A week until the GCSEs start!
Not long to go. Good luck!
We also have the year 6 SATs happening in the next week or 2 and year 9’s and 10’s are also finishing their end of year exams.
Weeks, months of expectation and build-up and suddenly their finished. Done.
My 3 are all in their mid/late 20's now, when they did their exams, I said to them that no matter what they achieved if they could walk into the exam hall knowing they had done their best, there was nothing else anyone could ask of them.
No matter the results, we would be proud of them.
But this is a stressful time for the kids, and you, their parents. Supporting a child through their GCSEs is hard!
It’s made even harder if they aren’t motivated, maybe because they don’t feel they will pass anyway. They see you as a nag, rather than as a help.
When they say they are revising, trust that they are. Give them space.
Maybe I come across as naive in saying that, but especially with Clara I learned the more I interfered, the more I nagged, the more resistant she became.
But let them know that if they need help, you are there for them.
I can remember one evening with Clara when she was revising for her German speaking exam laying on the bed singing together what she had to say.
Neither of us can sing, I can’t speak a word of German I was just reading words from a page. It must have sounded horrendous!
But it worked, she remembered enough of it to get a C overall.
Revision doesn’t need to be about reading from textbooks and making notes (though I must confess as a true nerd of a child, I used to love doing that. A walk to the village library on a Friday evening to get the books I would need for the weekend, then I would have them all spread out around me, and I would find what was relevant and make notes, upon notes, upon notes).
One lad I work with says he is playing a game online with his mates and they’ve named different parts of the game after aspects of an Inspector Calls. Because of the game and his frequent interaction with it, his has his quotes down to a T.
He’s impressive.
A girl I used to work with use to create illustrations and mind maps. I think I mentioned before, J made all the quotes he needed for his English Lit exams into images. For example, for the quote from Macbeth: Is this a dagger I see before me? He drew a dagger, an eye, the sea, a bee, the number 4, and a picture of him.
The effort, thought, and concentration needed to create them worked and I still remember many of them and I just walked with him on dog walks testing him.
Another lad I work with has created his timetable using ChatGPT, something I’d never have thought of but is a really fantastic idea.
Suggest to them that they write down and record what they have learned, achieved. That way they will be able to look back and see how far they have come, what they have accomplished, use it to drive themselves forward.
Be there for them. Exams are stressful. They’re stressed, their teachers are stressed, you are inevitably stressed!
Work through it together.
Show interest in what they’re doing, not just with their exams but with their life in general. It’s important that they maintain a balance, no one can work 24/7 without burn out.
The year I did my GCSEs we went on holiday to Turkey shortly after. We were on a Gullet cruise off the coast of Bodrum. I think in part it was the gentle movement of the boat, but I went to bed one evening and woke up 48 hours later. I was exhausted. I had worked so hard to try to prove to myself that I was as intelligent, as capable as my brother. I was done, I was shattered.
Ask what you can do to help, whether it’s nothing more than not nagging or printing out past papers for them to work through, making meals or letting them off their dishwasher duties, work together.
Make sure they have everything that they need, especially the day of the exams. May be make a list in advance, include the things like calculators that aren’t needed for every exam and could easily be forgotten in the stress of the moment.
Be a support, a shoulder to cry on, someone to be screamed at, shouted at so that they can release their emotions. They don’t mean it and you probably know they don’t mean it. Keep the channels of communication open, let them know you’re there for them.
My goal to prove to myself that I was as clever as Jase wasn’t realistic. As an adult I’ve come to learn that there are very few people as clever as he is. Like I said earlier, put the emphasis on effort, not on the results.
Regardless of the outcome, let them know you are so proud of them. Celebrate with genuine happiness and pride.
These suggestions are nothing more than what I have learned through my experience of doing my GCSEs many, many years ago, working with my 3 when they did theirs, and talking to the kids and families that I work with.
But amongst it all, I hope you find something that helps.
Good luck, I have my fingers crossed. Each and every one of them deserves to do so well.
- Something I heard recently: if we go into an exam and tell ourselves that we are excited rather than nervous, our body doesn’t know the difference and will believe us. An American University has done research into this, and it is proven that statistically, people who talk themselves into believing this is true will get better grades overall.
In my mind it won’t cost anything to try, nothing ventured nothing gained.
To learn more about Clara James Tutoring and the franchise opportunity, check out our website: Clara James Tutoring
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