Senior Secondary

How to support your child as they commence exams

Throughout VCE, examination stress is a very common experience, both for the student and their families. It can be hard to know how to support your child through examinations, and while this will largely depend on the individual needs and aspirations of each student, as well as family relationship dynamics, here are some generic tips to help navigate this potentially challenging part of your child’s schooling. 

Top tips for supporting your child through exams:

1. Help your child create a good study environment
   This should be away from interruptions and household noise, such as the television. Ensure there is adequate lighting and ventilation, a comfortable chair and appropriate desk. Also helping them manage their access to causes of procrastination/distraction can help – eg leaving their phone in the kitchen while they are studying. 
2. Set a timetable/routine (let this be led by your child)
   With a timetable or routine, your child can plan to cover all of their subjects in an organised way, allotting the appropriate time for each without becoming overwhelmed. Shorter chunks of study are more effective than longer blocks. Anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour would be an appropriate chunk of time. Much longer than this significantly reduces productivity. 
3. Offer to be involved in revision
   Some students may appreciate your help in revision – eg practicing cue cards, reading sample responses, quizzing on notes. Perhaps a conversation around whether there is anything you can do to assist them is a good first step in understanding if/how they would like you to help. 
4. Encourage your child to look after themselves physically
   Drinking plenty of fluids, especially water, and eating healthy foods is really important. Keep sugary foods to a minimum (yes, even chocolate). Encourage your child to ensure they get enough sleep each night – aim for approx. 8 hours. Some sort of regular physical exercise is also extremely beneficial, both mentally and physically – maybe you could even do this with them.  
5. Little rewards 
   Who doesn’t love a carrot to work towards! You could work out together a reward your child gets if they meet certain study goals. This should be around their own study goals (eg complete 5 practice exams) rather than result outcomes. I also would suggest that negative reinforcement through punishment or removal of privileges, may end up having a detrimental impact rather than a supportive one. 
6. Give them a bit of extra grace
   Sometimes a bit of extra grace can go a long way in gently communicating to your child that you support them and understand this is a challenging time. This could mean reducing expectations around household chores, greater flexibility with when and how they are involved in family activities, increasing pocket money (or paying for some expenses) to reduce the pressure of part time work, or letting the overly emotional or snippy comments slide a little more. 

Overall, preparing for examinations can be a very wide and varied experience for families. Hopefully these tips give you some ideas of how to support your child. In the end healthy communication is the most important thing and will be the foundation of helping your family navigate these potentially stressful times. Regular prayer also never goes astray. 

If you would like to discuss further how to support your child through their VCE and examinations, I am always happy to chat. 

Emma Tresidder

VCE Coordinator 

Outdoor Ed Rock Climbing

Throughout our Year 10 Outdoor Education elective, students have been studying different outdoor environments and for the final class of the semester we decided to push ourselves and head to the Hardrock Climbing Centre in Nunawading. After a few weeks of honing climbing skills and techniques at our MECS rockwall we headed to the Nunawading centre which has 14m high walls.

This meant students were able to expand and extend their skills to these larger walls whilst further developing their resiliance and pushing through both physical and mental challenges on the higher climbs. Students also had the opportunity to challenge their grip and upper body strength on the bouldering climbs they have at their facility. It was a great extension for the class and seeing them all overcome the fear of heights and push through challenges to achieve new heights was a great experience for the class. Well done all!

Chris Noy

Secondary School Sports Coordinator/HPE Teacher