Revision Day Success

All pupils were off timetable on Monday to take part in the College's first ever Revision Day, where they explored various techniques in their tutor groups and listened to tips from revision experts, Positively You.

There were sessions on getting organised, creating revision timetables, as well as different types of revision strategies and independent revision. Positively You talked to pupils about overcoming exam anxiety, and super speedy revision.

Year 11 pupil, Joe Biggin, said: "The revision day was really useful, mainly the new techniques and having some time to revise."

The day ended with a talk from Mr Jones, (Deputy Head Academic) Mr Shaw (Assistant Head, Learning and Enrichment) and Mrs Farrell (Head of Sixth Form) to Year 11 and Year 13 parents about how best to support their children through their exam years.

Mr Paul Jones said: “We are extremely pleased with the pupils’ response to our first Revision Day. It was important to devote a whole day to this important topic, to spend time exploring these key skills and concepts and to put some of these techniques to the test.

"I hope that this will give all pupils the tools to approach any exams or assessments with confidence, starting with the end of term exams for all year groups.

"I am extremely grateful to Mr Sam Shaw for his input and to the heads of department who have created a comprehensive bank of subject-specific revision resources for pupils to refer to.”

Mr Sam Shaw, said: "The inaugural Shiplake Revision Day was a resounding success. Students in every year group spent the morning learning how to organise themselves and their revision notes to fill gaps in their work. They covered the essentials in making revision timetables and should now all have a first draft.

"The middle of the day was spent acquiring revision techniques - from advanced note taking, to mind maps and flashcards, all with the emphasis on testing their memories and removing the support net of the textbook. In the afternoon pupils were given some time to revise and provided with quizzes and tests in each subject to see how their revision worked for them.

"Punctuating the day were talks from the company 'Positively You' who presented inspiring sessions ranging from exam busting techniques to resilience in the face of exams and workload.

"It didn't stop here however, as parents were invited to a talk in the evening about how best to support pupils' revision which was well attended. A great success and a fixture we hope for a long time to come."

We also received some lovely feedback from parents about the day or who attended the session:

"Thank you all so much for such an insightful, informative talk this evening. Wonderful information – wished I’d known some of that when I was doing ‘O’ levels and I might have had better results. As parents we all want the best for our children and great to have some tools to help us at a stressful time of being a parent!"

"I wanted to say thank you to Mr Jones, Mrs Farrell and Mr Shaw for the very useful Year 11 and Year 13 Revision Strategies session tonight."

"When your lad gets into the car after revision day and says "Best day ever. Brilliant!", you know the school are doing something right."

If you are a parent of a pupil in Year 11 or 13 and weren't able to attend the talk, you can watch again here: