Seven out of ten parents use technical controls on their child’s devices to manage access to content. Such safeguards can be an enormous asset: helping parents and carers to manage what their child might encounter online while allowing young people to happily use their new gizmo to start exploring the digital world.
Though extremely useful once in place, such parental controls vary from device to device and can often be confusing or difficult to set up. This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide outlines what defences are available on some of the most popular devices around: advice that will probably come in particularly handy at this time of year! 
What motivated you to revise?
-At the time of my GCSE’s I didn’t know what I wanted to do in the future – probably similar to most people here. I was boxing for England internationally and just won the European championships the year before. I didn’t know if I wanted to continue boxing as a career or do something else more academic.
I saw doing well in exams as an opportunity to do both and leave my options open. I believed that if I got poor grades that it might limit me from doing something I wanted to do in the future, if I couldn’t meet the requirements and boxing didn’t work out well for me. I saw this as motivation to get the highest possible grade in every subject to keep my options open and prevent me from being disappointed in the future.How did you plan and manage your time for revision?
-Key thing to doing well in revision is organizing yourself as early as possible.
-As soon as I got my exam dates, I would make a big timetable with all my school lessons and exam dates and times on. From there I would work backward and plan a revision session 3/4 days and the night before each exam I had. I would do 2 hours work 3 days before then 1 hour the night before, broken into 30 min chunks. I would try to have light revision sessions the night before an exam, like answering a few questions or making mind maps, rather than last minute cramming as it only makes you more stressed. If I was left with any free days with no revision sessions planned, I would then see what exams were nearby and revise the subjects I was less confident in.What are your 5 ‘top tips’ to stay on track with revision?
-100% get organized now – start making your revision tools and finding out how you revise best
-Make a timetable – little and often is best
-Do not cram last minute – you aren’t efficient, and it only adds to your stress
-Print off past papers and mark schemes for everything
-Make a spec check listHow did you make a revision plan?
-I would go off the spec to make a checklist and highlight areas I was least confident in and number them from easiest to hardest. It could have been a whole spec point or specific topics themselves. I would revise these weaker areas first and last in my overall revision for this subject.
-Using my notes and textbooks I would make a mind map on the weaker subjects then have an hour break and come back to this subject later on. I would then get a piece of paper and attempt to write down everything I could remember from the revision I just did in the same mind map format. I would then use the initial mind map to add anything I had missed or made mistakes on in a different color pen. From this I knew that these were the things I needed to concentrate on in my revision. Over time there would be less and less in the different colour, and I would become more confident in the weaker areas as I was going over these the most.
-Make yourself a schedule/ routine for revision to keep yourself motivated. Eg do one hour of revision every Tuesday and Thursday. This means you can fit your revision around thing you enjoy doing and don’t feel like revision is taking over.Did/do you set targets?
-yes – I think targets are really important to keep you on track. Set yourself short term targets such as getting a 30 mins to an hour of revision done each day or revising one area of each subject you’re studying every week. Give yourself deadlines of when you want to be finished revising various spec points in the run up to your exams. Make a list of the dates of things you want to do so you can keep track of them. Because you’re splitting your total revision into smaller and more manageable chunks over a longer period by setting the short term goals it feels more realistic to complete and you’re more likely to actually do the work. Rather than if you were to leave everything to the last minute and become overwhelmed with work which only makes you more stressed.
-At the time of my GCSE’s I didn’t know what I wanted to do in the future – probably similar to most people here. I was boxing for England internationally and just won the European championships the year before. I didn’t know if I wanted to continue boxing as a career or do something else more academic.
I saw doing well in exams as an opportunity to do both and leave my options open. I believed that if I got poor grades that it might limit me from doing something I wanted to do in the future, if I couldn’t meet the requirements and boxing didn’t work out well for me. I saw this as motivation to get the highest possible grade in every subject to keep my options open and prevent me from being disappointed in the future.How did you plan and manage your time for revision?
-Key thing to doing well in revision is organizing yourself as early as possible.
-As soon as I got my exam dates, I would make a big timetable with all my school lessons and exam dates and times on. From there I would work backward and plan a revision session 3/4 days and the night before each exam I had. I would do 2 hours work 3 days before then 1 hour the night before, broken into 30 min chunks. I would try to have light revision sessions the night before an exam, like answering a few questions or making mind maps, rather than last minute cramming as it only makes you more stressed. If I was left with any free days with no revision sessions planned, I would then see what exams were nearby and revise the subjects I was less confident in.What are your 5 ‘top tips’ to stay on track with revision?
-100% get organized now – start making your revision tools and finding out how you revise best
-Make a timetable – little and often is best
-Do not cram last minute – you aren’t efficient, and it only adds to your stress
-Print off past papers and mark schemes for everything
-Make a spec check listHow did you make a revision plan?
-I would go off the spec to make a checklist and highlight areas I was least confident in and number them from easiest to hardest. It could have been a whole spec point or specific topics themselves. I would revise these weaker areas first and last in my overall revision for this subject.
