Y10 GCSE study at home advice!
Poll
How much input are you getting from your teachers right now?
Hey everyone! I hope everyone’s doing as well as they can and getting on well with studying at home.
Especially before Easter, it seems like there was a lot of variation in the amount/quality of work being set by schools, and some students weren’t getting much at all. If you’re in Y10, it’s especially important you keep working at home- but what if your school isn’t setting much work?
Contact your teachers!
Even if you haven’t been set much/any formal work by your school, the first thing I would suggest is to contact your teachers. They may have set work somewhere you have missed, or they may be able to make some suggestions about what you should be doing at home. Do this from your school email, as other email addresses may be blocked or filtered.
Now might also be a good time to check what exam board and syllabus you are following!
If you don’t get any response at all, I’d suggest getting a parent or carer to contact the head of school and ask what’s going on.
Look at the specification for your course.
All exam boards have the spec for your course available freely online. The specification tells you everything you could be examined on in your GCSEs, so it’s a good idea to get familiar with it anyway.
It’s very easy to find these by googling “[your subject name] [your exam board] GCSE spec”. Here’s an example of a specification (AQA combined science) so you know what you are looking for: https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/science/specifications/AQA-8464-SP-2016.PDF
Most schools follow the specification’s order of teaching, at least roughly, so you should be able to read through and work out the topics you have just covered, and what you would be starting this term.
Alternatively, you could go back through the specification, and look for any gaps you might have or areas you felt weak on and use this time to revise those areas. Short term, I do think revision is a good option, as there are lots of resources available online.
Teaching yourself new content.
Teaching yourself new content is tricky. There’s a lot of revision material available online, which is great- but often this doesn’t go into quite enough detail when you’re learning things first time around.
However, Oxfordpress, and Collins, who are two of the big textbook publishers have made a lot of their resources free:
https://global.oup.com/education/content/secondary/key-issues/secondary-school-resources/?region=uk
https://collins.co.uk/pages/support-learning-at-home
There are also lots of really good youtube channels out there, which cover concepts in detail, and visual explanation is often very useful.
For science, I like:
Fuseschool: https://www.youtube.com/user/virtualschooluk/playlists
And
Cognito: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaGEe4KXZrjou9kQx6ezG2w/playlists
Which both cover maths as well.
Finally, Twinkl have offered a free month’s membership to everyone learning at home, and they have great PowerPoints, worksheets and revision materials on a range of topics:
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/blog/how-to-utilise-twinkl-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown-a-guide-for-schools
This is just scratching the surface of what is out there, so do add any resources you find useful below!
Testing yourself
When you’ve taught yourself about a topic, it can be really hard to know what you’ve actually taken in! That’s why it’s important to do some self-quizzing or self-testing afterwards.
My favourite site for doing this is senecalearning.com. They’ve got tailored courses for nearly every exam board and spec, so you can find the right one for you. Each quiz is pretty short, so you can get immediate feedback on how you are doing. Even better, Seneca is developed by cognitive scientists and their system is supposed to be tailored towards people remembering as much as possible.
If you get to the point where you want to start testing yourself with exam style questions, there are also a lot of websites out there that can help you with this.
https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/ is a great site with exam questions (and mark schemes) organised by topic. They cover a lot more than physics and maths now, but unfortunately, they still don’t cover every subject/exam board, so if you have another, similar site, make sure to share it in the thread!
How should I organise my time?
Once you’ve worked out a plan of action- I’d try to stick to your normal school timetable as much as you can. Don’t forget you’ll need to allocate some time to finding resources as well.
For each “lesson”, I’d start with 5/10 minutes of self-quizzing on old content using a website like Seneca or BBC bitesize. It’s important to make sure you understand the last topic, before you move on.
Then, I’d move on to whatever you’re trying to learn this day- read through relevant pages/watch a video and make notes or a mind map. Try to do something active as part of this e.g. textbook questions or a Twinkl worksheet.
Finally, finish off with some self-quizzing on today’s content via Seneca.
If you can, every so often it might be fun to break this up with a longer activity, such as making a revision poster, or an information leaflet, or maybe a creative project such as making origami DNA or a stop motion video about mitosis. Share your ideas and creative projects in the thread!
