Revision exam survival...

It's that time of year again that young people begin to stress about revision and exams whether it's SATs as this week or GCSEs or end of year exams and of course the ever presnet modules for AS and A2s!

So I put together some revision survival kits for our house group. It's not difficult to put together but with a little thought you can make it a little deeper too. I made some of the contents significant of something and others help the young people structure their revision. Any former students of mine won't be surprised that I also combiend it with advice to SLEEP, EAT WELL (including fish and plenty of fruit and vegetables) and have some TIME OUT sometimes.

So here's what our packs contained:
A pen - pretty much a must
two pencils - the pencil is mightier than the pen!
a jewel shaped pencil sharpener - to remind them that they are a precious treasure to us and God
pot of playdoh - a stress reliever
small card with a Bible passage - reminding them of the need for faith (we got ours from the fabulous St Andrew's bookshop but of course you could make your own if you want to save cash)
a flier for a youth event at the end of June - reminding them of the hope of the future
a heart - reminding them that they are loved
an eraser - we all make mistakes
a highlighter - because meeting with them is one of the highlights of my week (awww!)
some index cards, post-its and page tags - as markers to show the way
a holographic spinner - as a treat for when they've revised one card
a bouncey ball - as a treat for when they've revised a whole topic
a set of jumping frogs - as a treat for when they've finished a day of revision

I accompanied this with a look at Ecclesiastes (partly because that's the book we'd been planning to look at anyway!) which worked reasonably well as it is written as the words of THE TEACHER and has a few passages about study and knowledge. The message of the book to me is also about doing the best that you can with your life but with the awareness that you won't be able to understand the vastness of God and God's creation.