Sixty Seconds to Exam Success

What can you do in 60 seconds?

You can mix yourself a tranquilliser smoothie. This is easy to invent. If you are mixing one early in the morning you will need vastly different ingredients to the `late at night slurp‘.

Write a list of five positive and nice things your child would like to hear. Give yourself extra points if you can think of something original.

Deliver a pep talk on the value of sustained learning. A pep talk is uplifting and is meant to be fun for all concerned. When you deliver your pep talk you try to have a laugh in your voice and a smile on your face. You are not discussing a sad and dismal subject. You may need to explain to the rest of the family that this is not a `telling off’.

Send a text message to your best friend inviting your friend to share a moment of your time. Simply text about your joy of being alive. After all when you work with your child towards a goal you are allowed to enjoy yourself.

Explain an 11+ question where you : ‘Express as a simple ratio 5 : 15 and 5a : 15a.

Spend 60 seconds talking about the ancient Babylonians. Babylonian children had a lot to learn as there was a different name for every number up to 60. The Babylonians invented sixty minutes and sixty seconds for measuring angles - and described a straight line as 180 degrees. We need these facts for eleven plus questions.

Ancient mathematicians and astronomers went on to use sixty minutes in an hour and then sixty seconds for a minute.

So when you say to your child, “This will only take a minute,” you are really travelling back in time. If your child forgets that there are 90 degrees in a right angle and there are 360 degrees in a circle just whisper that this has been known to mankind for around five thousand years.

Recipe for Success

Tomato juice
Cucumber
Carrots
Celery
Half a small onion.

Whizz for 60 seconds.

Before breakfast add a touch of sauce.

Before bed add a glass of champagne. Sweet dreams!