One of the most asked questions by parents is "How can we best support our student during their exams?" As parents we want to do everything we can to provide opportunities for our students to reach their full potential during this stressful time. At the same time, we may not know where to start or where to provide support. This dilemma is explored in the article and feedback is provided by a number of prior IB parents who have been in the same boat. While each student and each family is different, some things we we would urge you to keep in mind:

• The Importance of "Just Being There For Them": Sometimes they may need to vent, sometimes they may need someone to just listen. Regardless, them having someone there that they know will be there for them as little or as much as they need it provides an important sense of foundation and security.

• Be "Flexible": During the period leading up to exams and through them, your students may be quite busy and stressed. Preparing for exams can create tunnel vision. Be open, be flexible and understand that exams may be the only thing on their mind for a bit.

• Make Sure They Are Fed and Watered: Ensure they are well supplied with healthy snacks and meals and that they take the time to partake of them. Research shows a significant association between healthy eating and success. 

• Help Make Sure They Are Rested: Studying all night is not a healthy and effective approach to success on examinations, particularly when drawn out over the extenended period in which exams take place. Parents can help to ensure thier students have appropriate opportunities to rest and take breaks so they can be at their best for their exams.

• Encourage Them to Take Appropriate Breaks and Provide Space to Do So: Studying all of the time is also not a healthy and effective manner of exam preparation nor an indicator for success. Taking short appropriate breaks to destress, move around and re-focus helps the mind to keep on task and prepared. UNC has a very good overview  about the importance of study breaks as well as information about what kinds of breaks are effective and which are not.

Leading up to IBDP examination, AISL IBDP teachers provide students with a number of support opportunities to prepare for the endeavor. While each subject may vary, some general approaches include:

• Use of Mock Exam data: Mock examinations provide teachers with important subject data that highlights specific areas in the subject for review. Many subjects use the time between Mock Exams and IBDP Exams to conduct focused review and skill practice.

• Subject Teacher Feedback/Support: While our IBDP teachers actively make themselves available for support throughout each student's IBDP journey, they give particular attention to this area in the time leading up to examinations. We encourage students to be pro-active and seek out specific, focused for any subject knowledge and skills they may be finding challenging.

• Supervised Quiet Study Spaces: During periods between examinations (for mocks and IBDP exams) arrangements have been made to provide students with a space on campus to be used for quiet study and review.

Additional 

• "Reading Week" Prior to Exams: Many schools IBDP schools provide students with a "Reading Week" just prior to exams. During this time they are often  released from their normal class schedule and provided opportunities to study/review independently or on campus. The exact form of this time varies widely amongst schools as each works to meet the specific needs of thier contexts. No "one size" fits all needs. At AISL we aseese the needs of each cohort and review a variety of models to best provide support needs of our community. 

•  Outside of School Review Sessions: Depending on subject material and student progress, individual IBDP teachers may choose to offer specific support/review session for students outside of the normal school times.