Exam Success without the Stress.

Supporting your son/daughter through exams.
© Copyright Bridget Clapham 2010

Bridget Clapham is an performance and exam success coach who enjoys working with students of all ages so that they can achieve their potential in exams, auditions and interviews.

For information visit www.bridgetclapham.co.uk or call 01869 277348 to discuss exam success or interview coaching. You can also follow Bridget on Twitter @examconfidence

Celebrating exam success is fabulous for the student as well as for the teachers who have taught them and we, the parents who have supported and shared the exam journey with them. To open the results letter and see successful grades jump out from the paper brings, for the student, and also for parents, a mixture of feelings from relief, excitement, joy, exhilaration, confidence and pride.

We invest in our children's education in the belief that we are enabling them to reach their potential. However the school, its teachers and the students are not the only vital ingredients in the recipe of exam success. Parents also play a crucial role.

Our children in the UK are the most consistently and highly assessed children in the world today. Many children feel pressurised to achieve highly and increasing numbers of young people are suffering every year from stress related symptoms and health problems relating to the pressure of exams. Childline recently reported a 50% rise in the number of calls and increasingly GPs are prescribing medication for teenagers who are stressed and overwhelmed by exams.

ChildLine’s Chief Executive, Carole Easton, said:

‘Exam stress affects almost every child at some point in their education and we are hearing from hundreds of children at this time of year who are struggling to cope with the pressure they are under. It is vital to reassure children that there is life after exams, that they
are not the only route to success, and that they will still be loved and valued no matter how they perform.


So- how can our children achieve success without the stress? What can we do to help them to manage the pressure and confidently reach their potential?

This is a huge topic area but here are a few proven suggestions to get you started.


Quotes from GCSE and sixth form teenagers are in italics

Help your child find the inspiration to do their best

“Study and revision — no thanks!”


Many teenagers, when asked about GCSE, AS and A levels find them as inspiring as wading through mud in concrete boots! You may remember that feeling!!!

Help your child see beyond the exams to the future opportunities that their success will bring.

Help them understand that each exam is the equivalent of a stepping stone or a key to get them to the next level.

The more keys they have, the more choices they will have about which doors to open for their future!



Make sure that you and your child share a view on what their success looks like!

Sometimes as parents we have visions of success which don’t match those of our children, or their teachers.

“Whatever I do isn’t good enough for my parents. They want me to get A stars and I’m just not an A Star student.” GCSE student.

Being interested in what your child is learning as well as being supportive and encouraging is far more valuable than setting unrealistic, stressful targets for your child.

Talk with them and with teachers about their potential success. For some children success is A or A star, for others it is a C or D grade.

Celebrate the potential of YOUR child and encourage them to reach it!


Make the most of resources.

“My Mum has bought every study guide published. I’m surrounded by them and I don’t know where to start!!”

Check with teachers which revision guides and websites are most suited to the syllabus that your child is studying for each subject.

Check with your child which guide suits their style best!

Encourage your child to ask teachers if unsure. Use the subject experts!

Make sure that there is a comfortable area in which to study and that the environment is well equipped.

If possible keep study separate from your child's bedroom. Switching off and relaxing is important!



Mindset Matters

“I wish I felt more confident about my exams” A Level student

Confidence and self belief are vital to success. Talk with your child about what is going well, praise and encourage their efforts and think of ways that you can boost their confidence whilst studying and doing exams. Make sure that you celebrate every achievement along the way.

Talk to teachers if you feel that more confidence is needed. Your child may be presenting a different persona at school from the one you experience at home and teachers will help once they are aware there is a need.


A positive mindset matters

“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t---you’re probably right.” Henry Ford.



Organisation and planning

“My time just disappears I spend hours planning and not enough time doing” GCSE student.

Help your child devise a study timetable and then, importantly to stick to it!!

Find out what help students are having with revision techniques. Some children lack skills in HOW to revise.

Encourage revision in small chunks broken up by something fun or relaxing.

Make sure your child is aware of the different ways to revise- study guides, mind mapping, past papers and on line quizzes and resources all add variety.

Help your child work out which best suits their learning and study style.


Balance.

“Nothing but work, work, work. My Dad rings me every night to check how much I’ve done” GCSE student of divorced parents.

Balance is important. Encourage your child to plan breaks as well as study.
Learning and memory function is reduced when stress levels are high. The brain chemistry associated with stress and anxiety is not conducive to feeling good or to focus, study, and memory function.

Fun and relaxation create endorphins- the body’s “happy hormones” and brain function improves on many levels. Fun and relaxation thus create a great balance to study and the student can return refreshed with something else always to look forward to!

Check that they are sleeping well and eating healthily.

Plan something to look forward to during study and after the exams!


In conclusion,

As parents we may not be curriculum experts but, through the love that we have for our children we can do a great deal to support them through the pressure of exams, and encourage and guide them on their way to success.



Do message me via the blog, via www.twitter.com @examconfidence or via my website on www.bridgetclapham.co.uk

Mindset matters for exam success

Just a taster today...more to come!

If you were coaching somebody for exam success, a friend or family member, what sort of mindest do you think would be the one most likely to set them on the path for success?

Confidence, stress, motivation, worry, anxiety, a sense of being in control, panic , positivity? Which cocktail would you mix with them?

Often exams are associated with stress and anxiety yet neither of these are states in which we perform well!

