Dreaming Spires Revision

Students wanted a longer holiday, so we've compromised: we're now starting the crammer on the 4th of September and will run it for just four days, from 2-4 pm daily. I blame it on CIE for scheduling the exam so early this Autumn, but it is the last one of the current spec, so probably safest exam to take in the foreseeable future in terms of track record of past papers and examiners knowing how to mark it. Let me show you the way to go! (PS This isn't me in the photo, but it is my son and my dog)

Welcome to Dreaming Spires Revision and the new series of exam tips I'm running for this year. If you're not sure who I am, my name is Dr Kat Patrick, a home-educator for more than a decade who is also a former secondary school teacher in English and examiner for the Cambridge International Board's 0500 English Language iGCSE exam. I run online crammer courses about three times a year to help coach students do their best on this exam, and have also written a revision guide that you can buy from Amazon at the link below: http://tinyurl.com/hr8bmyl On a recent Facebook discussion about UK exams, someone challenged me about why I often mention that my revision courses give tips and tricks that only a current examiner can know. The answer is simple: no matter how many past papers you download, how many mark schemes or examiner's reports you read, you'll never know the ins and outs of the way examining works unless you've been in those standardisation meet...

Hey, everybody -- if you have a student who is doing the CIE iGCSE 0500 English Language exam in the near future (that's the higher tier option), then you'll want to get on board the raffle for a free copy of my revision guide. If you're not doing it, could you please share this giveaway on your social media?  The link below will take you to the giveaway site and tell you what you need to do, or go to our Facebook page to enter it from there:  https://www.facebook.com/dreamingspiresrevision/app/228910107186452/ a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today is the annual rite of GCSE results, and I've felt such a part of it after receiving all the lovely emails from students who took the Dreaming Spires crammer course earlier in the year. Below is just a small sample of their effusive reports, but remember that I'm teaching my online crammer again from 22nd of August (7 pm). As always, I'll be sharing all the tips and tricks from being a current examiner. If you can't make the live course, then you can get the next-best thing by buying my course book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/English-Language-iGCSE-version-Higher-ebook/dp/B01E42XQK0/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1460534833&sr=8-2-fkmr2&keywords=how+to+ace+the+gcse+english+language+exam *************** “E” did your English revision course at Easter, just letting you know she got an A*. (Much to her surprise:-) ) *************** Dear Dr P, I got my results for my English language GCSE today and was overjoyed to see that I h...

By popular demand, Dreaming Spires Revision is now offering additional extensions to its crammer course for its students to benefit from even more guided exam preparation. The first extension is called Homework Club . It's a two-week, focused period where a student can submit answers to each of the exam questions for detailed commentary and marking, submitting one each day. It's like taking a second mock, but over an extended period of time. The second extension is marking an additional mock to the mock exam that's included in the crammer course. Each extension costs £25, a reflection of the time-intensive nature of giving detailed feedback. Both together will be only £40. There are no discounts for siblings for these addition. If you want to sign up your student for these, then use the registration form as usual, putting in the extension you want to add. The deadline for registering for these is 1st April. Unfortunately, these extensions are not offered to s...

Now that the January crammer course has kicked off on Tuesdays at noon, registration for it is now closed. BUT WAIT!!! We're running another Easter crammer for 8 days from 21st March to 1st April, 2016, meeting at 9 am daily. We won't meeting Good Friday or Easter Monday. As always, this crammer course is online, and focuses specifically on the tips and tricks of successful exam techniques for the CIE 0500 iGCSE English Language exam that I've learned by being an examiner. Register on the registration tab for your child's place today!

I can't believe I've agreed to examine for CIE again this autumn, but here I am, slogging away at A1, A2, A3 ... √√√√ ... exp ... dev ... all this little weird symbols that examiners put into the margins of scripts to indicate good practice. The reason for doing this has nothing to do with money (examiners get paid pittance per script for the time it takes), but because I want to make sure that my advice to candidates on my crammer course is solid, up-to-date, and best of all, inside knowledge. Dreaming Spires Revision offers inside knowledge to home-educated students for the 0500 exam If you want the best supplier of tips and tricks for your money, then you will want to sign up with me at Dreaming Spires Revision right now: I take only 15 students per course, and I'm nearly full before it's even December. The tuition fee of £75 for 9 sessions includes marking a mock exam -- most tutors charge upwards of £25 per paper for this service, if they agree to do it ...

All right, all right ... you've twisted my arm! I have now cleared space in my diary to teach the Dreaming Spires Revision course on a weekly basis starting 19th January, 2016, rather than a 2-week crammer over the Easter holidays. The live webinar will take at noon to 1 pm GMT on Tuesdays, starting the 19th of January, 2016. Space is limited to 15 students, so be sure to sign up while there are spaces. Go to the registration page on this website and provide details to reserve your place today.

Dreaming Spires Revision topped out at twenty student this year! Dreaming Spires hit the maximum this year! Dr Patrick taught the twenty iGCSE students from her home-town of Texas over the fortnight of Easter holidays, using the break from her other tutorial classes to visit her ailing father at the same time. However, the internet allows people to attend from all over -- Austria was on the list, too! Except for the threat of a thunderstorm and a powercut, the ten daily lessons went without a hitch. Dr Patrick even worked out how to record each class and load it onto the unlisted YouTube channel. (It helped that the house where she was staying had super-fast broadband.) Some of the famous sayings from the course were "Rolling on the Bed Laughing", "That's just the say it is," and "I know! That's bonkers!!!". ROTBL Now all the students have taken their mock exams and Dr P has returned them. Some really great work, including two per...

In the past, Dreaming Spires Revision has been run as a crammer course just before the exam season -- a 10-day, one-hour-a-day intensive blast of all the tips and tricks that I, as an experienced examiner, can throw at a student. The success rate of As and A*s for Dreaming Spires students have been more than 90%, so I'm convinced that the formula and format work. However, due to popular demand, Dreaming Spires Revision will be offered as a one-hour weekly online course instead of a crammer course starting from this September. All the same tips and tricks, but at a more leisurely pace! The day and time is to be determined, but likely to be Friday or Wednesday morning. Classes need a minimum of 5, but not more than 15, and enrollment works on a first come-first served basis. Cost is £75 per person, with a 50% discount for siblings. Referrals also receive discounts. Please contact me at dreamingspiresrevision@gmail.com ASAP to reserve your space. Important!  Dreaming Spir...