When you just want the world to stop
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I have a funny feeling that quite a lot of people, in the last couple of weeks, have just felt like they want the world to stop. I know I have. It’s a strange situation to be in when the world has kind of been on hold since March. But, at the same time as […]
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How to balance the competing demands of homework and revision
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Through the autumn and spring term every year, many students and parents ask me how to balance homework and revision. Students in years 11 and 13 find the competing demands of homework and revision particularly difficult to cope with in the build-up to mock exams. In this blog post, I’m going to explain how you […]
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Why everyone should blag their exams and how to do it effectively
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The word ‘blag’ has lots of negative connotations. It brings up images of people getting something they don’t deserve through deception or guile. However, the best students are the ones who are confident in blagging their exams. This is probably a huge surprise to all the perfectionists out there, and maybe even more of a […]
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7 Signs Your Family Values Education
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One of the most important aspects of helping your child reach their academic potential is making education part of your fundamental family values. In this post, I’m going to share 7 signs that your family values education. If you’re not doing any of these, don’t worry, you can start doing them as soon as you […]
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7 things GCSE and A Level students get wrong about revision
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Most GCSE and A-Level students are really bad at revising. They get multiple things wrong about how to revise successfully which leads them to get bored and frustrated, either giving up or getting marks that they’re not proud of. In this post, I’m going to talk about seven things GCSE and A-Level students get wrong […]
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Why you shouldn’t use highlighting as a revision technique (and how you can use highlighters instead)
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Highlighters are one of those stereotypical revision tools that always get added to the shopping basket when people are buying their revision stationery. However, highlighting is one of the very worst revision techniques you can use. In this blog post and podcast episode, I’m going to explain why highlighters shouldn’t be used as a revision […]
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Why mock exams are more important than ever in 2020-1
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Last week the Scottish government announced that they were cancelling the country’s National 5 exams, the Scottish equivalent of GCSEs, for students sitting them in the summer of 2021. They have also pushed the dates of their Higher and Advanced Higher exams back and are developing contingency plans for the cancellation of these exams, with […]
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How to get good at something and persevere
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None of us is born knowing how to do anything, let alone being good at anything. Yes, some people pick some things up faster than others – one person might learn to read rapidly when another learns to skillfully wield a tennis racket much faster. But, we’re all initially blank slates. Ultimately, we all have […]
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You are your habits
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Is your child struggling to adopt the habits of a ‘good student’? Maybe they just don’t seem to have the self-discipline or will power to pack their bag every night, write down their homework so they actually know what they’re supposed to be doing or consistently incorporate revision into their lives. Well, last weekend, I […]
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Why boundaries are essential to achieve your academic best
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Do you have boundaries about: How you allow yourself to be treated? What you will allow and won’t allow in your life? What you are willing to do and when? Boundaries are fundamental to success, as well as self-respect. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen lots of instances of people breaching other people’s […]
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