As we move into the second half of the term, students will be required to complete their final assessments. Our Year 10 and 11 students will also be preparing for their end of semester exams which begin on Wednesday 22 November. This can be a challenging time for students, but we encourage parents and carers to reinforce the following as we move into this busy period of the school year:
- Research demonstrates the effectiveness of working with focus for a period of 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Encouraging students to set up a routine at home where they organise their workload into more manageable chucks can assist learning and help students stay motivated;
- Our memory best stores knowledge by transforming information into a new form. This might be achieved by creating a mindmap, completing practice questions, or by having a conversation with a friend or family member to share one’s understanding of the topic with them;
- Exercise can be a great way to maintain focus and increase concentration levels so that students can work more efficiently;
- Sleep is vital. Students need at least 8 hours of sleep each night;
- Stress in itself, is not a bad thing. Stress can help raise our motivation levels and help us keep focused on the task at hand. In fact, without any stress, we may not have any motivation to do too much at all! This type of stress which helps us in a positive way is called eustress. It is when stress levels become too high that eustress turns into distress and we can feel overwhelmed. Please encourage your young person to monitor their stress levels and look at ways that stress can benefit us to achieve our goals;
- When studying, avoid having the phone close by. Our devices can prove to be a powerful distraction making it very difficult to use study time effectively. Some apps that can be used to help us avoid being distracted by our devices include Cold Turkey, Serene and Freedom.
Additional resources including tips on note taking, making cue cards and using Quizlet, can be found on the OLMC Study Habits website here.
Our senior students have had the opportunity to hear presenters from Elevate, a Melbourne based company that focuses on developing effective study skills in students. A number of resources for parents and carers can also be found on Elevate’s website below: