I hope that many of the Y11 students reading this will have made good use of the time in the holidays to get ahead with their revision.  If you can “hit the ground running” when you return to school next week, that makes it so much easier for you to benefit fully from the revision classes to come.  (If this doesn’t apply to you, skip the next paragraph and continue on in the post.)

Your aim when school starts next week is to keep up the good work habits, the organisation and the high personal motivation levels you have shown this holiday.  Remember that you can never do as much as you can with schoolwork: there is always another past paper to work through, another time to go over your revision notes, another summary poster to make.  The important thing is to use the time you do spend working wisely and gain the most you can from the experience.  Sheikh Mohammed is a man I greatly admire for what he has achieved both in racing and as a leader: his epithet is that “in the race for excellence, there is no finishing line”.   There is more to do, you will almost certainly benefit by doing a little more, and you can do it!  Keep going…….

If you haven’t managed to achieve what you wanted in the past three weeks, don’t panic.  You won’t be alone.  There is still time for you to make a big difference to your chances in summer exams.  I think your best bet is to now team up with a mate or two for revision.  (These comments apply to students in the boarding school where I work but the idea is transferable)  Ask a friend who you know has good work habits if you can pair up with him for the first week of school for revision.  When he or she works, you work.  Ideally you work alongside each other (the housemaster’s dining room is often a good venue free of distractions)  Don’t copy exactly what they are doing as they may be at a different stage in the revision process to you, but just work with them, never alone.

You will all have more conflicting demands on your time when the term starts again.  Don’t worry about this at all.  Keep doing your sport, your music, your social activities with mates.  All are vital to success.  You will probably be set homework by teachers in these first few weeks:  that’s fine too.  Complete each task as conscientiously as you can even if you think you could be better doing something else. The key thing is to keep the positive energy, the focus and the high performance levels going.  Don’t allow yourself to ever slip into old habits (at least not until the end of June)  Momentum is key:  if you don’t yet have it, build it quick. If you do have it, keep going.  Keep working with the same focus, the same intensity and enjoy the feeling of making progress.  Just think how much better you understand topics compared to a few weeks ago!

Final idea in this post is this.  Keep looking after yourself and your mates.  Eat healthily, get to bed early, keep your room tidy and clean and help others to do the same.  Work is not something you do alone.  You and your friends are “all in it together” so look after others and to some extent they will look out for you.  Exams are important but so are many other things in life – friendship, health, family to name just three – so don’t neglect these things even when the pressures start to build.

If anyone reading this wants any help with anything to do with revision, schoolwork etc. please get in touch.  Catch me in my schoolroom if you can or get in touch via Twitter or comments on my blog.