Assessment time is looming on the horizon as we approach week 6. This week students in Year 7 and 8 had Study Skills/ Time Management presentations by the company, Elevate. You can find out more about this organisation by looking at this website.
Year 12 and beyond seems a long long way away for Year 7 and 8 and to a large degree even for a Year 9 student. However, the study habits and progress that students are making at this point in their lives are already shaping their future.
A few valuable tips you may like to help your child put in place are:
- Help your child to consider two mega goals for their future. It may be a specific career; where they would like to go to Uni or do further study; or, something they hope to achieve such as a sporting achievement; accomplished musician in a particular instrument etc. Once your child has worked this out, help them to find a picture to represent this goal and have your child place them in their study area or even as a screen saver. Lastly, discuss with your child how achieving well in school will help them reach this goal.
- With these large goals in mind help your child to set smaller goals that will help students on this journey.
- When planning homework time – consider TASKS not TIME. Once the task is done – celebrate. See these tasks as ‘wins’ not ‘rules’ – as they complete then they will fee achieved.
- Sit down with your child, help them set up a study routine – not just homework time but regular study. Help them manage deadlines. Practice taking notes as a revision technique. Summarise the notes, practice test questions and then refine what they still don’t know. All these techniques will result in a better test result.
Camps
Students will have received their camp notes and forms over the last few weeks. This is generally one of the highlights of the school year for most students and yet for some students, camps can also be stressful and cause anxiety. Here is an excerpt from the GCCC Parent Handbook regarding Camps:
Camps and excursions
Camps are held for many year levels to enrich the learning experiences. They are a compulsory component of the year. The cost for camp is included in the fee structure for the year level.
Please contact the Year Level Coordinator if your child is anxious so that they can be reassured and if necessary supported through their concerns with an action plan.
It’s also vital that you ensure your contact and medical details are current and up to date. Please contact the school if anything has changed for your child.
Jacqualina Vreeling, Head of Middle School