From the Leadership

Learning & Teaching

Examinations

Next week sees our students in Years 8-12 begin their mid-year examinations. These examinations are an opportunity to revise, and to prepare for the process of exam taking. While examinations are an important measure of progress, they are not the ‘be all and end all’ and in fact, putting too much pressure on a young learner can result in a suboptimal performance.  

 

Even at the VCE level, mid year examinations are a learning experience, and none contribute to the ATAR.

 

Instead, we encourage families to view exams as an opportunity to ‘show what you know’ and to trial revision strategies. I encourage you to spend some time with your son by looking at the Mazenod Study Skills page on MazCom (https://mazenod.libguides.com/study).

I have included a handy three step guide to exam preparation here.

The most important message when revising for exams is ‘output first’. This means that students should start with:

  • Sample questions
  • Flashcards
  • Blank paper

They then force themselves to recall content and ideas. This stands in contrast to what we see many students doing – reading over notes. In short, the brain codes long term memories as a result of repeated recall, not repeated input.

 

Year 7s will need to wait until November to experience the joys of exam week, so for mid-year, they can enjoy their regular classes.  


 

 

 

 

Dr Matthew Fyfield

Deputy Principal (Learning & Teaching