away. I’m sure you’re going to do great!

- Abi Ludlow

Find out more about what Abi Ludlow has to say about English literature and language revision here.