From the Director of Quality Teaching and Learning

LEARNING & STUDY HABITS TO FINISH WELL IN YEARS 11 AND 12 2020 

The principles in this newsletter are equally applicable to students in year’s 7-10.

USING YOUR CLASS TIME PRODUCTIVELY

Lesson time is precious, and you need to maximise how you use your classes to make sure you get the most out of every opportunity to learn. By following some simple guidelines, you will find that you are making the most of your class time and will feel confident about your ability to achieve good results in all of your subjects.

BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER

You should go to every class prepared to learn as much as you can. Make sure that you are always ready, listen and take notes. These notes will form the foundation of your revision for exams. 

You should keep notes of everything that is covered in class. This means anything that is put up on the board and anything that you feel you need clarified during a class discussion. 

There may be questions asked that you don’t know the answer to. Write them down and follow them up. With this mindset, you will find that class time provides a wealth of information. You will be surprised at the extra information you retain by simply paying attention and keeping a written record.

WORK WITH YOUR TEACHER

Teachers are your primary source of information for each subject you are undertaking. Not only do they have a really good knowledge of the subject area, but they also understand the assessments you will be completing. 

In order to work productively with your teacher, you need to develop a good relationship with them. Ask questions and seek out help when you don’t understand something. If you are doing well, ask your teacher what else you can work on in order to extend yourself. 

Make a commitment to yourself to form a partnership with each of your subject teachers.

AVOID DISTRACTIONS

As a senior student, you should be mature enough to take control of your own behaviour in class. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by your peers and don’t be a distraction to your peers. If you know you don’t work well when sitting near your friends, then don’t sit with them. 

Have the willpower and determination to set yourself a good routine in each class. If you find yourself regularly chatting in class, then this is probably a sign that you need to make some changes.

PARTICIPATE

When in class, it’s one thing to sit and listen, it’s another thing entirely to actively participate in class discussion. 

If you don’t contribute to class discussions, you are actually robbing yourself of a valuable learning opportunity. Don’t worry about getting answers wrong, chances are some of your peers won’t know the answer either. 

The more you participate, the more your confidence and subject knowledge will develop.

LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES

It can be easy to feel defeated in Year 12 when your expectations are not being met. In particular, in the HSC you will definitely be presented with more of a challenge than in previous years. 

There will be times when you feel stressed, get a disappointing mark, or are confused about the requirements of a particular assessment task. If you do feel this way, don’t give up, try to learn from the situation. Review your assessments with your teacher and understanding where you can improve. 

All students will experience disappointment with results through the year. It’s how you deal with these disappointments that will give you the best learning opportunity.

EFFECTIVE HOME STUDY

Whilst class time is very important, you will need to be just as organised at home. In Year 11 and 12, it’s no longer enough to simply finish your homework to give yourself the best chance of getting great assessment scores, whether it be project based assignments or exams. 

A committed student will use a range of home study practices to assist them with their learning. If you can commit yourself to these simple five tips to effective home study, you will find yourself in a very good place when the pressure is on.

1.   Complete your set homework:

It sounds pretty obvious, but homework is set for a reason. It’s the very least you need to do. Not completing your homework makes you unprepared for your next class. 

In HSC subjects, it is assumed that you will continue to build your knowledge base that you develop in each unit throughout the year, so it is pretty easy to end up lost if you don’t keep up-to-date with your work.

2.   Practice before assessment:

Regular practice is the key to strong performance in both assessments and final exams. When your teachers encourage you to write drafts and complete practice questions - make sure you do this! 

Get regular feedback from your teacher and take it on board. The more preparation you do beforehand, the more confident you will be when undertaking your assessments or exams.

3.   Develop your study notes:

Make sure you regularly review your class materials and organise them in a way that is easy for you to revise. You may find that making mind maps or drawing diagrams helps just as much as reading written notes. 

Creating your own notes on a regular basis is also a good way to check that you are clear on the concepts that you are learning in the classroom. Regularly crosschecking your notes against the subject syllabi will ensure you don’t miss any important information.

4.   Revise regularly:

Don’t just make notes and ignore them – review them on a regular basis. Also be aware that it’s not enough to simply re-read your notes, so doing things like quizzing yourself or creating a recording to listen to may also help you to remember all the content you need to know. 

It’s also important to make time to re-read your English texts. You will always learn something new about the book each time you read it. This deeper understanding of the text will give you an advantage when completing your assessments and exams. 

Having a regular study routine will save you from the dreaded last-minute pre-exam cram, which is not good for stress levels.

5.   Make your workspace your own:

Ensure that your homework space at home is free from distractions and if possible, you can work uninterrupted. Leave your phone elsewhere and use your allocated home study time wisely.

Mr Rob Marchetto 

Director of Quality Teaching and Learning