school 
Summer Holidays
Whether you go away over the summer or stay at home, we hope you have a relaxing time with family and friends.
When it is time to start back at school, how do you usually feel? You may just be really excited to see all your friends and to find out what challenges lie ahead for you in your new year group. Or… you may have mixed feelings about the new start and this is totally normal. There will be new expectations of you in your year group and you may or may not be worried about this.
Ways to prepare:
- Start going to bed and waking up a little earlier to get your body used to the change.
- Plan your morning routine and work out what can be done the night before to save you time. A checklist might help.
- Make sure you have a good workspace for homework, keep spare stationary there so that it is always ready and you don’t have to remember to take it to school. Keep this space clear; don’t let it pile up with books and papers.
- Make sure you are confident about how to get to school and how long it takes. It maybe useful to do a practice run before school starts.
- Talk about your worries with a parent, sibling or friend and try to work out ways to deal with them.
Where can I find support?
Here are some people you can ask for help and advice.
Streetwise - project workers always have time to listen confidentially to any concerns you have, and help you look at what options you can take. You can phone us, send us a question or message using our contact us page or discuss your problems on our forums.
School Counselor - find out from your head of year, tutor or another member of staff you trust about how to be referred.
Head of Year - will usually have some responsibility for your welfare, so will always be happy to help out.
Form teacher - good for issues within your class, e.g. bullying and school work.
Parents and Friends – these are the people who know you best, they can make big changes and offer you ongoing support.
Websites – on the Streetwise website you will find loads of information as well as links to other organisations that can help you with problems. Not all websites have accurate information so it is best to stick to those recommended by parents, teachers and Streetwise.
Waking up for School
You have probably been used to waking up whenever you want to during the holidays. Now you have started school, try not to have too many late nights in the week.
It is best to save late nights for the weekend , when you know that you can sleep late the next day. This also makes your weekends special and something to look forward to.
If you don’t get enough sleep, you will find it really hard to wake up , and will feel moody and lack concentration. Two alarms can help, if you have difficulty waking up!
Work
School work can bother you for many reasons; it might be too hard or too easy, you might feel under pressure to do well or find it hard to concentrate because of other issues you are dealing with.
Subjects that you have never studied before may be difficult at the beginning. Be patient, things will come more easily. Try to pin-point what you are finding difficult, this will make it easier for teachers to help you and for you to know when you have improved.
Make sure you plan out when you do your homework. Teachers do not like it if you don’t hand homework in on time. It is best to do it on the day it has been given to you, as it will still be fresh in your mind and you won’t risk rushing to get it in on time.
If you find you have problems with your class-work or homework, it is always good to speak to someone, e.g. friends, teachers or Streetwise Project workers.
To see an example of a homework timetable and some extra homework tips, have a look here:
Homework Timetable
Top Tips for Homework
Teachers
From time to time we can run into problems with teachers. It is important to remember that there are two sides to every relationship.
It is very hard for teachers to do their job when people mess about in class. They have a right to tell you off for disrupting the class, not doing your homework or breaking school rules.
On the other-hand, just because they are teachers, it doesn’t mean that they can treat you badly. If you really feel that you have been punished unfairly or if a teacher does something nasty like make fun of you or call you names, you should tell someone straight away. Find another teacher that you feel comfortable with and tell them the whole story as accurately as you can so that they can decide what to do.
Friends
Some of you may have had contact with your school friends over the holidays and some of you may have spent more time with your family or other friends. More often than not, when the routine of school begins, your friendships at school will slot back into place, even if you haven’t seen them over the holidays.
Try to show interest in what your friends have done over the holidays, ask questions and listen.
One way of meeting new friends and spending time with the ones you already have is to join a sports team or a club like the drama club, orchestra or choir. These extra-curricular activities help you to become a ‘well-rounded’ person and will look great when you come to apply for university or jobs.
School Meals
Some of us are really fussy when it comes to what we eat, which can make it really difficult in secondary school when it comes to lunch times!
