Staff are hoping an inspirational visual metaphor used in this morning’s assembly will live long in the memory of pupils as they prepare for upcoming mock examinations. The assembly, taken by Assistant Director of Studies Mr John Davies and Head of History Mr Liam Morgan, certainly appeared to have the desired impact. Pupils were given a fascinating insight into the inner workings of their brain, reiterating the importance of revision.
The visual metaphor involved six boys stood at the front of the church who represented a person’s short term memory capacity. All other pupils symbolised the long term memory, a substantially larger store. Mr Davies explained: “Another way to understand the concept is to think or Argos. In the shopfront they do not have space for many goods, but in the warehouse at the back they have an unimaginable range of products.”
Short term and long term memories are stored in completely separate parts of the brain. This is demonstrated by Alzheimer’s suffers, who can often recall experiences from the distant past but cannot remember tasks completed on a day-to-day basis.
Mr Davies continued: “This shows why cramming is not an effective revision technique. There is simply not enough space to store all the knowledge and information which pupils require to perform well in exams. The long term memory must also be used to prepare effectively, and for this revision must take place well in advance.”
The metaphor continued as pupils in the short term store held hands with new pupils who had been waiting in the long term memory. This demonstrated how concepts can be linked together. One item in the short term store can trigger a series of other memories. This is important when building long answer responses, as one informed idea can quickly lead into another. These processes and connections are formed by revisiting topics regularly over a prolonged period of time.
Mr Morgan emphasised the importance of mock exams as they provide a learning experience for pupils. By the summer exam season, it is really too late to make any drastic improvements.
The Headmaster commented: “This morning’s assembly was absolutely fantastic, as the metaphor very clearly explained to pupils how the learning and consolidating processes work in the brain. I hope this encourages them to take a mature approach to work over the Christmas break and ensure that they begin to revise topics covered this term. This will help to build their ‘warehouse’ of knowledge which will serve them well in the summer exams.”