You see, the way that we are feeling, in any given moment, is what affects what we then do. .... our behaviour. If a student is feeling anxious or stressed, he/she is likely to be jumpy, find it hard to settle to study or may even avoid study completely in the head in the sand type of way!

If, on the other hand, he/she has a confident and positive mindset, now those, mixed with a dash of "buzz", motivation and a sprinkling of determination and curiosity all added to a lovely background sense of calm and confidence are the ingredients for success.

Some people are lucky enough to naturally have this positive mindset. If you are one of those people, please do share in the comments below, your secrets for success. If, however the anxious and stressed states are more familiar or you fluctuate between, start celebrating!! It is possible to re programme and to change to more useful habits!

The next few blogs will give you hints and tips for having more control over your mindset and your state!

Once you have this and are prepared to put some work into the mix, success is truly in sight!

Stay posted!

You can also follow me on Twitter @examconfidence.

Remember to comment or ask a question in the comments section below.

Bridget Clapham
Keeping your success in mind.

All rights reserved. Please reference back to me, Bridget Clapham and to this blog when you share this with anyone.

Revision and exam success. Step one-

I am assuming that you are reading this because you have an interest in exam success? If not you may have stumbled upon the wrong blog! Still, it may be worth reading on anyway. You never know when secrets of exam success could come in handy!

So, whether it is GCSE's, AS, A levels, Highers, Diploma, Certificate NVQ, High School, Undergraduate or Postgraduate exams of any kind, ther eis a common factor, they have something in common.... you need to know stuff and be able to write about it in ways that the examiners want you to!! Both are crucial for success.

Basically there are several steps that are important.

1. Learn about and understand something.

2. File it in that amazing brain of yours.

3. Be able to retrieve it when you need to :-)

4. Be able to shine as you show the examiner that you know the stuff they are asking you about!

It is also crucial to have the right mindset to do all of the above. Now that is so so so important that it will have a blog all of it's own!!

Somewhere in the above steps comes the activity that is often referred to as revision or revising.

The four steps are important and everyone has their own particular ways of going about them. In this blog we will cover some points relevant to step one!

Step one. Learn about and understand something.

This is something that probably happened some time ago. Or not!?

Having said that the whole process of revision is built upon the assumption that step one has happened.

Maybe it did and maybe it didn't.

If you have exams on the horizon. Look through the whole syllabus, your notes, text books, revision guides, past papers etc and check out what looks familiar, even if vaguely so. This may seem obvious yet lots of students launch in without doing this and get unstuck later! Better to be prepared.

If you are still at school,it may help to draft your Mum or Dad in at this stage so that they can help you get started. If you are at college you will be doing this more independently or with a student who is on your course maybe.

Checking you have the information you will be tested on

The content that looks familiar, does so because it is already filed somewhere in your brain's system, even though the filing cabinet may seem to be dusty and even padlocked, the familiarity tells you it exists and is there! (now, that is worth celebrating as a success step!)

If you come across something that looks totally new. You could panic, OR you could think " Great!!!". After all, you have discovered it in time! Better now than in the exams. So, lets go with the second response! It works better.

Read through the new content, check it out with other students and then book some time with your tutor/teacher to ask any questions that you need to.

If there are other students who also have a gap, it will be worth asking for a group tutorial on the content.

Yes, you are right, if it is in the syllabus it should have been covered. You may have missed it or it may, for some reason, have been left out. Maybe it wasn't taught. You now have a choice, you can get angry about it and stew about it or......take control, get your detective hat on and find out what you need to know.

So, step one involves making sure that you have all the information that you will need. Some of it will be very familiar and some less so.

Organise your resources and information as you prepare for step two, which is checking out and refining your brain's filing system!

Find out more about mindset next time. There are some clues above. Then we can move on to how to file it on the inside, in ways that make it easier to retrieve!

Bridget
Keeping your success in mind

Copyright Bridget Clapham May 2010

Exam confidence on Twitter

I have started tweeting!!

Follow me on Twitter for hints and tips on revision and exams.

Sign on to Twitter.com. search for examconfidence and confidence and success building tweets will wing their way to you!

Tweet me back or re tweet me to your friends and family!

I look forward to it

Bridget
Keeping your success in mind

Exam success without exam stress

Welcome to exam success and to a series of blogs which will offer tips, hints and ideas on how to maximise study and exam success!!!

If you are a student, a parent, a teacher or tutor, stay tuned.

There is an increase in exam stress and I am passionate about spreading the word that exam success is possible without the stress. Too many people assume otherwise and then before we know where we are the association between exams and stress is made, believed and achieved!

I am interested in people achieving study and exam success with feelings of positivity and confidence,:- with strong self belief and even, if you can believe it, a sense of enjoyment! I have coached many many students who now know that this is possible!!!

Over the years I have taught, coached and mentored thousands of students. I was going to say hundreds and yet on reflection there have been more than that. That either means I am very old or have worked very hard. Clearly it is the latter!!

So, if you or someone you know wants to know more about exam success follow the blog,use some of the ideas and tools and keep me posted about how you are doing.

I would love to know your tips for exam success---share them with others and spread the word about what works!!!

You can also find me on Twitter as bridgetclapham and as examconfidence

Sometimes I will blog for students and sometimes for parents or teachers and tutors.

If you want to ask a question, email via my website or post a comment or reach me via Twitter.

Spread the word. Follow the blog and lets see just how much success we can generate!

Bridget
Exam Success Coach
Keeping your success in mind
www.bridgetclapham.co.uk