As always, well done for getting to the end of this, and please feel free to ask any questions you might have or share your own thoughts in the thread!
Especially before Easter, it seems like there was a lot of variation in the amount/quality of work being set by schools, and some students weren’t getting much at all. If you’re in Y10, it’s especially important you keep working at home- but what if your school isn’t setting much work?
Contact your teachers!
Even if you haven’t been set much/any formal work by your school, the first thing I would suggest is to contact your teachers. They may have set work somewhere you have missed, or they may be able to make some suggestions about what you should be doing at home. Do this from your school email, as other email addresses may be blocked or filtered.
Now might also be a good time to check what exam board and syllabus you are following!
If you don’t get any response at all, I’d suggest getting a parent or carer to contact the head of school and ask what’s going on.
Look at the specification for your course.
All exam boards have the spec for your course available freely online. The specification tells you everything you could be examined on in your GCSEs, so it’s a good idea to get familiar with it anyway.
It’s very easy to find these by googling “[your subject name] [your exam board] GCSE spec”. Here’s an example of a specification (AQA combined science) so you know what you are looking for: https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/science/specifications/AQA-8464-SP-2016.PDF
Most schools follow the specification’s order of teaching, at least roughly, so you should be able to read through and work out the topics you have just covered, and what you would be starting this term.
Alternatively, you could go back through the specification, and look for any gaps you might have or areas you felt weak on and use this time to revise those areas. Short term, I do think revision is a good option, as there are lots of resources available online.
Teaching yourself new content.
Teaching yourself new content is tricky. There’s a lot of revision material available online, which is great- but often this doesn’t go into quite enough detail when you’re learning things first time around.
However, Oxfordpress, and Collins, who are two of the big textbook publishers have made a lot of their resources free:
https://global.oup.com/education/content/secondary/key-issues/secondary-school-resources/?region=uk
https://collins.co.uk/pages/support-learning-at-home
There are also lots of really good youtube channels out there, which cover concepts in detail, and visual explanation is often very useful.
For science, I like:
Fuseschool: https://www.youtube.com/user/virtualschooluk/playlists
And
Cognito: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaGEe4KXZrjou9kQx6ezG2w/playlists
Which both cover maths as well.
Finally, Twinkl have offered a free month’s membership to everyone learning at home, and they have great PowerPoints, worksheets and revision materials on a range of topics:
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/blog/how-to-utilise-twinkl-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown-a-guide-for-schools
This is just scratching the surface of what is out there, so do add any resources you find useful below!
Testing yourself
When you’ve taught yourself about a topic, it can be really hard to know what you’ve actually taken in! That’s why it’s important to do some self-quizzing or self-testing afterwards.
My favourite site for doing this is senecalearning.com. They’ve got tailored courses for nearly every exam board and spec, so you can find the right one for you. Each quiz is pretty short, so you can get immediate feedback on how you are doing. Even better, Seneca is developed by cognitive scientists and their system is supposed to be tailored towards people remembering as much as possible.
If you get to the point where you want to start testing yourself with exam style questions, there are also a lot of websites out there that can help you with this.
https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/ is a great site with exam questions (and mark schemes) organised by topic. They cover a lot more than physics and maths now, but unfortunately, they still don’t cover every subject/exam board, so if you have another, similar site, make sure to share it in the thread!
How should I organise my time?
Once you’ve worked out a plan of action- I’d try to stick to your normal school timetable as much as you can. Don’t forget you’ll need to allocate some time to finding resources as well.
For each “lesson”, I’d start with 5/10 minutes of self-quizzing on old content using a website like Seneca or BBC bitesize. It’s important to make sure you understand the last topic, before you move on.
Then, I’d move on to whatever you’re trying to learn this day- read through relevant pages/watch a video and make notes or a mind map. Try to do something active as part of this e.g. textbook questions or a Twinkl worksheet.
Finally, finish off with some self-quizzing on today’s content via Seneca.
If you can, every so often it might be fun to break this up with a longer activity, such as making a revision poster, or an information leaflet, or maybe a creative project such as making origami DNA or a stop motion video about mitosis. Share your ideas and creative projects in the thread!
As always, well done for getting to the end of this, and please feel free to ask any questions you might have or share your own thoughts in the thread!
Scroll to see replies
Tagging everyone in the Year 10 chat thread again! Sorry for the double tag today but think this might be really useful for some of you 
Year10
Wow, this is really helpful, thank you!
I also use https://www.freesciencelessons.co.uk/ -this has been really useful when it comes to science lessons.
I also use https://www.freesciencelessons.co.uk/ -this has been really useful when it comes to science lessons.
Original post by Evil Homer
Tagging everyone in the Year 10 chat thread again! Sorry for the double tag today but think this might be really useful for some of you
Year10
Thanks for the tag
Original post by Granger_Bookworm
Wow, this is really helpful, thank you!
I also use https://www.freesciencelessons.co.uk/ -this has been really useful when it comes to science lessons.
I also use https://www.freesciencelessons.co.uk/ -this has been really useful when it comes to science lessons.
Free science lessons is really great for revision- but in my opinion (as a science teacher) it doesn't go into enough detail for learning new content!
Original post by SarcAndSpark
Free science lessons is really great for revision- but in my opinion (as a science teacher) it doesn't go into enough detail for learning new content!
Hi, would you recommend the cgp 9-1 textbooks for triple science?
Original post by Cherrygrape1234
Hi, would you recommend the cgp 9-1 textbooks for triple science?
CGP guides are always good for revision! If you're able to link the specific books, I can say whether I think they go into enough detail for self-teaching.
Original post by SarcAndSpark
CGP guides are always good for revision! If you're able to link the specific books, I can say whether I think they go into enough detail for self-teaching.
I have this for each science
Original post by Cherrygrape1234
I have this for each science
Those are great for practicing what you've learned- they have loads of questions in them that will help you. However, if you're trying to teach yourself content from scratch you'll probably need a textbook similar to the one you use in school or some good online resources. You can often buy textbooks second hand pretty cheaply. If you want some recommendations, then let me know!
Original post by SarcAndSpark
Those are great for practicing what you've learned- they have loads of questions in them that will help you. However, if you're trying to teach yourself content from scratch you'll probably need a textbook similar to the one you use in school or some good online resources. You can often buy textbooks second hand pretty cheaply. If you want some recommendations, then let me know!
Ok thank you- yes please could you recommend me some!
Original post by Cherrygrape1234
Ok thank you- yes please could you recommend me some!
These are (IMO) the two best textbooks for GCSE science:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biology-Combined-Science-Trilogy-Student/dp/0198359268/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+oxford+university+press+gcse+science&qid=1587384234&sr=8-8
https://www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-Physics-Student-Book-Science/dp/0008158770/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+collins+gcse+science+student+book&qid=1587384294&sr=8-6
You can also buy them directly from AQA, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-Physics-Student-Book-Science/dp/0008158770/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+collins+gcse+science+student+book&qid=1587384294&sr=8-6
If you can't get hold of textbooks, then IMO the next best option is probably Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/science
It doesn't quite follow the UK curriculum, but it goes into enough detail compared to a lot of online resources.
I'd also go on Twinkl (in the OP) and sign up for a free account, as they have lots of useful resources you can download.
Original post by SarcAndSpark
These are (IMO) the two best textbooks for GCSE science:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biology-Combined-Science-Trilogy-Student/dp/0198359268/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+oxford+university+press+gcse+science&qid=1587384234&sr=8-8
https://www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-Physics-Student-Book-Science/dp/0008158770/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+collins+gcse+science+student+book&qid=1587384294&sr=8-6
You can also buy them directly from AQA, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-Physics-Student-Book-Science/dp/0008158770/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+collins+gcse+science+student+book&qid=1587384294&sr=8-6
If you can't get hold of textbooks, then IMO the next best option is probably Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/science
It doesn't quite follow the UK curriculum, but it goes into enough detail compared to a lot of online resources.
