Tips For Choosing Your A-levels

I remember when I had to choose my A-level options in year 11 and I had a fairly clear idea of what I wanted to do but I know it isn't that easy for everyone. It's a really important decision that could potentially have an impact on your future. But saying that, it's also important you don't let it overwhelm you.

 

These are some of the best tips I can give you for choosing your A-levels but it's also a good idea to get advice from those who know you, such as your parents or teachers.

 

1. Ask Lots Of Questions

It's really important that your choice is as informed as possible so that you know exactly what you're signing up for. Some important questions you could ask are: what topics will you be studying? What's the pass rate? What's the proportion of exams vs coursework?

 

2. Don't Be Afraid To Move

One of the greatest decisions I made when choosing my A-levels was the decision to move schools. Moving to a new place for my sixth form studies really re-sparked my joy for learning and I love school so much more now! Don't be afraid to do the same!

 

3. Pick Subjects For The Right Reasons

Of course, the subjects you choose are the most important thing so make sure you're picking them for the right reasons! Do you enjoy the subject? Are you good at it? Especially don't pick a subject because its easy - just because a course is less intense, doesn't mean it's necessarily better!

 

4. If You Can Manage It, Pick 4 Subjects Or An Extra AS-Level

Having 4 subjects instead of 3 has a number of benefits but the biggest benefit it brings is choice. Having 4 subjects means that should you want to drop one, the opportunity is there and this can be really beneficial if you're not enjoying a subject. Also, this gives you the opportunity to earn more UCAS points which will really help you to get into university

 

5. Consider BTECs With Caution

One thing I think people aren't made fully aware of is the implications of taking a BTEC subject as one of your options on your university choices. I don't recommend taking one as one of three but would recommend it as a fourth. This is because they're not for everyone and some universities favour normal A-levels over BTECs. Having said that, they can be great for upping your UCAS points, if you like doing coursework or if they're taken as an extra option.

 

6. Try To Think Of University

I know that university isn't for everyone but if you think it could be even a possible option then keep it in mind. If you do know what you want to study at uni, then it would be a great idea to look into what A-levels they prefer. If not, then it's also a good idea to choose at least one facilitating subject that can be applied to many different courses such as the sciences, English or maths.


I really hope you found these tips helpful. I'm in my second year of my A-levels now and they're the best tips I could give. Obviously, I'm no careers advisor so I would really recommend talking to others about your decision. And remember, you'll always have a little while to change your options if you change your mind later!

I wish you the best of luck in your A-levels and anything you do before.

I hope you have a great day and if it's your birthday, happy birthday!

How To Drink More Water

 

It is so important that you take in enough fluid everyday to help keep your body healthy and hydrated and water is the best drink for this so it's essential you drink enough of it everyday.

 

About a month ago, I decided it was about time I got on top of my water intake because quite frankly, I hardly ever drunk any at all. And it wasn't just water. I could go a whole day, drinking no more than two glasses. But since I decided to change that, I've been drinking so much more!

The first thing I did was I did a little research. I found out that women should be drinking 1.6 litres of water everyday and men should be drinking 2 litres. After this, I just did a little maths.

The picture above shows the 600ml water bottle I drink from and the markings I added to it. What I did was, measured 100ml of water in a measuring jug, poured it into my water bottle and used a pen to mark the line. I then repeated this several times until the bottle was full.

 

After this, I worked out what time I needed to have drunk each 100ml by. The 8 line represents how much water I need to fill my bottle up with in the morning. At school, I then keep track of time and drink 100ml of water by the time specified. So by 9'o'clock, I would have drunk 100ml of water, by 10, I'd have dunk 200ml and so forth. At 2'o'clock, I then refill my bottle to the 2 line and drink it from there. This therefore means that I stay well hydrated throughout the school day and by 4'o'clock, I will have drunk 800ml of fluid. Half of my daily intake. The rest is simple.

 

The bigger glass above holds 300ml of water and the small glass holds 200ml. I drink one of the small glasses with my breakfast and two of the big glasses after school. This then adds up to 1.6ml -  the recommended daily intake. I also keep track of my water intake in my bullet journal which you can see here. Each water droplet in my journal represents 200ml which I know I need to drink 8 of. It's really that simple.

 

 

 

Taking the time to measure out the different amounts of water is the only (ever so slightly) challenging thing about drinking enough water. But when you've taken the time to do it once, it's so easy to keep up with and your body will thank you for it. At first I tried 150ml at each interval during the day but I found that too difficult to keep up with so I simply changed the markings to better suit me.

