Exams are OVER!

I am so relieved to be able to say those three words, "Exams are over". I have been longing to be able to say those words since the beginning of 2012 when January A2 exams started.  Now, I have a three month long summer to do with as I like however, the thought of sitting doing nothing all the time bores me close to death so I thought I'd put together a list of things I plan to do this summer:

1. Party and holiday it up in Kos! This is really going to be one of the highlights of summer 2012 as I get to spend a week away with two of my best friends. We're planning to select things to do at night including: foam parties, cruises, glow parties, beach parties, water parties, water park and silent arenas. Not to forgot that its a week full of drinking, tanning and partying hard! (12th-19th July)
2. Leavers Ball! Leaving school for good is a big step for everyone and it really is the end of an era and having a big 'party' to see all the year thirteen's off is the best way to do this. My dress arrived from China on Tuesday and its more prommy than expected but I do think its stunning (I'm not letting anyone see it until the day), and next Monday we're going shopping for the essential accessories like heels, bag and jewellery. Its a brill time to get dolled up to spend one last night with the whole year group. Bye bye Danum!
3. Day trip to Thorpe Park. In my eyes, Thorpe Park is the best theme park in England due to the closeness of all the rides as you can get from one side of the park to other in 5 minutes (if you walk at "theme park speed" haha). Since I have been to Thorpe Park before I am anxiously awaiting the ride of the new ride 'The Swarm' and going on others such as 'Stealth' and 'SAW: The Ride'. Eek!
4. House/Dog Sit. My auntie, uncle and cousins are going on holiday for the week and have asked me to look of their dog and the house therefore I will be having a week living alone, I suppose it'll be like a taster of whats to come at university in September (hopefully). It'll be the week after I've returned from Kos so at least I'll have a quiet week to myself to recover from the boozing we'll do in Kos and chill :)
5. Get A-Level Results. Thursday 16th August 2012 - D-day! :|
6. Go to the Beach! Although I'm off abroad with friends, it doesn't include all my friends and I really want to spend a day out with them all and as some of them are too thrilled at the idea of theme parks, the beach it is! Hopefully we will get some sunshine is glorious Britain so we can go.
7. Party! As I'm newly 18, partying is definitely on the cards; nights out to town and house parties, yes please! Exams have got in the way of this as I only turned 18 shortly before exams so I haven't experienced the 18 lifestyle too much.
8. Go to Chester Zoo! I have been wanting to go to Chester Zoo for years but its never been possible to go but now because my auntie is planning on going, its the perfect time! Plus, the dinosaur exhibition there has returned as I got soooo excited to see the T-rex in the National History Museum, London that I know I'll love this too! Ahhhh :D
9. Harry Potter Studio Tour, London. This is a must. For my close friends 18th, me and my mum went halves to get him a ticket to join us on this studio tour in London because he is a big Harry Potter fan just like myself and my family. I am extremely excited for this although it wont happen until near the end of the summer holidays. Potter lovers for life!
10. Read! Read! Read! I've always loved reading and I'm fortunate enough to be able to read books within one day but haven't had the chance with exams, school work and revision. I love a wide range of books and now my exams are over, I am able to get back to reading all the new books I've got recently and the ones I have loaded onto my new Kindle.
    

Hopefully, all these plans will inspire future posts to coming and over summer I will try and blog as regularly as I am able with all my exciting plans!

Bring on summer, its time to party!

J

Revision

Yawn. Even the word revision is boring! I really don't see how people can sit for hours in a quiet, darkened room to revise constantly for one subject. I'll be honest, when I was doing my GCSEs I did little to no revision for my exams and my results came out as seven As, four Bs and three Cs. These results got me into sixth form but no way was I prepared for the huge jump GCSE to A-level is. I'm not going to sit here and blog about why people shouldn't do A-level's but I think year eleven's need to be warned about the gigantic work load and the amount of stress you are under all the time before they choose their subjects.
Throughout school I'd managed to get high grades and succeed so going into sixth form, I had high hope of potentially pursuing a career in medicine either being a doctor or orthoptist. If you know me, you'll know I have now applied to university to study Primary Education and if your thinking that I've had to resort to plan B because of failing exams, that would be a fair point to say but I've always enjoyed working with children and when visiting universities I decided teaching was a better course for me to pursue due to little or no exams. You might think I've taken the easy route by choosing a course without exams, but through all my school life I have always excelled in coursework so therefore Primary Education is the perfect course for me (but I am afraid that in three years, I potentially could be in charge of a classroom of thirty children).
I have a variety of revision strategies that get me through the exam period but the one that proves the most successful for me is making A3 posters. It may sound pointless having posters stuck up all over the house but it does help. When the posters are up in my room I can refer to them before I go to sleep, when I wake up or just when I'm in my room tidying, like today. On the other hand, you may not want school work plastered all over your bedroom walls as it can be relatively depressing; but even when I don't put the posters up, the act of rewriting information helps me remember. I myself am a visual learner and understand a lot more when I have colour-coded diagrams and "stories" to just learn word for word so making posters help.
Since being in sixth form, I have realised I am a very particular student and like things neat, colour-coded and tidy. This is why all my folders in sixth form contain dividers, different coloured pens for the more important points and coloured diagrams although I really dislike drawing. Being organised in sixth form really does get you through and during A2 I have found my grades have improved a lot since AS. After AS results day, teachers tell you it is usual to retain the grade you received or go down a grade, well this really dampened my mood when I had Ds at AS. However, I have managed to go up two grades in Biology now which has made me determined to drag the rest of my grades up. Proud of myself!

Summer 2012 Exam Timetable

A selection of revision posters for English Language

J