When we were in primary school we were used to having a packed lunch from home and our mum's making us sandwiches or snacks that she knew we enjoyed :) ...
Suddenly we are in secondary school and it's lunchtime and we don't like the look of ANYTHING! WHAT DO WE DO?!
- Make sure that you have a good breakfast each day, otherwise by lunchtime you will be starving and if you don't like anything, you won't eat!
- Speak to the lunch ladies and ask them for a plain roll or a cheese sandwich, maybe something that isn't oily or hot.
- Make sure your teacher is informed as it is not something that you would want affecting your time in secondary school.
Remember: Eat a good breakfast, speak to a teacher or the lunch ladies and be open to trying new things! You never know what you might actually enjoy eating?!!! :)
Fitting It All In
It’s great to be busy but you need to keep track of how much time you need for homework, relaxation and sleep.
Make sure you set enough time aside for homework otherwise you will find you are always rushing it and you may miss deadlines or fall behind. Teachers usually give you guidelines for how much time you should be spending on work; if it takes you much longer to do the work than they say, you should discuss it with them so that they understand the problem. Doing homework in front of the TV or chatting on msn will mess up your concentration, this makes homework take longer and usually means that it won’t be as good.
If you travel to school by bus or train, give yourself enough time for any problems that may arise with your transport, e.g. delays.
When you have an exam or test coming up, give yourself enough time for revision. You might need to sacrifice something things temporarily. In exams, take your time and read the questions slowly!
If It All Gets Too Much
If you feel like you never have enough time to get things done be sensible; prioritize the things that are important to you and if need be give up something at least until you are back on track.
Making a list of all the things you have to do may help. You can then rearrange the list in order of importance or go through it with a parent or teacher. You could also make yourself a timetable which includes travel time, activities, homework, relaxation and sleep so that you can see where your time is going. Doing this will show your teachers and parents that you are serious about working out how to manage your time. They will be more willing to help and it could stop you getting into trouble.
Being Absent
When you are between 5 and 16 years old the law says that you must receive full-time education. During this time your parents must make sure that you attend a school or provide alternative education agreed by your Local Education Authority (LEA). If they fail to do this they may be prosecuted.
If you off school for a short amount of time (usually because you are unwell) it is best to phone the school to let them know as soon as possible, you will also need to make sure you take a note from your parents when you return which explains why you were away.
If you have been away from school it can be difficult to catch up when you get back. It might be a good idea to write down all the lessons you have missed and then see each teacher individually about how to catch up. Sometimes you might still feel a bit fragile or under-the-weather, so make sure the teachers know so that they can try not to over-load you.
If you are going to be away from school for a long time (for example, because you are in hospital) you will need to plan how you will continue your education while you are not in school. Your school and your LEA will be able to help you or your parents to organise this.
Taking Days Off For Festivals
If you do not go to a Jewish school you are allowed to take days off ‘on a day exclusively set aside for religious observance by the religious body to which the parent belongs’ (dfes http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/guidanceonthelaw/11-99/legal.htm). This means that
you can be off for festivals like Rosh Hashana where you are supposed to go to Shul and keep rules such as not writing but you should still go to school on festivals like Chanukah where those rules do not apply.
You will know in advance if you are going to be off school for a Jewish Holiday, so make sure your parents have written to the school at the beginning of term. This also means that you can go to see your teachers beforehand and let them know. They may be able to give you something to read or piece of work that will stop you from falling behind.
Try to make sure you put aside some extra time on the days following your time off so that you can catch up quickly. This is especially important when festivals (like Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) fall right at the beginning of the year.
Occasionally summer exams may be at the same time as Shavuot, you should inform your school in writing if this is likely to happen and should see a teacher straight away if you find that there is a clash.
Exam Stress - Revision
Whether you are revising for a small test, your GCSEs or your university finals, the key to revision is planning. You need to know what you have to do and how long you have to do it. If you don’t do this you may find that you miss topics or that you run out of time. Some tips for revision: - Give yourself a limited amount of time to make a revision time table and list the topics that you need to cover. This is a really important step but you don’t want to find you have a beautiful multi-coloured timetable and no time left to revise! - Mix up your strongest and weakest subjects on your timetable so that you don’t spend whole days slaving away on something you hate. - If you find that you are not sticking to your timetable try to work out why. Are you giving yourself enough time for each topic? Are you giving yourself too much time for breaks? Are you losing concentration? If this is the case you might need to adapt your timetable or change the way you work. - Experiment with different revision techniques; this will help keep you fresh and motivated and will also help you to know what works best for you so that you can improve each time you have exams. - Ask for help when you need it. Parents, friends, siblings and teachers will generally be very happy to help if you are having problems especially if you show them that you have put some effort into trying to work it out for yourself first. - Make sure you have a quiet comfortable space to work. Some people like to vary where they do their revision, some like to make sure they have exactly the same seat in the library every time – work out what is best for you. - Working with friends can be really helpful but it is easy to get distracted. It can be useful to work out a schedule with your friends so that you do some work together and some alone. You could also meet up when you have breaks to help you relax. There are loads of great websites which can help you to find revision techniques that work for you. Here are a few good ones:
and Knowitall Tips!
Remember that these sites are designed to help you with revision so don’t spend all your time looking at them and no time revising!
Exam Stress - The Exam!
Make sure you understand what the exam will be like. The best way to do this is by practising past papers under exam conditions.
The most important things to know are:
- What the rules are for the paper. E.g. Are you allowed calculators/dictionaries/etc? How should you set out your answers?
- How long the exam is.
- How long you should be spending on each question (sometimes there are good guidelines like one minute per mark).
- What type of questions there will be, i.e. essays, short questions or multiple choice. Make sure you feel prepared:
- Get any equipment you need ready the night before and check it again before the exam.
- Get plenty of sleep the night before and make sure that you eat healthily. Eat food that will give you energy throughout the exam (like porridge and wholemeal bread) rather than sweets and crisps that could leave you feeling hungry in the middle.
- Wake up early and get to the exam in plenty of time. You do not want to feel sleepy or rushed when you go into the exam. Once you get into the exam it can be difficult to get started:
- Read through the paper before you begin, this might seem like you are wasting time but it will help you to know what is coming, it will get your brain working and it will help you know how much time to spend on the questions. Choosing an easy question will also help you to get started and make you feel more positive about the exam.
- Always plan your answers to long questions and essays, this will organise your thoughts and help you to give a much better answer. Leaving your plan on the paper (labelled or in brackets) can also help the examiner know what you were thinking and may get you extra marks.
- If you are running out of time put your answers down in bullet points. You may still get some marks for what you have written and you can go back and finish as much as you can with whatever time you have left.
- Leave time to read through your answers at the end. This will help you spot mistakes and put them right.
- Make sure that you answer the question that is asked not the one that you hoped it would be! Most people feel nervous before and during exams even if they don’t admit it. Remember that this is normal and can even help you to do better.
A few things that might help you to calm down are:
- Taking a deep breath before you even look at the paper and telling yourself that you are calm and focussed.
- Jot down any reminders about exam technique or things to remember on a scrap piece of paper at the beginning of the exam.
- Highlight important parts of the exam question, it will help you to read the question properly and make you feel like you are making progress.
Exam Stress - Afterwards
You will probably want to forget all about the exam as soon as it is over but it can be a good idea to take some time to think about what went well and what did not. This will help you to do better in the future. If there was something you did that was particularly helpful it can be a good idea to write it down so that you can remember next time you take an exam.
If an exam has gone badly try not to let it get you down or make you panic. Often it turns out that it was not nearly as bad as you think. Try to use the experience to help you cope better in the future.
You will want to celebrate when you finish your exams and it is nice to do so. Remember that exams take a lot out of you and you need to make sure that you have time to recover - get plenty of sleep and eat healthily to prevent yourself from getting ill.
Try not to worry while you are waiting for your results. There is nothing that you can do now that the exams are over. Try to keep yourself busy and have fun particularly just before results day.