I'd also go on Twinkl (in the OP) and sign up for a free account, as they have lots of useful resources you can download.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biology-Combined-Science-Trilogy-Student/dp/0198359268/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+oxford+university+press+gcse+science&qid=1587384234&sr=8-8
https://www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-Physics-Student-Book-Science/dp/0008158770/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+collins+gcse+science+student+book&qid=1587384294&sr=8-6
You can also buy them directly from AQA, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/GCSE-Physics-Student-Book-Science/dp/0008158770/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=aqa+collins+gcse+science+student+book&qid=1587384294&sr=8-6
If you can't get hold of textbooks, then IMO the next best option is probably Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/science
It doesn't quite follow the UK curriculum, but it goes into enough detail compared to a lot of online resources.
I'd also go on Twinkl (in the OP) and sign up for a free account, as they have lots of useful resources you can download.
I don’t think I can use the first link because I’m doing triple.
But thanks for recommending the second one I have a biology one of that already!
I’m going to start using Twinkl!!
Original post by Cherrygrape1234
I don’t think I can use the first link because I’m doing triple.
But thanks for recommending the second one I have a biology one of that already!
I’m going to start using Twinkl!!
But thanks for recommending the second one I have a biology one of that already!
I’m going to start using Twinkl!!
They do triple versions as well- but if you already have the biology collins one, then that's great. You may want to get a chemistry and physics version too.
Twinkl has loads of great resources- definitely worth a look! The powerpoints aren't always great, but some of them are- and there are loads of good knowledge organisers, revision mats and assessment packs on there which will be really useful. Everything is really clearly titled as well.
Original post by SarcAndSpark
They do triple versions as well- but if you already have the biology collins one, then that's great. You may want to get a chemistry and physics version too.
Twinkl has loads of great resources- definitely worth a look! The powerpoints aren't always great, but some of them are- and there are loads of good knowledge organisers, revision mats and assessment packs on there which will be really useful. Everything is really clearly titled as well.
Twinkl has loads of great resources- definitely worth a look! The powerpoints aren't always great, but some of them are- and there are loads of good knowledge organisers, revision mats and assessment packs on there which will be really useful. Everything is really clearly titled as well.
Thanks!
Original post by Cherrygrape1234
Thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Feel free to come back with any other questions!
Original post by SarcAndSpark
Glad it was helpful! Feel free to come back with any other questions!
Is twinkl free because it mentioned something about a membership?
Original post by Cherrygrape1234
Is twinkl free because it mentioned something about a membership?
There's a code for one month's free membership during the school shutdown available here: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/blog/how-to-utilise-twinkl-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown-a-guide-for-schools
After that, there are still some free resources on there, but some are paid for- so I'd download everything that looks useful during your free month
Original post by SarcAndSpark
There's a code for one month's free membership during the school shutdown available here: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/blog/how-to-utilise-twinkl-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown-a-guide-for-schools
After that, there are still some free resources on there, but some are paid for- so I'd download everything that looks useful during your free month
After that, there are still some free resources on there, but some are paid for- so I'd download everything that looks useful during your free month
Ok thank you for clearing things up!
Original post by SarcAndSpark
Free science lessons is really great for revision- but in my opinion (as a science teacher) it doesn't go into enough detail for learning new content!
Hi, what site/ resource would you recommend for learning new content?
Hey, I’m a year 13 student. If I can help in any way for anyone let me know! I do music, Computer science and maths at a level. And My gcse results are as follows so you can see what kinda subjects I am better in (although this was 2 years ago so can’t guarantee how much help I will be but I will try my best!)
Maths edexcel - 9
Further Maths AQA - A*
English lit edexcel -5
English Lang edexcel - 6
Biology edexcel 6
Chemistry edexcel 7
Physics edexcel 7
Music edexcel 8
Computer science OCR 8
French Edexcel 7
Economics international edexcel C (but got A/A* consistently in smaller tests)
Maths edexcel - 9
Further Maths AQA - A*
English lit edexcel -5
English Lang edexcel - 6
Biology edexcel 6
Chemistry edexcel 7
Physics edexcel 7
Music edexcel 8
Computer science OCR 8
French Edexcel 7
Economics international edexcel C (but got A/A* consistently in smaller tests)
(edited 4 years ago)
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