Miss Estruch Teach & Tell

End-of-year lessons don’t have to be filler! In this episode, I walk you through my Biology Escape Room—an engaging and competitive activity that makes the final lesson of the year memorable and educational.

Perfect for GCSE or A-level students, this challenge uses revision-based clues to lead students to the code for a locked prize box.

You’ll learn:

Quick Win of the Week: Get the complete AQA Biology Escape Room PowerPoints (GCSE & A-level) with clue cards, teacher instructions, and padlock codes: 👉 https://www.missestruch.co.uk/escape-room-lessons

Resource Roundup: Download the free TARSIA Card Sort Template for easy revision activities: 👉 https://www.missestruch.co.uk/free-tarsia

Let’s stay connected:

📸 Instagram: @miss.estruch.teach.and.tell

🌍 Website: https://www.missestruch.co.uk

Want to know how to plan a lesson that actually supports progress—for every single student in your class?

In this episode, I walk you through my go-to structure for lesson planning, with a special focus on supporting neurodivergent students, including those with ADHD, autism and dyslexia.

You’ll learn:

✅ How to plan an engaging starter

✅ How to structure information delivery without losing student focus

✅ Why a halfway checkpoint changes everything

✅ How to design tasks that are active, not passive

✅ The 3 questions I ask myself before every lesson

🎁 Free Resource: Download my Lesson Plan Template → https://www.missestruch.co.uk/free-lesson-plan

🧠 Ready-Made AQA A-Level Lessons → https://www.missestruch.co.uk/aqa-topic-lessons 

Your students are working hard—but not improving. Sound familiar?

In this episode, I share 9 common revision mistakes students don’t even realise they’re making—and what to do about it.

These subtle but destructive habits could be holding back their grades, and the fixes are surprisingly simple.

📝 Free PDF for teachers: Download the 1-page cheat sheet listing the 9 mistakes and how to help your students overcome them. Great for assemblies, form time or classroom posters! 👉 https://www.missestruch.co.uk/free-9-mistakes 

🎯 Quick Win Resource: Want to teach revision and exam technique properly?

Grab my A-Level Skills Lessons here → https://www.missestruch.co.uk/offers/RhwChiy4/checkout

☕ Coffee Catch-Up: The sunshine is out… and so are the exam timetables! I share how I’m managing exam season madness (and sneaking in some much-needed vitamin D).

🎧 Listen now to empower your students—and save yourself marking headaches down the line.

A lot of students are revising ineffectively and wasting their time and struggling to improve.

In this video, I go through effective revision strategies to share with your students.

I’ll go through how to plan smarter revision using neuroscience-backed techniques:

✅ The Forgetting Curve – Why you must review topics 5 times

✅ Spaced Repetition – The secret to making knowledge stick

✅ Interleaving – Why mixing topics makes you better at applying knowledge

🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download my ‘How to Plan Revision Smarter’ Guide! → https://www.missestruch.co.uk/free-TT-rev-planner

👥 Share this episode with your students!

📢 Subscribe & Review: If you found this helpful, leave a review—it helps other teachers find these tips!

Struggling to guide your OCR students through A-level Biology revision?

In this episode, I break down past paper trends, helping you focus on what’s most likely to be assessed.

You’ll learn:

✅ The most commonly assessed OCR A A-level Biology topics

✅ What hasn’t been tested recently—and why it might come up

✅ Practical revision strategies to get students exam-ready

📘 Resource: OCR A-Level Biology Past Paper Analysis spreadsheet → email [email protected]

Free Revision ideas sheet https://www.missestruch.co.uk/freerevision

Make Revision Easy with ChatGPT!

Want to create revision questions in seconds?

ChatGPT can do it for you—saving you hours of planning.

In this episode, I’ll show you how to:

🎧 Listen now to transform how you prepare for revision season!

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

📄 FREE ChatGPT Prompt Sheet → https://www.missestruch.co.uk/freechatgptrev 

📢 Bulk Buy My Easter Biology Bootcamp → Email [email protected]

📺 Watch My Free CPD Session on YouTube → https://youtu.be/WeKlJkUh0Qo 

📢 Follow Me for More Teaching Tips: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpx_6j2QEND3DUUVRjSsURw 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miss.estruch.teach.and.tell/?hl=en 

Struggling to know which AQA A-Level Biology topics to focus on for revision?

This episode walks you through the most commonly assessed topics from past papers and how to use this data to make strategic revision plans.

