Study Skills Collection

Calling all pupils approaching exams, mocks, assignments, essays, interviews and investigations. We have an expansive collection of study and writing skills guides in the Library just for you! Come and browse our displays...

Year 7 library Activity - Scott’s House!

It’s all change on the Library Activity front again as we say good bye to Year 7 Scott’s House after five weeks of book based excitement.

Exam and Revision Wellbeing

As exam season has just begun, we thought we would not inundate you with revision tips. Instead, we thought that this month the blog would look at how to look after your wellbeing and mental health during this stressful time.

If you are starting to feel the pressure and aren’t sure what to do, don’t panic. There are small sustainable things you can do to make sure that you are fully prepared to handle whatever life throws at you this exam period. We’ve created a list of suggestions that can help you beat the stress.

Year 7 Edwards' Library Activity

Edwards' House gave us a colourful start to the new school year in the first six weeks of term. We kicked off with some new games, tasks and discussions. There a was heated discussion on the greatest heroes and villains in children’s literature, looking how what constitutes a hero and a villain has changed over the years. Then we discussed bad book covers and how publishers sell their books to audiences through good design,  promotion and marketing. Finally we talked about the book cover characteristics of different genres, and how they give the reader an idea of the story without giving too much away.

50 PENGUIN MODERN CLASSICS 2018!

SHORT and SWEET: NEW PENGUIN MODERN CLASSICS

We are in the process of preparing 50 pocket sized Penguin Modern Classics: handy little reads that showcase some of the great writers, poets, essayists and philosophers of the twentieth century. 

These are excellent study aids, particularly as introductions to influential voices on the arts, history, technology and other social, political and cultural issues. 

 

Year 7 Library Activity with Glenn's House!

GLENN'S

We have had the pleasure to start the school year off with the new Year 7 Glenn's House, every Monday afternoon in the Library.

There were several new additions to our activities this Autumn, including: Dewey Decimal Jeopardy, Book Genre Cover Designing and a BGS History Walk and Quiz which proved to get the class up and out of their seats in noisy participation! "Noise in the Library?!" I hear you say. Yes, but just this once.😊

We also had a new Scavenger Hunt in which the class were split into pairs and given research questions on cards for which they must find the answers in the correct books. 

The catch? It was timed, and they had to show their team adjudicators (namely, Mrs Godden, Ms Johns, Miss Glenn and Mrs Osafo, in this case) where they might find the answers in the specific book they chose. It worked! There was plenty of healthy competition and some very interesting resources found.

                                                                     Uh-oh!
We then opened up the irresistible temptation of team buzzers to the class in the Dewey Jeopardy game and the inevitable cacophony that ensued was totally worth it as the students had picked up a lot about where books belonged in the Library and seemed to have a great time doing it. The winning team was, incidentally, the quietest and most strategic one, and they walked away with a prize bag each.

The next couple of weeks was spent researching and preparing for the group presentations in pairs. The result was a mixed bunch that inspired some of the highest points that we have ever awarded.

In third place, Teresa and Can who gave an extremely detailed discussion on the 'Library of Congress' with great enthusiasm, excellent team work and even introduced us to the current Librarian of Congress, the first woman in the role ever, to be precise! 

                                                Carla Hayden, current Librarian of Congress.

Our next winners were Alexia and Prithija with their presentation on 'How We Choose What To Read Next', which demonstrated confidence, great sharing of the delivery and good pace with some effective interaction and memorable recommendations. And remember: always ask your Librarian!

Our final winners were Sofea and Zoe who talked about Penguin Publishing in a well practised and clearly delivered presentation full of facts and great images. One of the smartest PowerPoints we had seen. Well done everyone!

EU Referendum: how will you decide?

The result of the looming EU Referendum on June 23rd will have lasting implications on life in the UK for many years to come. With so much information and misinformation swirling around, how do you decide what is fact, fiction or opinion and how much any of it going to influence the way you vote? Whether you are a first-time voter or a seasoned veteran, hopefully this mini-guide to some of the more useful information out there will help you make up your mind.

8 Ways to Improve Your Revision

Seeing as it is the middle of the exam season we thought we would blog about our tried and tested revision techniques. We've narrowed it down to our top eight as listed below.

If your concentration is all but gone put your notes down and grab a good book. Yes, reading Harry Potter for 20 minutes can help you revise! Having breaks are important and a good book can help you forget about your exam stress.

Give yourself a treat. Not all the time, but if there is a subject you are struggling with give yourself a little reward at the end of each paragraph you made notes on.

Learning how to Manage Your Resources

When embarking on a piece of independent research for the first time, one of the biggest challenges is figuring out how to assess and treat your resources.  You are expected to think critically, to actively select for and against sources and to express cogently and succinctly why you have made those decisions.

Whether you are starting out on your EPQ, researching for coursework or improving your skills for Higher Education, managing resources is a vital area you all can work to improve on.

See our powerpoint presentation on managing resources here.  Be sure to check the notes for further explanation, and for links to useful youtube videos.

A Very Short Introduction to Your Next Project

Have you ever found yourself at a complete and utter loss at the start of a new course or project?  Devoid of background information, not knowing where to begin and Wikipedia simply not cutting it?

Introducing the Very Short Introduction Series, here to help ease the path into a vast range of topics.  Published by Oxford University Press, each book is authored by an expert in their field and combine facts, analysis, current discussions, references and enthusiasm to make oftentimes challenging subjects highly readable.

So Long Google Reader, We Hardly Knew Ye

Google recently announced that it is withdrawing Google Reader.  Much loved by internet junkies, the RSS reader is/was a free and easy way of keeping track of multiple websites and blogs in one central location, ensuring that no news piece, web comic or LOLCat pass unnoticed.

I have taken this simple little product for granted for years, and only realised the impact it has had on my daily routine now that it is on the way out!  Browsing that used to take minutes will now consume far more minutes.  Valuable time I could be using to brew tea or read books.

So I set out on a quest to find an acceptable replacement.  My criteria: it must be as quick, it must be as beautiful, it must be as free.

Taming the Beast: How to Turn Wikipedia into a Reliable Resource

Despite the fact that students are consistently warned not to use Wikipedia in their research, the free, collaboratively-edited internet encyclopaedia, is most likely one of your most-used resources.  The problem with Wikipedia is that it is inconsistent in terms of quality; some articles are on a par with published reference works, whereas others can be patchy, biased and unreliable.

In this guide I won’t waste time telling you why you shouldn’t be using the site, because you won’t listen, and it would be a waste to dismiss the entire site out-of-hand.  Instead, I hope to equip you with the skills to assess the quality of any given wiki-article and to use these as a springboard for further work.

What twitter is doing to your writing

Cambridge University don, Prof. David Abulafia, has spoken out against falling standards of written English, even amongst top students.

In an article in the Telegraph he pointed the finger squarely at social media sites, including twitter and Facebook, which encourage brevity at the cost of elegance and accuracy.  Read the full article here

Revision Revisited: How to Get the Most From Each Study Session

 

Truly, January is the cruelest month.  The fog and cold are rolling in, frost threatens, it's the longest time until Christmas and, worst of all, January exams are upon us.

Luckily the Library can be a warm, quiet haven for productive study.  If you know how to make the most of it.  Take a look at our handy study tips to make the most of your precious time: