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GCSE exams

Beat the Heat! Ways to Stay Cool this Summer

11 August 2020 / 11+ Admissions, 11+ English Tuition, 11+ Grammar School Tuition, 11+ Maths Tuition, 11+ Mock Tests, 11+ Non Verbal Reasoning Tuition, A levels, food, GCSE exams, health, wellbeing

The drastic (but very welcome) rise in temperature this week has led to small changes in daily routine. Going out for exercise feels torturous under the glaring heat; working at a desk feels uncomfortable in the sticky humidity. BBC Weather has reported that this sweltering heat is the hottest August we have seen in 17 years, as temperatures have reached around 36° Celsius. Finding motivation in a heatwave and within a pandemic seems like a Herculean task. It is clear that “productivity levels have slumped as the heat affects the nation’s diet, routine and sleep patterns” (The Independent). However, small but key changes can be made to accommodate for any weather, but specifically the British summer.

 

Eat Cool to Stay Cool – Surprisingly, eating spicy food will cool you down through inducing you to sweat more. A recent Independent article spoke to nutritionist Daniel O’Shaughnessy about other foods that can help beat the heat, such as soup, spinach, and turmeric for its anti-inflammatory effects. Although soup is a traditional winter dish, O’Shaughnessy speaks about the benefits of its consumption specifically in the evenings. Another easy hack to stay cool is to drink lots of water – infused with cucumber, melon, or celery for taste. Dehydration is definitely a possibility in this heat, so it is important to keep drinking water (or hot drinks, they help too) throughout the day.

 

Sponge and Cool – A study conducted at the University of Sydney, as reported by Huffington Post, suggests that dabbing water to your chest, legs, back, and arms can increase comfort in extreme heat. This is a useful trick to use when you are studying or doing zoom tuition over the summer holidays. Taking small breaks to hydrate and apply water prove to be most effective.

 

“The study’s results, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found applying water to these areas of the body improved comfort during a heatwave, in addition to lowering cardiovascular strain and reducing the rate of dehydration.” – HuffPost

 

Check your Setting – It can be difficult to find a spot to chill, literally, when your house lets a lot of sunlight in. To keep rooms as cool as possible, shut your curtains or blinds when you’re not in the room. Sometimes, it is cooler outside so adhere to social distancing and find a shady spot in a nearby park.

 

There are rare and few moments where we get weather that resembles anything close to tropical so make the most of the sunshine, with home barbeques, socially distanced picnics, or just good old-fashioned water fights. Enjoy the weather!

Expand your Reading List to Expand your Mind

27 July 2020 / 11+ Admissions, 11+ English Tuition, 11+ Grammar School Tuition, 11+ Maths Tuition, 11+ Mock Tests, 11+ Prep Courses, 11+ Prep Exams, A levels, GCSE exams

Lists are to students, what traffic is to drivers. Notoriously unavoidable and inevitable in day-to-day life. Back-to-school stationary lists, homework to-do lists, and shopping lists – The list of lists can go on and on. Despite their pedantic reputation, lists have been proven to be a powerful tool to increase productivity as they display all the items clearly, ensuring nothing is forgotten. However, there is one list in particular, that we are all familiar with: the traditional reading list.

Receiving an annual or termly reading list may not seem like a momentous moment, in that it is typical of academic institutions to enforce literary requirements. Specific books are integral to a year’s syllabus and curriculum, so it may often feel as though reading is a chore or another task to finish in an endless list. But now amid the summer months, I wanted to explore the various benefits of reading for pleasure – when one can go beyond just academic obligation. The rough definition of ‘reading for pleasure’ is as follows; freely choosing the reading or enthusiastically continuing reading after the respective material is assigned. The common factor is enthusiasm. When reading can be seen as a hobby rather than a chore, it can unlock a whole new deeper meaning behind the discipline itself. Reading promotes a sense of empathy, where the reader naturally aligns their emotions with that of the complex characters presented in the plot. Reading also has the power of metaphorical transportation; we can depart from our four walls, our situation, to different historical worlds of fantasy or mystery. In a research essay exploring the benefits of ‘pleasure reading’ on academic success, Whitten writes:

“Many educators encourage their students to read outside of the classroom in order to increase reading comprehension, vocabulary, general knowledge, and cultural awareness; however, research indicates that pleasure reading may have a greater influence on a child’s overall academic performance than their socio-economic background-” (pg. 48)

I find that one of the biggest advantages of pleasure reading is that the reader can determine their own pace, and there is no better setting for this than over the summer holidays. Schools, English tuition, private tuition, or other academic environments have to press time constraints in order to follow a schedule. Reading for fun calls for independence in time scheduling, pace, and location. With lockdown measures still in place, one can get creative in finding cosy reading spots around the house.

 

So, I urge students, parents, and everyone to try qualitative not quantitative reading, to explore new genres, work from modern authors, and classic texts. Below are links to more lists – ones that don’t have the usual time pressure – for you to read and enjoy this summer.

 

 

100 ‘Must Read’ Books for All Ages:

https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2018/100-must-read-classic-books/

 

Must Read Books for 9-12-year-olds:

https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/children/2019/apr/must-read-books-for-9-12-year-olds.html

 

References: Whitten, C., Houston, S.J., & Labby, S.A. (2016). The impact of Pleasure Reading on Academic Success.

-Ketki Mahabaleshwarkar

Does Practise really make Perfect?

21 July 2020 / 11+ Admissions, 11+ English Tuition, 11+ Grammar School Tuition, 11+ Maths Tuition, 11+ Mock Tests, 11+ Non Verbal Reasoning Tuition, 11+ Prep Courses, 11+ Prep Exams, 11+ Verbal Reasoning Tuition, A levels, GCSE exams

When one thinks of the action of practise, it is often synonymous with discipline and order. The fundamental idea of repetitive work is one that is championed by scholars and leaders. Why do we say, ‘practise makes perfect’? Is this a phrase applicable only to one discipline of study, like maths tuition, or is it a more general theory? The scientific impact of practise on the human brain is that the neural pathways work better in unison, by myelination. When we practise a skill over a set period of time, our brain thus becomes conditioned to feel comfortable with the skill – E.g. practising a speech over and over again will make one more confident with the skill of public speaking. It is almost subconscious when we become more attuned to the object of practise.

 

In the life of a student, practise is a certainly an integral pillar of success. Therefore, reserving the period before key exams for revision seems realistic and practical. Private tuition, (such as GCSE levels tuition or 11 plus prep) is a great mode of practise for students to get comfortable with examination conditions. Practise not only allows one to aim for the highest grade, but it also inspires a sense of confidence. If practise encourages personal confidence, it must also have a place in our daily life, whether it be in the extracurricular or academic sphere. The iconic phrase – practise makes perfect – is originated from its Latin form ‘Uses promptos facit’ referenced in the ‘Diary and Autobiography of John Adams’. Clearly, the philosophical and practical message is far from antiquated, and still essential for one’s personal success.

 

However, it must be said that sometimes practise has an innate tendency to feel monotonous. We gain personal satisfaction from seeing immediate results, whereas the ‘art’ of practise can feel like a long-haul endeavour. To achieve the desired results, one must stay diligent over a specific time-frame – this is tough, for boredom can strike, but with perseverance, practise will always achieve results. Will it achieve perfection? The idea of perfection is in itself ambiguous, but what is clear is that practise will make you better at what you are practising. To quote the resounding words of essayist Audre Lorde, “Every day of your lives is practise in becoming the person you want to be”.

-Ketki Mahabaleshwarkar

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