It's January, your 15/16 year old has taken their mocks or is just about to, and you tentatively ask your them if they've started to revise yet. A puzzled face replies to your question and you retreat downstairs and begin to wonder how on earth both you and your teenager are going to get through the next 6 months without someone having a break down.

It doesn't have to be this way, and with these tips to put into place in January, you can work with your child to begin the process of getting year 11 completed successfully.

First thing's first, let's get to grips with where your child currently is at this point in time. Gather their mock results, attend parent's evenings, speak to their teacher and find out what grade they child are currently at, find out which examination board they will be sitting their exam with and ask your child how they are feeling towards each subject, school in general and in their overall mental health too. Get an overall picture of the present. This allows you to see what work needs to be done.

Secondly, once you have the above information, you can then begin to find out what grades your child needs to achieve to move onto the next stage in their academic career. Some colleges will accept a grade 4 as a pass, some won't. Some colleges expect a pupil to attain a grade 6 or higher in any subject they are planning to study at A level. Some will accept lower grades, so it's well worth checking.

Next, you need to look at exactly what your child needs to do to achieve their target grades. Check with examination boards and go through each specification (all are available online) to see what is required in each examination and what topics need to be studied before the exam. Create a checklist for each subject outlining everything that your child needs to know, or use the specification itself as a checklist. Go through each subject in turn and tick off things that have already been studied. Don't cross those things out though- they still need to be revised!

Now by this point it can get quite overwhelming. Please don't let a huge long list of unheard topics scare you. Reach out to professionals for help. Private tutors can aid learning (I, myself at The Bluebird Academy of Education offer online revision masterclasses in English and maths) and other tutors offer the same in other subjects too. School may be be able to offer extra classes at lunchtime or after school.

Knowledge is power! Once you know what needs to be done, you can take control of the situtation, by getting help in if required, and beginning to put together a revision timetable that fits around your child's schedule and works with the style of revision that suits your child as an individual. Not sure on how to revise? Tomorrow, I'll be posting a blog on the techqniues of revision that work the best, and how to structure a timetable that doesn't feel overwhelming and still allows you to live life whilst revising, so keep a look out for that. For today, there's just a few more things to consider...

The early bird catches the worm. Starting to revise in January has lots of benefits. You can get a head start if there's lots to do, and also, you can ease yourself into the routine of revising and doing extra work. Starting early for short periods of time to start off with reduces the risk of overwhelm and burnout as you'll be able to spread the learning over a longer period of time in shorter chunks rather than last minute cramming.  

Last, but by no means least, your child's mental and phsical health is much more important than any exam grade. I'm a tutor and have been working in education for 14 years and the one thing that I will always hold above everything else is that a child should never be pushed to breaking point. A child must be listened to, and if they need support, they should be offered it. Year 11 can be tough, but with proper guidance, you and your child can get through the next few months confident that the work that gets put in now will pay off in August on results day.

My next blog about creating a revision schedule that suits your lifestyle and how to revise efficently and effectively will be released tomorrow, so keep a look out for that so you can take the next steps in the journey through year 11.

Thank you for reading.

Kim, at The Bluebird Academy of Education