-Using my notes and textbooks I would make a mind map on the weaker subjects then have an hour break and come back to this subject later on. I would then get a piece of paper and attempt to write down everything I could remember from the revision I just did in the same mind map format. I would then use the initial mind map to add anything I had missed or made mistakes on in a different color pen. From this I knew that these were the things I needed to concentrate on in my revision. Over time there would be less and less in the different colour, and I would become more confident in the weaker areas as I was going over these the most.
-Make yourself a schedule/ routine for revision to keep yourself motivated. Eg do one hour of revision every Tuesday and Thursday. This means you can fit your revision around thing you enjoy doing and don’t feel like revision is taking over.Did/do you set targets?
-yes – I think targets are really important to keep you on track. Set yourself short term targets such as getting a 30 mins to an hour of revision done each day or revising one area of each subject you’re studying every week. Give yourself deadlines of when you want to be finished revising various spec points in the run up to your exams. Make a list of the dates of things you want to do so you can keep track of them. Because you’re splitting your total revision into smaller and more manageable chunks over a longer period by setting the short term goals it feels more realistic to complete and you’re more likely to actually do the work. Rather than if you were to leave everything to the last minute and become overwhelmed with work which only makes you more stressed.
What techniques do you use for revision?
-I would print off as many mark schemes and past papers as I could find. I would answer or plan answers to all the questions then self mark them. This is the best way of learning exam technique and how the exam board wants you to answer questions, make sure you read the examiner’s comments so you know what to do/ not to do. Some subjects like science can reuse questions from previous years, so if you have practiced past papers you will know the model answers and get full marks to these questions.
-Make your revision materials as you go instead of leaving it to the last minute, as you won’t have time to actually make them. I used to make revision cards at the end of every lesson, so it only took 5 minutes each day rather than writing them out for hours in exam season.
-When making your revision materials make sure you look at the spec and cover every spec point. I used to do this to make ‘cheat sheets’ of all the information I needed to know for an exam, so it is condensed and all in one place.
-Do not spend hours upon hours revising – you won’t be productive. Set a 30 minute timer and get as much work done as possible with no distractions. Then get up and have a 5-10 minute break – in a different room, don’t stay seated at your desk. Come back and do another 30 minutes of work – on a different topic/ subject if possible, and continue to cycle. After 2/3 30 minute periods have a longer break.
-use revision apps like quizlet – you can make your own revision cards/ questions or use ones that other people have already made. It also tests you on the information in various different ways which helps to make it more memorable and easier to learn.
-Teach someone else the information – you have to understand the information before you can teach it!
-Get a blank sheet of paper and use the spec to give yourself headings for each spec point. Using textbooks/ notes, write down as much information as you can. Have a 15 minute break then come back and try to do the same thing but from memory, without any notes. Then fill in any missing pieces of information in a different colour pen using the first sheet. Anything in the second colour is information you need to revise.
1 piece of key advice you would provide for students in Y11?
-get organized – make your revision materials now and test yourself regularly.
Family hubs are now running virtual group courses for families who may not be able to attend groups in our Hubs.Please see attached poster for the January courses, please share this the mums, dads and carers you support.
Learn in a group from the comfort of your own home, at your own pace.
We know life can be busy for some parents. Look at these groups In Jan 24:
HENRY 5-13 years Starts: 8th January 9am – 11:30am
HENRY 0-5 Years Starts: 15th January 13:00 -14:00
Incredible years Starts:1-6 years. 17th January 2024 weeks 7pm –8pm
Me You and baby Too (For expectant or new parents: relationship support) 29th January 10:00-11:00
Arguing better (Getting along better) 17th Jan 7:30 pm -8:30pm
Getting it right for children (for separated parents) 27th Feb 7:30pm
There’s no disputing how integral the digital world has become to modern life. It can prove difficult for many young people to stay off smart phones, tablets and other devices for a single day – even one as special as Christmas. In fact, according to a survey by e-commerce platform Groupon, almost 80% of parents and carers would prefer a festive period that’s free from technology.
Going online, of course, is useful for checking in with friends and relations who we can’t be with, or for arranging celebrations – but if we allow gadgets to dominate our Yuletide break, that precious time could pass in a flash. This #WakeUpWednesday, we’ve got suggestions for keeping a handle on device use over the holidays, so your family can be truly together this Christmas.
When thinking about potential employment for the future, it is a great idea to stay up to date with what we refer to as local labour market information.
Check out an update from November below.
Kooth: We advertise this service to students at Duke’s Secondary School in PSHE lessons and regularly in tutor time throughout the year.
Kooth provides access to an online mental health and wellbeing community, giving free, safe and anonymous support for those aged 11-25 years: https://www.kooth.com/
In 2019, media titan Disney launched its own streaming platform, intending to challenge the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Giving (often exclusive) access to shows and movies – such as the legendary studio’s animated classics and the revered Star Wars back catalogue – Disney+ has been a colossal success, proving popular with viewers of all ages.
Despite Disney’s reputation for wholesome, child-friendly content, however, there’s far more material available on their platform – some of which is aimed exclusively at adults. This could easily fly under the radar, given the company’s general image. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide has useful tips to help your family sit back, relax and enjoy what Disney+ has to offer.
