As a parent I feel a huge responsibility to raise extraordinary young people who will make a positive contribution to society and live happy and fulfilled lives. Part of that responsibility involves trying to give them the support they need, when they need it.

If you are a regular reader of the blog you may remember that back in September I told you all about The Extraordinaries Club. The Extraordinaries Club is an online hub containing Lucy Parson’s academic coaching signature study skills programme that will help your child to achieve their grades in the best way for them. It gives you on demand access to a library of workshops and downloads that cover everything you need to study successfully. You also get personalised advice from Lucy and her academic coaching team through weekly coaching calls and a members only Facebook group.

THE STORY SO FAR

My daughter, my eldest child, is currently in Year 11. Like all other Year 11 students this means that her last ‘normal’ year of schooling was year 8! That’s wild when you stop and think about it. This is Year 11’s exam year and they’ve not had a normal school experience since Year 8. Disruption from COVID-19 has been huge and it’s still on-going, yet, here in Wales at least, the intention is that exams take place as normal this year.

The end of November/start of December was mock fortnight for my daughter and her friends. I know from talking to other parents that their children found this period of time incredibly stressful. My daughter coped very well and approached the mocks with a sense of calm determination. Her approach was to tackle them like they were the real thing, to ensure that if the pandemic continued to rage and disrupted the GCSEs, she would be happy with the mock results counting as the final result.

It was a full on two weeks and there was certainly some relief when they were over and the results began to be gradually returned.

As part of her preparation for her mocks my daughter continued to work through Lucy’s modules and apply the principals of revision she had picked up. She developed her systems and techniques and methodically worked through everything for each subject. She developed her own revision timetable and was able to work this around her competitive swimming training, netball and piano practice. When I asked her if she felt she had enough time for everything, she said there was plenty of time and the sport was not only a good break from revision, but also improved her focus.

From my point of view her mock results were excellent. From her point of view, she exceeded her own perceived limitations in some subjects and has found an increased level of self confidence. She has seen that her approach to revision has worked well and it has given her a real boost going into this term.

SUPPORT FOR PARENTS

I feel very lucky that my daughter is so conscientious and organised with her school work and exam revision. I appreciate that is not the experience of many parents and I fully expect that with three children still to go through this, my experience will also differ over time.

This club is perfect for parents who want to support their children without becoming nags! Let’s be honest, none of us want to nag our children to do anything, we know it’s not productive, it’s not fun and long term it doesn’t work anyway, it just breeds resentment on both sides, which tends to bring negative consequences.

Lucy’s club offers membership to an inspiring combination of practical advice and aspirational encouragement. With Lucy you get the study skills and revision techniques that get students the grades they dream of and coach them to create compelling university applications that simply can’t be ignored.

The dashboard is super easy to navigate for parents and children and there is a wealth of information available at your fingertips. 

Parents who want to help their children stand out from the crowd may want to take a look at what Lucy can offer.

HOW TO FIND OUT MORE

I will be updating you all on further progress with the club over the coming months as the final exams approach, and of course following the results.

You can follow Lucy over on Facebook and Twitter . Parents, find out everything you need to over on Lucy’s website.

This is a collaborative article.