GENERAL ADVICE ON SCHOOL CLOSURES
Thisisnotwastedtimebutinsteadisanidealopportunity for students to revise before summer or state examinations. In many schools, on-line learning is taking place through MS 365 or G suite for education. This may not be possible due to broadband connectivity and, so, many students will have to take responsibility for their own learning over the coming weeks. The following are possible suggestions in this case: •Forfirstandsecond-yearstudents,continuetoreadthe chapterofthetextbookthatyouwerestudyinginschool and try to answer the chapter questions. When you have finishedthis,begintorevisechaptersandtopicsfromfirst semester. Look back over your class tests from this time and try to answer these questions again.
• Third-year students can gain a lot of ground over the nexttwoweeksintermsofgettingaheadontheirrevision. Makeoutarevisiontimetableandsticktoit–allow40minutespersubjectwithafive-minutebreakinbetween,and try to stay disciplined about this. In as much as possible, mirroryournormalschooldayandtakebreaksandlunch attheusualtimes–yourbrainisalreadyprogrammedto this routine. Start each study session by reading your notes or textbook, then use your exam papers to try to answer questions on that topic. Checkthemarkingschemeforthequestionandseewhere youcouldimproveandmostimportantlymakethecorrections.(Allexampapersandmarkingschemescanbe accessedonwwww.examinations.iebutotherwebsites such as studyclix.ie allow you to answer questions by topic). If you have practical examinations such as Music orHomeEconomics,usethistimetopracticeyourskills.
• Fifth-year students have quite a bit of their courses covered and, again, should focus on revising their work from first semester. Once you have revised a topic, you too should try to answer exam questions on that topic and then correct your answers using the marking scheme online. You could also arrange with a friend to study the same topic on a particular day and then answer the same questions. If you are comfortable enough, you could then email each other your questions and peer review them using the marking scheme online.
• Leaving Certificate students are most anxious about school closure but should try to stay focused on their work. Continue to prepare for your Oral and Practical examinations. Portfolios and projects must still be completed, and this is an ideal time to perfect these. In all subjects, set out a revision timetable. Start the day with subjects that you find most difficult and move on to subjects that you find easier at the end of the day. Do no leave out any subject, no matter what level it is or how confident you are in it. Focus on exam paper questions and perfecting your technique in answering questions. Look up the marking schemes for each subject and compare them with your own answer:
Useful resources: www.examinations.ie for past exam papers; www.studyclix.ie for past exam questions by topic; www.khanacademy.org which has excellent online tutorials for LC students across a range of subjects;
www.scoilnet.iewhichhasawiderangeofresources specific to Irish schools at all levels;
www.mangahigh.com is a game based platform for learning maths.