Cotswold Education Forum

Are you a parent of a year 4 or 5 child and confused about how to prepare for the 11+ test. This is the place to ask any questions you have and we'll give the best possible answer. Alternatively come to our Parents' Support Meeting on Friday 13th March 2020 from 7-10pm. Extensive information on how to apply and what the test involves. There are books available to buy and plenty of time to ask us questions. Book your tickets here .

Creating good study habits and constantly working on improving them is a great way to excel at school and, consequently, in life. However, this doesn’t mean that learning isn’t stressful, especially if you’re getting ready for an important exam. To avoid all the worrying and anxiety, here are some tips on how to upgrade your learning and be ready for any test or exam this year. Be well rested If you don’t get enough sleep at night, your studying probably won’t be very beneficial, since your body and mind may be too tired for you to focus. This is why it’s important to sleep enough and make sure your sleep is uninterrupted and restful. When you know you have to study for exams, avoid staying up too late so that you can get your optimal seven or eight hours of sleep . Also, don’t break your sleeping routine and try going to bed and waking up at approximately the same time every day, including weekends. This way you’ll be able to concentrate and make the best of your study time. Don’t multitask Multitasking might seem appealing to you, since getting more than one thing done during a single period of time would be amazing, but you might end up doing everything partially. Your brain works best when it’s focused on only one task, two at the most, since switching from one task to another always requires some time for your brain to readjust and get back on track. If you truly want to direct all your attention to your books, turn off the TV and the radio, put your phone away and stay away from social networks or video games until you’re completely done with your studying. Organize your notes What you learn from is also very important, so do your best to keep your notes well-ordered and neat. Whether you like to underline, highlight and draw mind maps, or you keep your notes digitalized, they need to be systematic and comprehensive. Unless you organize your notes, you won’t be able to organize the information in your head when you study. If your notes are messy and incoherent, you can ask for help from a study mate or look for online assistance. For instance, Australian students can rely on Thinkswap study note collection , the best notes from former high school or university students, which are thorough and neat and will provide you with the highest quality study materials you can find. Create a timetable Creating a learning timetable is one of the most useful things you can do to improve your studying and make it more efficient. When making your timetable, take into account your study goals for each day, the time of the day when you’re most productive and energized, as well as all your extracurricular activities, like sports practices or various social gatherings. It’s also very important that you put in some breaks into your timetable since studying continually for hours can take its toll on your focus and mood, leaving your thoughts scattered and making it impossible for new information to stay in your head. Putting together a timetable and sticking to it will provide you with the much-needed motivation and will keep your learning more organized. Find good study partners Joining a study group or forming one will not only break the monotony of studying alone and add some joy to the process, but there are several other benefits to consider. For example, when you know that other people also depend on you and your punctuality, you will be less likely to procrastinate. You will also learn faster since you won’t waste time on trying to figure out the parts of the curriculum you don’t understand, but rather have somebody from the group explain it to you. The beauty of it is that there is always somebody who understands the more difficult parts and can break it down for the rest of the group. You can get a new viewpoint on the same study materials you’ve read a million times before, as well as learn new and useful study techniques. Plus, people in groups can quiz one another to revise and remember the syllabus better. No matter how long you’ve been at school and how much studying hours you’ve got behind you, there is always space for improvement. Always try finding a way to learn things faster and to do it with as much joy as you can.

Our Preparation Morning comprises of a Parents Information Talk while children take a single 11+ Mock Test and there are lots of opportunities to ask questions. Our next Preparation Morning is on Saturday 21st March 2020. You can find out more and book a place here . If you've got anything you'd like to know about the morning or the whole process, please post ask below.