When Summer is a Study Break

Today, I am mostly hating Facebook Memories.

Apparently, this time last year I was in Dubai. The year before, it was France and Majorca. 2014? Sunning myself in Mauritius. Before that, it was Jordan, before that Biarritz…

This year I’m at home in Lytham St Annes, and it’s raining.

But it’s all in a good cause.

After half-term, Flea has a week of exams, which will determine which classes she studies in for the next couple of years. At her senior school, the children are streamed at the end of Year 7, for core subjects like English, Maths and Science.

I’m generally pretty relaxed about academic stuff, telling Flea as long as she tries hard and keeps up, I’m happy. If life’s taught me anything, it’s that academic over-achievers are rarely the happiest people in the room.

But (entrance exams aside), this is the first time Flea’s ever had to do exams, and I want her to feel confident and prepared. There’s nothing worse than flunking something you KNOW you should have sailed through.

After a lot of nagging last week, Flea finally brought home her exam timetable on Friday. She needs to sit 10 papers in 8 subjects, based on everything she’s learned so far this year.

I asked Flea if she had made a revision timetable and got a slightly impatient, “Yes, Mum” in reply.

“Brilliant, darling. Where is it?” 

“It’s in my head.”

“Yeah. That’s not going to work for me.” 

So on Saturday, we spent a couple of hours going through all Flea’s school books. I showed Flea how to make a spreadsheet with all the topics she needed to cover for each subject.

We hunted down online tests, ordered books of practice tests from Amazon, bookmarked the relevant pages on BBC Bitesize. Oh, and we invested in some snazzy highlighters. The essentials.

We then made a timetable for the week, with 40-minute study slots, ensuring each subject is covered equally, with time for practice questions.

So far, then, Flea’s been mostly holed up in her room, making notes, creating flashcards and doing practice papers. I’ve been working, and hanging around the house. She has made a quick video of her top revision tips, too:

There are plenty of breaks for fresh air – or binge-watching episodes of Mariah’s World on Sky Box Sets (don’t judge, it’s a miracle of the modern age), but still, it’s a bit of a change of pace.

Is anyone else having an at-home study week this week?