Ellis' Diary

Me With My Results Certificate

2009-09-15T11:54:00.002+01:00

Ready, Set, Go!

2009-09-08T09:41:00.000+01:00

Ahhhhh!!

Ok, after preparing myself to write another blog after a long while of relaxing during the holidays, it has now dawned on me that college is only a few days away and I need to get my thinking cap on and ready!

After going into school at the end of August to collect my results, it was surprising how calm I was – even my mum was more nervous than I was! So I walked in to see all the old, familiar faces all eager to find out how good, or bad, they had done. It was as if our old teachers, who once had the power to teach us everything we now know, once again had the power of telling us our fates. And my fate was one of the many good ones, with 4 A’s, 5 B’s and 1 C, I am very glad to be able to take all the subjects I wish to take at College.

So now I have to welcome a new routine, brand new subjects and an entire bunch of new people and I am pretty scared!

So, wish me luck, take a deep breath, and ready, set, GO!

Wow, where has all the time gone?

2009-06-11T17:04:00.000+01:00

It feels like only yesterday that my school said I was about to start my exams (ten in total I had to do, which is actually quite a rather small amount considering most people had around twenty exams, so I am very lucky!) and now I only have three left.

To be honest, my hardest exams (more than one!) so far have to have been the sciences, Biology and Chemistry – I still have Physics to do. I’ve never been very keen on science as there are always so many different topics on each subject that you have to grasp, and my brain always seems to get too overloaded. But I have been keeping up with my favourite revision technique of practice papers and it definitely helped! Another exam I didn’t find very friendly was Geography Paper 1 – focusing on map skills, tectonic activity, rivers and landscapes and weather and climate. “OH GOD!” I always repeated to myself, but a piece of advice I had always given my friends was that you can only go into an exam with confidence and as long as you come back out feeling you have done the best you could have possibly done then you have no reason to worry. So don’t forget that!

Anyway, enough of reminiscing over the bad exams, well I hope they’re not bad, I’m very pleased yet surprised with how well I think I’ve done in my English exams, especially my writing to argue and writing to describe pieces. I’ve always loved writing to describe things; I even chose to do some practice attempts at home such as writing to describe a bicycle ride I went on the previous day. It really helps!

I now have to do my second Geography paper tomorrow which I’m rather nervous about but, like I said, I can only do my very best and then I have my final Science exam on Wednesday before I can say that all my Science lessons are over at last! Then after that, next week I have my last ever exam being Statistics (next level higher than Maths), which I’m very keen on.

It’s really nice to have a break sometimes as well from all the revision by just spending a day out with your friends. My friends and I even find time to test each other on little things while we’re out. But be sure not to overload yourself with revision or stress yourself out. You can only do your very best!

An example of a mind map

2009-05-08T10:05:00.000+01:00

How do I revise?

2009-04-28T16:30:00.001+01:00

Personally I find it really hard to revise. In school you spend so long trying to find methods of revising that suit your learning skills, but I don’t think I’ve found my method yet. And it could be too late now to start attempting new things to help revising with exams around the corner!

So, instead of going on about a revision technique that works best for me and forcing you to use it, maybe you could give me a few ideas that help you and why you use them, and then I can try them out? I’m open for suggestions.

Teachers at my school have ways of drilling revision methods into your head and hoping they’ll stick, but to be honest, with all the other pressures of exams, my brain’s running out of glue!
Therefore, I’ve taken a liking to PRACTICE PAPERS. I know they’re not the best choice to revise and everyone hates them because it’s like being in the exam already, but here are a few reasons why I like them and you might too...
1. They get you use to the questions that may appear in the exams
2. They allow you to get a sense of what the wording of the questions may be like in your exam (always a benefit with the long words they seem to drop in)
3. And finally, they prepare you for the exams so you don’t ‘freak out’ when you see a exam paper for the first time
So if you get the chance, try using past paper questions to help you revise for your exams!

Another method of revising that I know my school is really into and encourages whenever possible, is MIND-MAPS! Not just any old, boring mind maps. Big, bright and colourful, too many words MIND-MAPS! And if you find you work well with mind maps, by just jotting down your ideas, organising them with colourful lines and adding small images, then I can prove that they work. Someone who has previously left The Robert Blake Science College used mind maps as their only revision technique and managed to achieve A*’s, A’s and B’s. So I am pretty jealous that me and mind maps aren’t the best of friends!

Like I said earlier, if you can think of any revision techniques that work well for you then let me know and I’ll try using them.

Thanks

Ellis xx

Hello!

2009-04-15T12:08:00.004+01:00

Hi I’m Ellis I’m 16 years old and am currently at The Robert Blake Science College preparing for 11 GCSEs, having previously taken 4. As many people know, when you reach Year 10, you must choose your options, which are a certain amount of GCSE subjects you choose to take along with the core subjects, Maths, English and Science. However, the amount and type of option subjects you have to choose from can vary for each school.

I chose to take Geography, Visual Art and Health and Social Care which is a Double Award, meaning I will achieve 2 GCSEs from it. I chose these because I’ve always enjoyed drawing and painting so I knew I could achieve quite a high grade from Visual Art and I’m really interested in people and their needs so I knew I would learn more about that from Health and Social Care. Yet, I had previously chosen to take Expressive Arts (drama) as an option before Geography, but when I saw my KS3 results for both Geography and drama, I achieved a higher result for Geography so I decided to change my option. Therefore, when choosing options, I would recommend either choosing subjects you’re interested in or subjects you know you can achieve highly in, because you mainly want as higher grades as possible when leaving school.

I also chose to study English, English Literature & Language, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Citizenship and Key skills ICT. All of these I will be taking exams in. However, in my school we get the chance to take certain GCSEs early, so in year 10 I took Health and Social Care with the year 11s and achieved an A grade, meaning I didn’t have to retake the exam in year 11 and could focus more on the coursework. Due to Health and Social Care being 60% coursework and 40% exam, it gave me the opportunity to focus more on my coursework and to bring it up to a higher standard.

I also took my maths GCSE early in year 10 and achieved a B grade overall, meaning I didn’t have to retake that either as I had achieved my target grade. This meant that I had the chance to take an extra maths subject called statistics in year 11, giving me an extra GCSE and I’m finding it really enjoyable, too. In year 9, I also took German as an early GCSE. Even though I didn’t achieve a high grade (D/C), I still have a GCSE in German which is something to be proud of in my eyes.

My exams start on the 12th May and end on the 16th June, meaning they’re spread out quite well, taking into consideration a school holiday in the middle. Overall I will have 9 exams to take because I have already taken some early and passed. Although, no matter how many I have to take, I’m still really nervous and must do a lot of preparation for each of the different subjects.

So that’s a little bit about me, Connexions Somerset have asked me to write this blog as a kind of support to all other year 11’s out there. I hope reading about my experiences will be of some help to others, please feel free to comment on my posts and add your thoughts. You can also speak to a Connexions Personal Adviser about any issues that may be concerning you whether its exam stress or life stuff they will be able to help. I have added the link to the Connexions website just in case: www.connexions-somerset.org.uk

Until next time

Ellis xx

2009-04-09T12:22:00.000+01:00

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