If you (or your kids) are just finishing Y10, Y11 or Y12, you might be looking forward to a relaxing and enjoyable summer. And why not? Exams are about to start, and after the slog of revising for and sitting them you’ll be ready for a well-earned break.
However, it’s not a good idea to let your studies ride completely over the summer. You’ll be getting around six weeks’ break (maybe more, if you’re at an independent school). That’s a pretty long time – easily long enough to get out of some of the good academic habits you’ve learned. So it’s a good idea to stay on top of your subjects if you can.
That’s not to say you should spend the entire break revising for the next round of exams! But what can you do to keep your brain in tip-top condition for the start of the next academic year.
Reading around your subjects is probably the single best thing you can do with your spare time. Venture off the curriculum and check out books, magazines and newspaper articles that cover the broad topic areas you’re studying. This is useful because it can help you see the ‘big picture’ of each subject. The detailed areas that you’re studying for your modules will be put in context and (hopefully) become much clearer.
Reading doesn’t have to be dull, and you don’t have to sit at your desk to do it – you can read in the bath, in the garden, in bed, or anywhere you can get comfortable.
- Preparing for AS or A2 Politics or Economics? Buy a couple of copies of The Economist (or check it out online).
- Scientists: Natalie Angier’s The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science is full of great background stuff, as is Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything.
- If you’re studying English Lit, the obvious place to start is with some classic literature. Have a go at one of the Shakespeare plays you haven’t studied so far (Hamlet, Anthony and Cleopatra, Othello, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of The Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing are some of the easiest to get to grips with). If you’re feeling really brave, try John Milton’s Paradise Lost – the greatest poem in English, and a rip-roaring story if you can get your head around the difficult language.
- Historians, check out BBC History Magazine. If you’re studying British History, Simon Schama’s A History of Britain series of books is good, if a bit expensive (so why not get the TV version on DVD from Amazon? It’s only £15.)
- You’ll (probably) never think Maths is boring again if you read Simon Singh’s The Cracking Code Book – a version of his classic The Code Book specially formatted for the student and young adult market. If you like that, you’ll probably also enjoy Singh’s Fermat’s Last Theorem.
Of course, reading around your subjects – though a big help – isn’t all you can do to stay sharp or catch up in the holidays. Personal tuition can also make a big difference – get in touch with 121 to discuss how we can help!