 

It's also important to remember that if you're doing lots of exercise during the day, or spending lots of time in the heat, then you should be drinking a lot more than this. Stay hydrated people! Hopefully you found this post interesting and useful!

 

I hope you have a great day and if it's your birthday, happy birthday!

 

Sixth Form Shopping On A Budget

One thing that every UK student looks forward to in sixth form is being able to wear their own clothes instead of a uniform. In reality though, it can be quite a pain, especially when you still have school uniform rules to stick to and (apparently) not enough clothes to wear.

 

I thought I'd put together a guide to help all you sixth formers out there when you need to buy outfits on a budget. Because we all know you never have enough money to buy all the clothes you want. So here we are:

 

Tips For Sixth Form Outfit Shopping On A Budget

 

1. Stick To Uniform Rules

They say you're allowed to wear whatever you want but chances are there are still rules to follow so make sure you stick to them.

 

2. 5 Outfits is a Good Starting Point

When shopping, aim for 5 outfits that you love. This way, you've got one for everyday of the week and won't have to repeat outfits.

Starting My Bullet Journal

For quite a while now I've seen the phrase 'bullet journal' being thrown around on the internet, particularly on pinterest. I never really understood what it was about until I had a much deeper look into it recently.

Seeing all of the pretty layouts and designs, as well as begining to understand the practicality of the journal made me want to give it a try.

At first I struggled to find a set of layouts that I thought would suit all of my needs. I have a blog to run, homework to do and school grades to keep up. So although I liked the orignial system and some of the beautiful layouts others had created, I knew I had to adjust them to suit me.

The journal I bought was a gridded Agenzio notebook from Paperchase, which cost me £11. I can't find the £11 version on their webiste, but I found the exact same one which you can personalise! It turns out its actually really hard to find a gridded notebook! (Get on it WHSmith and Ryman!) I shall also be using my new pens which you can see in my back to school haul.

The following pictures are of the first few pages of my journal. I wish they were a little neater but differences is what it's all about!

So this is what is called my 'future log' which marks out all of the events for the rest of the year. As I only have a few months of 2016 left, I thought it would be best not to include the whole year. On the left is all of the holidays and birthdays I need to remember, and on the right is all of the individual events that I can add to as time goes on.

Tips For Teachers That Don't Allow Time For Notes

 

Unfortunately, I know only too well the struggle that is trying to take notes in lessons when the teacher goes too fast. Although teachers should really go at a pace that everyone is comfortable, this isn't always the case and sometimes its really quite difficult to take notes in class.

 

Over time, I have developed a couple tricks that have helped me to write faster and become more accustomed to this but sometimes it can be hard! So I thought I'd try to help you by putting together a list of tips to help you deal with teachers that don't allow time for note taking!

 

1. Read material before the lesson

If you have a text book or pre-printed notes/handouts then its a great idea to read them before you go the lesson so you have a general understanding of what's going to be taught and then you wont be caught up on the basics.

 

2. Use your phone to take pictures of the notes you missed

I do this all the time! This means that I can quickly and easily access the notes and add in anything I know I've missed. If you have to do this often, I recommend storing them on an app like Evernote with a title of the topic, that way you won't have lots of random pictures of work on your phone.

 

3. Use Google to find similar or even the same examples your teacher uses

Sometimes writing down examples isn't the best use of your time and instead writing key points/methodology is a better use of time. Googling examples can also help to consolidate ideas and give you a different perspective if you don't understand.

40 Thoughts Everyone Has When Going Back To School

 

I can't believe it has been two weeks back at school already! I'm already feeling a little overwhelmed with it all! For most, going back to school after the summer holidays is one of the most dreaded times of the year so I thought I'd put together a funny little collection of thoughts that everyone has when going back to school:

1. Nahh, don't worry, I still have 2 weeks left of summer to do that project
2. How has 6 weeks passed so quickly?!
3. I should probably start that project now...
4. Nah, I'll start it tomorrow
5. Oh god, we go back to school in 3 days!
6. I need to buy some new stationary
7. Yay! Stationary shopping!
8. I will only buy what I need this year. The basics.
9. Oops, I bought a little more than I needed...
10. Oh well, at least I have lots of cute stationary now!

Back To School Stationary Haul

With the start of the new school year, comes one perk that I always look forward to: New stationary!

