Surviving Sixth Form Tips

September eh? Didn't see that one coming did we. For most of us, that means starting/continuing with GCSE's/ A Levels or a university degree. Now I cannot talk about starting a university degree as I am not quite there yet. However I can easily share my top tips for starting or continuing your GCSE's or A Levels so that's what I thought I'd do today! My organisational tips are applicable to everyone but I thought I'd also do some sixth form specific tips as its such a different experience to the rest of school! Enjoy... 

 

Organisation

 

 

• OMG. Folders will probably be your best friends for the next 2 years so buy good ones that you like. Forget stupid patterns that you will regret by next year, buy plain folders in bold colours. If you're doing GCSE's; not all subjects require folders but for some (e.g. history, DT and music), folders are essential.

• I'd recommend lever arch folders for organising your papers at home (e.g. different topics) but using an A4 Ring Binder to carry the useful papers into school everyday. Mostly because Ring Binders are more spacious but might weigh you down.

• It's really useful to buy plastic wallets to go into your folders before school even starts. I know from experience that trying to organise months worth of loose paper is a lot more trouble than taking the time to put your paper into a plastic wallet at the end of each lesson. This will also help you later when it comes to revising as your paper will be neat, easy to read and pre-organised chronologically. 

 

•  Pre-order any books you will be reading before you need them. Before you start shouting that this post is way too late, you will only be studying one book at a time and probably not all at the start so there's no need to panic if you haven't got them yet. But once you have ordered them it's useful because when the time comes you will have it to hand and won't miss out on the first lesson of notes. But make sure you check with your teacher which copy you'll be using; it's so useful to have the same one as your page numbers will correspond everyone else's.

•   Buy a clear pencil case. This is a simple one. You're gonna need a pencil case for your mock/real exams, you might as well get it now whilst the school supplies are everywhere.

 

 

•  If your school doesn't provide you with a planner, I'd definitely recommend getting your own. Personally, my school supplies a weekly planner and I don't know what I'd do without it. You'll need somewhere to write down your homework, course work deadlines and extra curricular stuff e.g job shifts.

• For the next 1/2 years, you're going to be learning topics that should show up in your final exams (unless it's Edexcel physics ey!) If you're anything like the rest of us, you'll leave your revision till the 2 months before your exams. However that doesn't mean you can't help yourself out a bit. Try buying a pack of flash cards and every now and again in lessons, make one on the subject you're covering at the time. By the time revision starts, you will already have a pack of flash cards pre made.

 

Sixth Form

 

Can you guess what subject I was doing some 'further reading' on??

 

• Make the most of your time- especially free periods. Study, do group projects, research universities or do some further reading. I know chatting is very tempting (and don't just sit in silence) but make sure you get on with something even while your sat with your friends.

• Talking about reading, do it! If you're looking to go to a top university, you will have had to of read around the subject you want to do and be able to talk about what you've read.. Look online and in the library

• Talk to your teachers/ tutors. We all pay loads of money for extra tutoring but normally if you ask a teacher (and they have time), they're more than happy to help you outside of lessons if you're struggling. Take advantage of the fact you've got a near expert that will answer any questions you've got to the best of their ability. Also talk to your tutors loads when it comes to universities. If you're aiming for a top (or any university), they will be happy to help and support you with the process. It's great to get them involved as well they will be happy to write you a glowing review.

• Get a part time job. You will probably need a bit more cash for clothes, travel and books so it's a good idea to get yourself a part time job. (I'll be writing a blog post on first jobs soon!) They also look great on your personal statement as it shows you're taking responsibility.

• Get as much information about the future as you can. Whether it's an apprenticeships, full time work or university, there's so many ways to get information on our futures, we're almost spoiled for choice. So make the most of it! Your main resource is probably the wide world web as you can find out about almost anything. Apprenticeships opportunities, university degrees and open days, work experience...

• Set a goal. If you have a goal that you're driven towards, it will be a lot easier to stay focus and motivated on your work. This is important as the work will be so much harder, having a goal kind of reminds you why you're still going.

