Top teacher explains how to help your child during exam season

Almost 5.5 million 16- to 18-year-olds will sit some form of the exam this summer. Whether it’s GCSEs or A-Levels, it will be a stressful and anxiety-inducing time not only for your child, but for the whole family and the wider school community.

Dr Jo Turner, Gold winner of the Secondary School Teacher of the Year Award at the 2023 Pearson National Teaching Awards, has shared expert advice on how to support your child during the summer exam season and get the most out of it of your child’s teachers and educational resources.

Encourage healthy habits – While studying and revising are important, it’s also essential that your child takes care of themselves during this busy time. Encourage them to go for walks, see their friends and eat healthy, well-balanced meals to ensure they stay focused and well. It’s also good to have a routine, so make sure you schedule study sessions with adequate breaks to get the most out of them.

Make the environment easy – Make sure they have a specific space in your home that they can use for revision. It is so important that students can have a calm and quiet environment when learning. It is also important to have somewhere in the house that he does not associate with exams or revisions. They will need a space to relax, rest and recover between study sessions and exams.

Study Together – Sometimes they just need practical support. Talk to your child’s teachers for advice on how to help them revise and if there are areas of interest for them. Every child is different, and your support staff should be able to direct you to helpful resources and techniques that you can use in your study sessions.

One technique that has proven popular with parents, for example, is to write down 10 key words or ideas from a topic your child is studying. You can then test their knowledge of the topic randomly throughout the week. Once you get the correct answer to a question three times, you can replace your question with another one. This ensures that they are actively learning with your help and support.

Past papers are also key to perfecting exam techniques. You could encourage your child to do as many as possible and then offer to mark them, making sure they get the most out of this revision strategy.

Celebrate small successes – Your child will be trying to review 2 years worth of content in a few weeks, not knowing what will come out that day. Make sure you celebrate the little things, like getting a practice question right or completing the review of a particular module. These small victories will help your child’s confidence and can boost their motivation to try even harder.

Positive encouragement – These exams are not the be all and end all. There is so much pressure on your children coming from all different directions. Make sure your child knows that no matter what’s in that envelope this August, it doesn’t limit them. Great teachers and school staff will make sure you know this too, offering advice and support throughout exam season and beyond.

National Teacher Appreciation Day takes place on Wednesday 19 June 2024, where parents and students will have the chance to show their appreciation for teachers, lecturers and support staff in schools across the country. If there is a specific staff member who helped with revision, stayed late to discuss a topic, or is an amazing educator, you can send them a free personalized e-book to show how special they are and how special they are. they are vital to your child’s education.