Navigating the Exam Season: A Guide for Teaching and Support Staff
Published: Sunday May 05 2024 by Melanie Crewe
As the exam season approaches, the atmosphere in school can significantly shift. For pupils, it can be a time of heightened stress, anxiety, and pressure. For teaching and support staff, navigating the Exam Season is particularly challenging and is a crucial time to provide guidance and support to students, as well as ensuring you manage your own wellbeing successfully.
In this blog, we’ll explore some effective strategies for supporting pupils through the exam season and as a result, create a calmer classroom environment for all.
Create a Supportive Environment:
Foster an atmosphere of encouragement and positivity in the classroom. Remind students that exams are just one aspect of their academic journey and encourage them to do their best without placing excessive pressure on themselves.
Provide Practical Guidance:
Offer practical advice on effective study techniques, time management, and exam preparation strategies. Teach students how to create revision schedules, prioritise topics, and manage their time efficiently.
Offer Emotional Support:
Recognise that some students may experience heightened levels of anxiety during the exam period. Be approachable and available to listen to their concerns. Encourage open communication and provide reassurance and encouragement when needed.
Promote Healthy Habits:
Emphasise the importance of maintaining a balanced lifestyle during the exam season. Encourage students to prioritise sleep, nutrition, and exercise to support their overall well-being and cognitive function.
Teach Stress Management Techniques:
Introduce students to relaxation and stress-reduction techniques such as deep breathing exercises, mindfulness, and visualisation. These techniques can help students manage exam-related stress and anxiety more effectively.
Offer Academic Support:
Identify students who may be struggling academically and if school resource/ staffing permits, offer additional support or resources to help them improve. This can be achieved by facilitating extra revision sessions, one-on-one tutoring, or access to study materials to support their learning. Speak to justteachers if you need specialist support!
Encourage Self-Care:
Remind students to take breaks, engage in activities they enjoy, and spend time with friends and family. Encourage them to engage in hobbies or interests outside of school to help maintain balance and perspective during the exam season.
Celebrate Effort and Progress:
Celebrate students’ efforts and progress, regardless of their exam outcomes. Encourage a growth mindset and reiterate the importance of learning from mistakes and setbacks by using relatable examples. If a pupil is motivated enough to put the extra work in, this should be acknowledged and praised.
Stay Positive and Calm:
As teaching and support staff, your attitude and demeanour can have a significant impact on students’ emotional well-being. Stay positive, calm, and supportive, even during stressful moments. Your presence and reassurance can help students feel more confident and secure.
Provide Post-Exam Support:
Offer support to students after exams are completed. Be available to discuss their performance, address any concerns or questions they may have, and offer guidance on the next steps. It can often feel strange to students once their exams are over. Pupils can find themselves lacking direction, having spent so much time preparing their learning for the exam season. It is also important for pupils not to dwell too much on comparing their answers to others, learning the important lesson of being patient across the entire Summer for results day and trying, at least, to put it to the back of their mind and enjoy their holidays.
By implementing these strategies, teaching and support staff can play a vital role in helping students navigate through the exam season with confidence and resilience. Together, we can create a supportive environment where students feel empowered to excel academically while placing great importance on their well-being.
If you would like to learn more about teaching support roles in your area and in particular, roles that place significant focus towards the social and emotional mental wellbeing of children and young learners, then please speak to your local justteachers branch today. You can contact your local team here: https://www.justteachers.co.uk/contact/
