Ross McGill  

Best selling author
Global education expert 

Jon Wayth  

Headteacher
ELIS Villamartín

 

How can parents best support their children during exam season?

Many parents can quite understandably be at a loss as to how to help their children prepare for exam season. In the international school sector, quite often parents won´t be familiar with the curriculum being studied, the language of study, and the older their children get the more expert the knowledge needed to help may become. Fortunately, there are several ways parents can tangibly help lead their children to exam success.

Jon Wayth, Headteacher at ELIS Villamartín, spoke to education guru Ross McGill to find out how parents can help. Ross taught in the UK for 26 years, but today he is globally known as TeacherToolkit (The Most Influential Education Blog in the UK | TeacherToolkit). He has authored 12 books and has 100,000s of social media followers and was featured as one the 500 most influential people in Britain by the Sunday Times.

 

  1. How can parents support their children with exam revision when they aren´t familiar with the curriculum or even the language of instruction?

Having studied brain anatomy, to help people understand how your brain stores and recalls information, it’s good to think about the wardrobe you have in your bedroom. Consider for a moment if your shirts and trousers are neatly stored, or if they are all jumbled up in no specific order? If your wardrobe is neat and tidy, with items categorised into groups, it’s easier to find them. The cognitive science word for this is ‘retrieval’; parents and students will be much more familiar with the word ‘revision’. As you regularly access the material (or your wardrobe), it is easier to retrieve, and use. The more times you use the information, the more likely you are to be able to use this knowledge in an unfamiliar scenario. My top tip here for parents is to quiz (not test) your child in non-threatening situations. When difficult questions are posed in a fun manner, anxiety is reduced, and retrieval is supported.

  1. How can parents help with the organisation of revision?

Make sure your child has a revision timetable, but don’t insist or promote that they revise individual subjects in large blocks of time. The recommendation from research is small bursts of activity, mixed with lots of similar topics, and with lots of short breaks! For example, revise maths and physics across one day, then on another day, perhaps English, French and history. Group similar subjects together and focus in on specific topics in bursts of 15-to-30-minute chunks. Treat the exam season like a marathon; with training in advance that requires short bursts, with regular rests and fuel.

  1. The science of learning has moved on since parents were at school. What advice would you give a parent who has little knowledge in this area? 

There are lots of myths in education that still exist today. One of the biggest is learning styles; the perception that we prefer to learn through audio, visual or aesthetic styles. The truth is that we process information through something called dual coding. So, for example, right now you’re reading text, but what I need to add here is an image of giant red cross to warn you to avoid falling into this trap. Adding in the image helps you process through visual and text information, making the message stick better. Another top tip would be once your child understands the information, ask them to reproduce it in different ways. For example, by poster, in an essay, in keywords written on post-it notes.

  1. Can diet and wellbeing have an impact on exam success?

Absolutely! At least 8 to 10 hours sleep, and your child should be drinking a couple of large bottles of water every day. This is going to put their brain in fifth gear ready for exams. A balanced diet with the odd reward is of course recommended. Also, allow screen-time as a reward, but try to reduce it during this period, and always ensure they are physically active. Drag them out the house for a walk; let them get some fresh air, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. Nature works wonders for neural activity in our brain!

  1. How can parents help manage stress during exams? 

There is an abundance of research that says when stress is increased, our performance weakens. It is at this point in your child’s school career, where you should be reducing all forms of stress in their daily life. Whatever life throws at you, there are some simple and free things that we can do that can help your child’s performance. Teach your child simple breathing exercise exercises. Develop a positive mantra that you can repeat to them daily; turn it into a joke if necessary! In my family, our motto is “success is what you make it!”. As a parent just being a calm presence can help them feel less overwhelmed, and those simple words, “I’m proud of you” can be all they need to hear.