The daffodils are out, which can only mean one thing… exam season is almost upon us. This can be an incredibly stressful time of year for teachers and pupils. While you busy yourself scheduling numerous revision sessions and extension classes, have you thought about how you will motivate pupils to attend?
Setting revision tasks for pupils to complete at home can be hit-and-miss. Imagine the difference it would make if you had parental support for exam revision! We’ve got four suggestions…
Close the loop
You know the awkward feeling. You’re at parents’ evening and calmly explain how Mr and Mrs Smith’s daughter is falling behind. Mrs Smith’s eyes widen with shock and Mr Smith’s jaw drops. They had no idea.
It’s tempting to save information about performance and behaviour for parents’ evening. Wouldn’t it be better to share it straight away? Keeping parents in the loop creates an ethos of teamwork. You can nip problems in the bud earlier, saving precious time before exams season gets into full swing.
Provide a clear structure for parents and pupils
In the run-up to exams, you can improve parental support for exam revision by delivering a one-page handout showing which topics will be covered each week. Highlight any revision sessions you intend to run so that parents know what’s going on at school.
Breaking the revision into weekly topics will help to make it feel more manageable for pupils.
Send a push notification home the day before revision sessions are due to take place. That way parents can remind their children to attend.
Give helpful revision tips
Parents often want to support their children with revision, but simply don’t know how. Offering revision advice in the form of handy tips is a friendly way to guide parents and pupils in their revision without being too heavy-handed.
Provide a list of tips and revision techniques alongside your handout of topics. Or, if you have a dedicated school app, then why not send ‘tip of the day’ notifications with a daily revision technique to try at home.
Provide links to resources
How often do parents ask for revision materials to access at home? How much of your school’s budget gets wasted on re-printing revision sheets and booklets for pupils who have lost them?
Why not use your school’s website or dedicated app to send parents links to all the resources they need to support their child? This will save you a fortune in wasted printing and create a ‘no excuses’ culture.
