Dean of Studies

Maximise your Personal Best

Achieving personal excellence in academics is often determined by how well organised you can be with revision and study. Whether you are preparing for an examination, topic test, in-class essay, presentation and completing an assignment, the essential skills required to maximise your performance happen well before the due date or day of the assessment. 

Four practical steps to start from include:

1. Develop and maintain a study and revision plan.

2. Develop easy to follow concept maps and notes.

3. Use flash cards and memory techniques.

4. Practice exam questions under examination conditions.

Thorough preparation includes communicating with those who can help you study better, (Including your subject teachers). There is clear evidence that successful students use practice or sample questions under the same test/exam conditions is a test of applying knowledge and recall, and also helps a student feel more comfortable with exam environments.

So why is a well-structured study plan and routine so important?

Becoming more efficient and effective in what you study and the way you study is the starting point to any effective study plan should always use the course or curriculum outlines. This should explain all the required knowledge and skills that are required to be demonstrated in a course.

For courses in Year 11 and 12, the syllabus points provide the specific content to be assessed. The grade-related descriptors are an effective resource to help with setting achievement goals, and as mentioned, using past exam papers and practice questions will familiarise students with the types of exam questions that they will be required to answer.   

You might also structure the study plan using four strands: Routine; Schedule; Self-care and Support Network. Consider for each strand, three actions that will take place. Alternatively, the following checklist is a foundation revision and study plan: 

Can or do you …

…say the concept/idea/key point…out aloud to yourself?

…write it down…without looking at your notes/reference/texts?

…read it out aloud three times…to yourself again?

…recreate the concept/idea/key point…in a diagram or mind map?

…connect the concept/idea/key point to…another concept that you already know?

…teach or explain the concept…to someone else?

Ultimately, having a plan is better than no plan at all, so try starting, experiment with what works for your circumstances and ask a trusted adult to review it with you.

EXTERNALLY SET TASK – YEAR 12 (GENERAL COURSE) STUDENTS

The Externally Set Task is a compulsory requirement for all students enrolled in General courses, and forms part of the College’s school-based assessment. All Year Twelve students enrolled in General courses should note the College schedule (listed below) and are reminded that the College expectations for attendance and assessment will apply.

Week 2.8

Monday 15 June 

Drama; Food Science & Technology; Engineering Studies

Tuesday 16 June                             

English                                                   

Wednesday 17 June

Design; Dance                     

Week 2.9

Monday 22 June

Career & Enterprise; Integrated Science

Tuesday 23 June                             

Religion & Life

Wednesday 24 June                      

Mathematics Essentials; Visual Art

OLNA (Information from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority – for Year 9 students only)

In 2020, as students in Year 9 were not able to prequalify for OLNA through NAPLAN, the Authority will provide an additional sitting of OLNA, for Year 9 students only, as an opportunity for them to demonstrate the literacy and numeracy standard. 

The proposed test window is three weeks for Reading and Numeracy (10 August – 28 August) and two days for Writing (10 August & 11 August). This opportunity is optional and would not count towards the students’ six normal opportunities before Year 12. This attempt would be considered to be the prequalification opportunity for these students. 

Furthermore, students who achieved Band 8 or higher in Year 7 NAPLAN Writing will be prequalified for the Writing component as students in Year 7 and 9 sat the same test. These students will not need to sit the OLNA in Year 9. There is no prequalification for students achieving Band 8 or higher in Year 7 NAPLAN Reading or Numeracy.

As its name indicates, the OLNA is an online test. The Reading and Numeracy components each comprise 45 multiple‐choice questions and students have 50 minutes to complete each component. The Writing component is a typed response of up to 600 words. Students have 60 minutes to complete this component. 

I would encourage you to read the OLNA Information for parents/carers brochure, which is available online at http://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/assessment/olna. While you are on the website, I would also encourage you to look at other available information. 

Schools are expected to provide students with access to the OLNA Practice tests and/or the OLNA Example tests for students who opt-in. Students can use the Practice tests to familiarise themselves with the assessment format and website functionality. The Example tests provide students, teachers and parents/carers with a complete test that is indicative of the difficulty and the diversity of skills assessed. There is an Example test for each of the Reading, Writing and Numeracy components. It includes a set of 45 multiple-choice questions for Reading; a set of 45 multiple-choice questions for Numeracy and one Writing prompt. Users have 50 minutes to complete the Reading and Numeracy components and 60 minutes to complete the Writing component. 

After each OLNA round, the Authority provides schools with individual feedback on each student’s performance. Schools can use these reports to structure student learning to assist them in developing the skills they need to demonstrate the required standard. Significantly, those students at risk of not achieving the minimum standard of literacy and numeracy are identified through their performance in the OLNA. For these students, schools can deliver Foundation courses, which have been specifically developed to improve literacy and numeracy standards. There is also an interim report schools can use to keep parents/carers informed of their child’s progress. 

The Authority reports on student performance at the end of Year 12 through the Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement (WASSA). If a student has demonstrated all of the WACE requirements, the student will also receive a WACE. More information about the WACE requirements is available on the Authority website at:

http://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/the-wace/wace-requirements.

Students who do not manage to demonstrate the literacy and numeracy standard by the end of Year 12 will be able to ‘bank’ their other achievements whilst they continue to work towards achieving their WACE. The WACE can be achieved over a lifetime. 

If you have any further questions I encourage you to make contact with myself at the College on 9350 5433. If you have specific questions about the OLNA and cannot find the answer on our website, please email SCSA at: olna@scsa.wa.edu.au. 

Mr R Dowling (Dean of Studies)