They're all my tips for now, I hope some of those help if you're starting or continuing through GCSE's / A levels. I'm probably going to be doing a bigger post of tips for sixth form tips but hopefully they're alright to get you into the swing of things!

 

Good luck with whatever you're working on everyone! Remember work hard but have fun!

 

See you next time,

Laura Stone x

Keep reading...

So you're off to uni...

Back to school: Supplies Haul

Exam survival: revision tips

Choosing your options: GCSE edition

Choosing your GCSE options.
It may seem like a massive stressful decision that will ruin your life forever if you get it wrong and you'll be homele... Stop. If you think about your choices logically, it's not really that hard. You'll be fine.

I'm not actually sure when the deadline for GCSE option deadline is but I know you can always change them and this may still help future GSCE students.

Firstly, lets put GCSE's into perspective. Obviously, I've already done mine so I went through it all but I'm not going to try and patronise anyone. Even whilst I was doing them, I always looked at GCSE's as a stepping stone rather than an end goal. GCSE's pave the way to A levels (or a different education route), which in turn lead the way to university (if that's what you choose.) So don't think of them as the 'be all and end all' but don't forget that they will directly effect the next step. So my best advice in general is to try your best but take it all with a pinch of salt.

Back to options.

Obviously it is pretty personal depending on the core subjects you have to take, how many extra options you get and so on.

I'm going to assume that you all have to take Sciences, Maths, English's. I had to take ICT, RE and a language then got 3 extra options. But seeing as every schools different, I'm going to assume you only have to take Science's , Maths and English'.

So most people recommend taking a humanity, a language and a more 'creative' subject so that is how I am going to categorise them. But don't let this limit you at all, I didn't take this combination as my extra 3.

Humanities
 

I thought I'd start with the humanities as they are my favs. I took both geography and history which I don't regret for one minute (despite most people being shocked at my choice.) Talking as someone that took both, I think they go great together and if you want to take both, go for it gurl!

History is very much writing based, if you hate writing then it might not be great for you. Nevertheless, what you're actually writing is surprisingly easy. It's just a lot of describing pictures or historical events. The exams are quite intense but if you're a decent writer then you'll be fine. History is one of the top 5 A levels (and rightly so) but at GCSE level, it's pretty decent.
 

Geography is basically case study after case study. That means you'll be basically learning about different places in the world in terms of different topics. Not sure that was very clear so for example, you learn about Blackpool in tourism, China in population (one child policy) and Japan in tectonics. Then all you have to do is remember facts and information about each case study to help answer questions about them. Simple right? The exam isn't too bad either if I'm honest.

RE is quite a good mix of them both. You have case studies like geography, presented in essay questions like history. Obviously its different topics and sometimes its quite easy just to blag yourself through some topics by just having controversial/strong opinions on the subjects.

Languages

If you're good a languages: do them and be proud! I'm not going to describe them separately
because they are all similar courses, just in different languages. Unlike some other subjects, it's quite hard to blag your way through if you're shit at languages (like I am.)
 

They're good if you're decent at languages, but don't force yourself to do it because they 'look good' or 'make up the combination'. Because realistically, its more about grades at GCSE.

Creative
 

Mmm... there's so many and I can't go into detail about all of them because I obviously didn't take them all. To sum up, there's: Art, D&T Woodwork, D&T design, D&T food, Music, Drama, PE (pe isn't technically creative but whatevs.) I took music which I loved and I would highly recommend taking if you're above grade 2 in an instrument, can read basic music and love playing music.

In general, out of those subjects I would just recommend taking the one which interests you the most. As I said, its mostly about the grades (APS) rather than the subject. So choosing one which will brighten up your timetable is your best bet. Forget about academic because you're probably already doing over 10 'academic' subjects, have a lil fun.

Obviously if you want to take any of those subjects at A level, doing it GCSE is a very good (sometimes necessary) idea.

But as you can probably gather from what I've said, my main advice is take what you like and what you're good at! I know that's what everybody says but hopefully some of what I've said has helped? GCSE's are not something to stress about, I think if you like or are good at the subject before, you should be fine because the jump isn't too big. Especially compared to the GCSE - A level jump.