 

There is no denying that I am a stationary addict and if I could, I'd buy out the Paperchase franchise and keep it all for myself. I'm not kidding... In all seriousness though, I really do have an unhealthy addiction to buying new stationary. Everything from pens, to notebooks, to new ring binders. It's just all so beautiful!

 

Although it's not all as beautiful as everything you'll find in Paperchase, I thought I'd share with you all the stationary I bought for my new school year.

Goals For Year 13

 

So year 13 has officially begun for me and boy am I scared! I have university to plan for, A-levels to take, course work to do. It's all starting for me. But hey, its not all doom and gloom, I'm feeling motivated and determined to succeed so hopefully all will go well.

 

With a new school year comes new goals and ambitions (and new stationary!) and I thought I'd share with you all what my goals are for year 13. I know they may be a seem a bit ambitious but they are my genuine goals and what I'd ideally like to achieve in my last year in school.

 

 

1.  Never Be Late For Class

Due to the options I take, one of my subjects is taught at a different school and I have to travel between both schools during the day to get to my lessons but unfortunately last year that meant that I often ended up arriving just after the lesson began. This definitely wasn't ideal but it was also not always under my control as I had to take a mini-bus to and from my lessons to the other side of my town. This year however, I am determined to no longer be late for my lessons and I will do everything in my power to make sure I get to them all on time.

 

2. Finish My BTEC ICT Course Early

I actually take 3 A-levels and a BTEC course which is completely comprised of coursework and no exams. This means that it is possible for me to finish my work before Easter and not have to turn up to my lessons after that. This would leave me with three more study periods to focus on my A-level exams which would be perfect for extra revision time. Therefore, I am determined to have my coursework completely finished, to an excellent standard by Easter, if not earlier so I can utilise as much time as possible for my work.

10 Tips For A Great School Year

 

For most, the school year has finally began and it's just as daunting as always. Everyone hopes for a great year and success throughout it so I thought I'd share with you some of my top tips to help you make your school year great!

 

1. Be Prepared

There is nothing more frustrating than starting a school year and quickly realising you're not ready for it at all. Being prepared could include having done any homework set over the summer holidays, having already bought or at least ordered the text books you need, having read over and reviewed any topics from last year that will come up again this year. (I know how annoying it can be to come back from a six week break and feel like the whole of last year was wiped away like pen on a whiteboard.) Make sure your memory is refreshed and you're ready to get going from day one.

 

2. Don't Let Yourself Fall Behind

This is a mistake I think many people make, but its crucial that you don't do it. Letting yourself get behind on work or content will cause a snowball effect and it will be really hard to come back from. Any motivation you lack now, will have to be made up for later. Avoid giving in late homework one week otherwise you'll have to do twice as much next week and chances are, the next homework will be late too because you spent your time doing the last one. If you miss any lessons, make sure you go and see your teacher, copy down any notes and complete any exercises that you missed. Also, if you get stuck on a topic, don't wait until you move on because it may be important or relevant and may make you struggle later on. Instead, work extra hard to develop your understanding and go over work that you don't understand.

 

3. Instead, Get Ahead When You Can

Read textbooks the night before so you have a basic understanding before the lesson which will make the lesson much easier to understand, but don't worry if you don't fully understand it as the content will be covered in class. If its possible, do any work early too, for example if your teacher uploads your homework early then try to do as much of it as you can. Also, if you complete homework early, don't be afraid to hand it in early so you can get onto your corrections and follow ups faster.

My Handwriting

So for today's post I thought I would give you a little insight into something very unique and personal to me: My handwriting. It varies from person to person which is why I thought it might be interesting to share it with you. Seeing as I've never seen another blogger do this sort of post before, I thought I'd give it a try and share with you this little part of my life.

My AS Level Results

 

 

Today has been one of the most dreaded and anticipated days of the school calendar, for both me and many other sixth form students: Results Day. That dreaded time of the year where we get to find out how did in our A-Level exams, and for many, if they got into their chosen universities.

 

I have only just finished year 12 so I am fortunate enough to only be picking up my AS-level results from the exams I took in June. I took 5 exams in 2 different subjects: Geography and Maths. Two of which were in geography and the other three were in maths.

 

I am currently on holiday in Florida at the moment so I wasn't able to go and pick up my results myself. Instead, my dad went to my school to pick them up for me. As it was someone else picking up my results, I had to wait slightly longer than most people before I got my results. Because of the 5 hour time difference, when I woke up this morning, most people back in England had already got their results so I was really scared yet excited to see how mine compared.

