Helping Your Child with their GCSE Exams

French GCSE examinations can be a worrying prospect for your child and she will be under a great deal of pressure with coursework deadlines and examination preparation. Parents/Carers may find it difficult to support their children through this time. This parent guide is a list of possible strategies that may help you with this support.

Please ensure that you:

• Ensure that your child attends school regularly and on time;

• Talk to your child about their learning, work they have to do and deadlines;

• Contact your child's tutor if you have any questions or concerns about your child;

• Attend Parents’ evening;

• Check your child’s revision timetable for mock exams which are in December;

• Check your child’s examination timetable and ensure they understand when their exams take place;

• Read your child’s copy of the Summer Examination Timetable;

• Attend all meetings and workshops organised for parents to assist their children with GCSE work.

Audio How to help your child during exams

Ask your child to go through their test results and projected grade for each subject.
Support their organisation by knowing when their exams are and being punctual
Make a study plan (timetable) with your child and monitor how they are following it.
Praise and encourage.
Make sure that your child eats well, takes breaks and sleeps before 23:00 every night.
Observe and talk to your child to ensure their mental well being.
Don't hesitate to contact the school for support, if you need it.
Support your child in ensuring they complete their teacher improvement statements in their report.

Coursework

Students will have many deadlines to meet during this year.

You can help your child by:

• Monitoring their coursework. Find out what they have to do and when it has to be handed in;

• Making sure they are doing some work every evening;

• Contacting their tutor if they say they have no work to do, or if they are worried about a piece of work;

• Encouraging them to attend clubs, half-term, Easter, and Saturday revision classes;

• Encouraging them to buy study guides;

• Encouraging them to use the numerous websites available to support their coursework and revision e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks4bitesize/english;

• Encouraging them to go on curriculum based school trips.

Practical Support that you can offer:

• Provide them with a quiet place to study;

• Make sure they take regular breaks;

• Ensure that they eat healthy food and drinks plenty of water;

• Test them on the work they have been revising or encourage older siblings to test them;

• Ensure that they go to bed at a reasonable time and gets enough sleep;

• Ensure that they revises thoroughly for both the mock and final examinations.

Public Examination Information for Students and Parents

You can contact your childs tutor/head of year if you wish to discuss any GSCE related issues.