Back to School...

Tips from Me

Hi All,

Welcome back to another edition of my newsletter, as always thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to give this a read. I’m sure a lot of you are about to embark on another school year. Maybe you’re joining a new college or sixth form, starting some new subjects, or entering your GCSE or A-Level year. Whatever it is, I wanted to use this week’s newsletter as an opportunity to give some tips and advice regarding going ‘back to school’.

For me, I’m about to start my second year at Cambridge, and having gone through around 15 years of schooling I think I’ve built up some good knowledge about what to do to really hit the ground running.

The big thing which I would recommend is getting a system in place which enables you to consolidate your learning from the very first day. A common misconception that a lot of students have is thinking that doing well in your exams is all about your performance in those months leading up to the exam season. Don’t get me wrong, those months are critical, but what’s also critical is consolidating and creating revision resources and systems from the start of the academic year. This way, you have everything in place to perform well in the months leading up to the exam season.

So what would this system look like?

Let’s split this into two categories: understanding and memorising.

In terms of understanding, I’d recommend getting a system in place which means that you understand 99% of the things you’re being taught that same day. There are many ways to achieve this. Firstly, actively listen and participate in your lessons. Use lessons as a place where you’re trying to learn and understand as much as possible, and when something inevitably arises which you don’t fully understand, try and address it there and then. Ask your teachers and ask your classmates - essentially try and come out of those lessons with the most amount of knowledge possible. Secondly, review each lesson that same day; make sure everything you’ve been taught truly makes sense. If it doesn’t, have a system to deal with it. For example, emailing your teacher, consulting a reliable website, etc. Understanding is the first step!

In terms of memorisation, at the beginning of the school year you probably won’t be needing to review flashcards yet. However, it’s a really good idea to start making the resources you’ll go on to rely on later in the year. I am a firm believer that flashcards are the way to go about this memorisation aspect. What I would recommend is trying your best to make flashcards on the same day you’ve been taught the topic. Of course other commitments will sometimes get in the way, but then you can use the weekends to make up for this!

If you can create systems like these, it will allow you to be in control of your studies from the get-go!

Best of luck in your returns to formal education, I hope you found this a useful read,
Sam