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

📌 Podcast Show Notes – AQA A-Level Past Paper Analysis: The Smart Way to Plan Revision Lessons

Are your students revising effectively, or are they just guessing what to study? AQA past papers reveal clear trends in commonly assessed topics. While we can’t predict exact questions, we can use this data to help students prioritise key content and structure high-impact revision lessons.

In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I’ll share:

✅ The most frequently assessed topics for Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3

✅ How to use this data to guide student revision

✅ Three strategies to integrate past paper trends into lessons 🎧 Listen now to help your students revise smarter, not harder!

Step 1: Most Commonly Assessed Topics

📖 Paper 1 (Topics 1-4)

Proteins (88%) – Enzymes, transport, and structure

Gas Exchange (88%) – Frequently tested with diffusion principles

Mass Transport (81%) – Key to circulatory and plant transport systems

Genetic Diversity & Adaptation (88%) – Evolution and variation questions

🧬 Paper 2 (Topics 5-8)

Nervous Coordination (88%) – Synapses, action potentials, and muscle contraction

Homeostasis (88%) – Blood glucose, osmoregulation, and temperature control

Inheritance (88%) – Genetic crosses, dihybrid inheritance, pedigree analysis

🔬 Paper 3 (All Topics)

DNA & Gene Technologies – Often tied to mutations and sequencing

Respiration & ATP – Energy transfer in metabolic reactions

Ecological Sampling & Data Interpretation – AQA loves a stats-based question!

Step 2: How to Use This Data

📌 1. Make Students Aware Students should prioritise frequently tested topics, but still revise everything. Encourage them to track their revision frequency and avoid neglecting weaker areas.

📌 2. Plan Dedicated Revision Lessons Focus structured sessions on high-yield topics. Use past paper questions Walk through mark schemes & model answers Address common student misconceptions

📌 3. Use Retrieval Quizzes Interleave key topics into starters and plenaries to boost long-term retention. Linked recall – e.g., DNA & Gene Technologies Random recall – Quick-fire questions from any topic

Step 3: Save Time with Ready-Made Resources!

📊 Get my full Past Paper Analysis Spreadsheet – Want a detailed breakdown of topic trends? Email me at [email protected] to purchase.

 Final Thoughts Exam prep isn’t about guessing what will come up—it’s about making revision efficient. By using past paper trends, we can guide students to revise effectively while keeping lessons

Critical analysis is one of the trickiest yet most essential skills your AQA A-level Biology students need to master—worth 15 marks on Paper 3 and assessed across other papers.

In this episode, I’ll break down exactly how to teach critical analysis, helping your students describe, conclude, and evaluate with confidence.

We’ll cover:

✅ What examiners are looking for in critical analysis questions

✅ A structured approach to teaching data interpretation

✅ Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

✅ A quick win to save you lesson planning time

💡 Get my A-Level Skills Resource Bundle for ready-made lessons on critical analysis – https://www.missestruch.co.uk/offers/x73nm3h9/checkout

📺 Watch my YouTube video on teaching critical analysis – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upXa7pIe7xg

S1 E14 | How to Teach the AQA A-Level Biology Essay with Confidence Struggling to teach the AQA A-level Biology essay?

Not sure how to guide your students through planning or marking it?

In today’s episode, I’ll break it all down for you.

We’ll cover:

✅ What examiners are looking for

✅ How to help students plan effectively

✅ Time management strategies

✅ Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

🎧 Plus, stick around for a quick win to make your lesson planning even easier!

🔗 Resources mentioned in this episode:

💡 Free CPD Session on Teaching the AQA A-Level Biology Essay – Sign up here: https://www.missestruch.co.uk/free-cpd-lessons

📘 A-Level Biology Essay Bundle – Get the resource pack here: https://www.missestruch.co.uk/offers/JpHSX5jS

If you found this episode helpful, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast—it really helps other teachers find these tips!

Connect with me:

📸 Instagram: miss.estruch.teach.and.tell

📩 Email list: [email protected]

Excel is a powerful tool, and in today’s episode, I’m sharing 5 game-changing tips that will revolutionise the way you manage student data, grades, and feedback. From automatic grade assignments to colour-coded progress tracking, this episode is packed with time-saving strategies. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: ✅ How to assign grades automatically with VLOOKUP ✅ How to use conditional formatting to track target grades ✅ The power of Pivot Tables for summarising class data ✅ How to create your own Excel template for easier grading Resources Mentioned: 📚 Download Your Free Excel Template: https://www.missestruch.co.uk/freetemplateexcel