A Parents’ Guide to GCSEs – GCSEs are the first set of formal qualifications that your child will work towards whilst in education. They are level 3 qualifications that will give way to a variety of opportunities once they leave school. If your child’s starting their GCSEs and you’re not sure on what this means and would like advice on how best to support them, this blog’s for you.
A Parents’ Guide to GCSEs – What Are GCSEs?
As mentioned earlier, GCSEs are level 3 qualifications. They are needed for most jobs and as entry requirements for courses at college and university. They usually take two years to complete and involve exams, and sometimes a coursework element.
A Parents’ Guide to GCSEs – Revision
Revision will make all of the difference. There is no predicting what could come up on the day of their exams, so it’s important that your child is 100% confident in their understanding. The earlier they start revising, the better their chances will be of securing good grades as it will give them more time to familiarise themselves with topics. With the number of subjects that your child will be doing, it’s likely that they will need to prepare for each concurrently.
You can help by creating a schedule together, breaking down revision into manageable chunks so that all of it is completed and they aren’t overwhelmed.
A Parents’ Guide to GCSEs – Identifying Their Learning Style
Children have different ways of learning and what may work for their peers may not work for them. Establishing which learning style they have can certainly help make revision easier and more effective. To help your child identify theirs, complete a simple VARK survey. They consist of a series of personality-based questions and work out how your child prefers learning.
A Parents’ Guide to GCSEs – Emotional Support
In their final years at school, commitments and expectations will increase. Your child will be expected to stay on top of their homework for various subjects whilst also carrying out revision. To add to the pressure, they must also think about next steps and what they want to do once they leave school. It can be a difficult time so it’s vital that they have someone to lean on, such as yourself for emotional support.
A Parents’ Guide to GCSEs – Expectations
The last piece of advice that we would give to parents is to go easy on your children. Whilst their GCSEs are an extremely important time in their lives, they can be gruelling and overwhelming them with unnecessary pressure at this point can be counter productive. Instead provide reassurance, let them know how proud you are and use positive reinforcement to fuel their drive.
*Collaborative post
About Debz Louise
Debz Louise is a UK-based lifestyle expert and the founder of several lifestyle blogs, including Wannabe Princess and Under 5s. Specializing in everything from interior design and home renovation to body-positive fashion and early years development,