 

It was about 1 hour after I woke up, having already asked all my friends how they did, when I finally got a phone call from my dad telling me my results. I was over the moon! In my AS Levels I got:

 

The Ultimate Notebook Shopping List

 

I'm not the first and I won't be the last - I'm a stationary-aholic. It's an addiction and I will openly admit it. If I could, I'd buy every single notebook on this list and add them to my already extensive collection! I just love the feeling of starting a new notebook but I very rarely manage to make it to the end before I start a new one. The crisp pages, undamaged corners and new-book-smell are just too tempting! I thought I'd put this addiction to some use and create the ultimate notebook shopping list for you guys, (which could also be a bad thing if you've got the same addiction as me! Sorry!) Down below, I'll link where you can get all of these stunning notebooks, from the top left, to the bottom right.

 

Pears

Ocean Print

Palm Leaves

Daisies

Constellations

Islands

Bicycle

Blue Flowers

Be The Reason Someone Smiles

My Experience Moving Schools

I doubt that you know this already, but I have a recently moved schools. I was unhappy with the school that I was attending during my GCSE years and decided the best decision for me was to move schools for sixth form. In an attempt to be as helpful as possible, I thought it might be a good idea to share the story of this: my fears, my reasons, the successes and drawbacks of the whole ordeal and hopefully I'll be able to give some invaluable advice to those who may be in the same dilemma that I was in year 11.

Secondary School

From years 7 to 11, I was attending an all girl grammar school which, up until about year 9, was an environment that I flourished in. I was quite honestly, a nerdy student; I did all of the work and tried my best in order to get consistently high grades. As I went to a grammar school, the majority of people around me were high-flyers; they gained good grades and worked as equally hard as me to achieve their best, however as a result of this, school became a very competitive environment. With grades being fairly even between everyone in my year, there was a much more significant focus on your other skills and personality traits and as you can imagine with it being an all girl school, it became quite catty, (which is a nice way of phrasing it,) quite quickly. This was not at all an environment that I flourished in.

Reasons For Moving

Second to the unpleasant environment that developed in the later years of my time at the school, I found that the school had little respect or concern for the pupils that attended that school but instead solely focused on the grades we would achieve in our GCSE exams as it would therefore reflect well on the school. Resultantly, the school was unfocused on the wellbeing of the students or their learning experience. For example, I had a completely terrible time when it came to studying physics. I had 4 different physics teachers in year 11 alone. One thought our lessons was a time for joking around, another quit within 2 weeks of being in the school, one was a supply teacher who didn't teach physics at all and the other had recently moved from another country and didn't speak particularly fluent English, (he once called toes, the fingers of our feet!) which made it extremely hard learn and he also gave up very quickly, storming out of the classroom when our class failed to cooperate. Although I am aware of multiple pupils and parents, including myself, who complained about our teachers, absolutely nothing changed. Although I originally started off with an interest in physics, this quickly went downhill when it practically became a self-taught subject. Although I hope this isn't a reason for many others, it was a reason for my leaving.

10 Reasons To Move Schools For Sixth Form

In year 11 I was completely stuck over whether or not I should move schools for my Sixth Form Studies. I was in midst of my GCSEs and the added pressure of deciding on which A-Levels to choose meant that I was completely lost.

I was given assemblies and one-to-one meetings with my teachers, all trying to convince me that moving schools was bad choice. One teacher even went to the extremes of telling us about his own experience, claiming it was his "only regret in life" despite him going to what he claimed to genuinely be the "worst school in England." Despite this, I decided to take the risk and move schools for Sixth Form and so instead of telling you why its a bad idea, I thought I would give you;

10 Reasons It's A Great Idea To Move Schools For Sixth Form:

1. Its a New Opportunity - different schools may offer courses and extra curricular activities that your current school doesn't, meaning that new subjects and other new facilities may become available to you.
2. New People - on of the greatest benefits of moving schools is the opportunity to meet hundreds of new people so you can make new friends and widen your social circle.

The Ultimate Stationary Wish List

 

 

I am complete stationary addict and I am definitely guilty of heading straight to the stationary section of any shop. As a result of this, I thought I'd put together a collection of stationary that I have fallen in love with. If you'd like to find these items to buy yourself, just click the appropriate link below and it will take you to the place you can find the items above.