As students make their way towards final examinations, please continue to support us by discussing your child’s academic progress and attitude to learning at home. You have live ClassCharts information and the latest January school report and Progress Evening feedback to focus on. 

Please also ensure that your child attends school every day. Our experience at Redmoor – as well as the national data – proves that there is a significant correlation between absence and exam results. Students with poor attendance will fall behind their peers and find it very difficult to achieve their target grades. If your child is at school, giving 100% and making the most of the opportunities available, then they have the greatest chance of achieving strong results in the summer. 

In order to support your child in the lead up to final exams, please also support us by making sure they attend all ‘Exam Support’ sessions that they are invited to. These sessions will be delivered to individuals or to very small groups of students and will target their specific areas for development. They are planned and delivered by our experienced teachers and are free of charge. You will be made aware via phone call of any sessions designed for your child in particular and it is our expectation that they attend. 

Supporting Independent Revision At School

Our brilliant library is open after school every day until 4pm for independent revision. It is stocked with all revision guides and resources, as well as laptops with internet access. Year 11 students are welcome to attend and make the most of a quiet, focused area to study in. 

Study Space also remains open in IT4 Monday to Thursday from 3pm to 4pm. This is an IT suite where students can work on their homework tasks and receive help from supervising staff members if they need it. 

Supporting Independent Revision At Home

Students should be revising independently for a minimum of two hours every day. Since the start of term, our Year 11 tutors have delivered a programme of lessons during PSHCE time to support students in understanding what effective revision is. Students have recapped our key strategies (Cornell notes, mind-maps and flashcards), have created revision resources, devised ways to test their retention of this knowledge and examined how to organise their time effectively. There should be no student without the understanding or ability to make a start on their revision. However, further tips for parents and carers can be found on our school website in our Effective Learning Strategies section. 

All Year 11 students have access to the GCSEPod library of over 6,000 ‘Pods’: 3-5 minute videos designed to deliver knowledge in short bursts. GCSEPod makes learning and revision much more manageable: every Pod is mapped to an exam board and contains all the right facts, quotations, keywords, dates and annotated diagrams that students need for GCSE success – all neatly organised into topics and exam playlists. 

Your child can browse the GCSEPod library and create their own playlists – just as they would when they’re listening to music. In fact, one of the best things about GCSEPod is that students can download any Pod to a mobile device, so they can watch them at any time, in any place, with or without internet. It’s like they’re carrying a whole set of textbooks in their pocket! 

GCSEPod is crammed with brilliant features, from GCSE-style assessment questions and Check & Challenge knowledge quizzes, to revision skills support and help with dealing with exam-related stress. 

We recommend that you talk about GCSEPod with your son or daughter – check that they’ve successfully activated their account and encourage them to make use of this amazing resource throughout their GCSE journey. Please visit www.gcsepod.com/parents where you’ll find lots more information and resources.

Many of our students also have their own revision guides (see below for our recommended list) and can use these to create their own resources.

Year 11 Recommended Revision Guide List

Experience tells us that independent learning is most effective when parents support by:

  • helping to create the time for dedicated study – for example, please support your child in making and sticking to a revision timetable like the one attached here 
  • ensuring the environment for study is right and all distractions (including social media!) are removed
  • encouraging children to work independently on their revision for a minimum of two hours each day, making use of class books, revision guides, GCSEPod and the resources provided by their teachers.