I’ve received my Study Buddy Bundle. Now what?

Your board and GCSE Revision sets have arrived. The untapped potential is about to be, well, tapped. It’s great that you’re open to this approach bringing about a bit of a transformation.

But of course, that’s just the first step. After all, just because you get gym membership doesn’t mean you’re going to get fitter unless you go and use the equipment!

1. On receiving your board and units, the first, most important thing to do is check that you have the right sets! Revising Latin, no matter how diligently, clearly won’t help if you’re meant to be working towards a Computer Science exam. You should also check the course content. A quick flick through will highlight if  anything is there that shouldn’t, or if something is missing. It might not be a problem if you have extra units. It could be options within the course or it could relate to a higher level, for example. Simply discard those. If you think that you are missing units please contact us and we will investigate as a priority. Remember, every effort has been made to ensure that syllabus content is correct, but we can’t be held responsible for what the exam boards put into their exams. If something seems odd, get in touch.
2. Now put the board somewhere visible. This is in effect a new kind of contract so make sure that it can be seen. Your child is taking control of their study and you are going to stop interfering. Neither of you will necessarily do this easily. It’s a process.
3. Agree the ground rules. While everyone is getting on this is the perfect time to do things like accepting that the mobile phone stays in the bread bin, or that a cup of tea will be brought down on the hour. Work in treats too. This isn’t bribery. This is recognising that life is about balance. We’ll cover these separately in more detail.
4. Talk about how it will work. It’s important is that your child understands that this is about supporting them but ultimately it is down to them. Afterall you can’t take the exams for them. It is equally important that they know that this approach is about learning how to manage a workload, by working systematically through it. Every effort should be made to stick to the plan. But no recriminations if it doesn’t always work out. You are unlikely to get this spot on in week one. In fact, you might still be changing the approach slightly all the way through. That’s fine.
5. Make a start. There’s a reasonable amount of work to get through to be exam ready. The more revision that is done the more confident that your child will be in doing their best. The sooner you start the better.

Next: How to arrange the Buddy Board >