The COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc on the world in 2021, even though we optimistically thought it would all miraculously end with the New Year. Now, as a result, we have another group of Year 12 students sitting their HSC through lockdowns and restrictions. They’ve had to face struggles only 2020’s cohort so far understands, learning critical content in an online environment, not having access to their teachers and having to do all of it away from their support network of peers and friends. Add to this the changing of exam dates and all of this can make preparing for the HSC even more difficult than it would usually be. But here are a few tips for HSC students studying amid uncertainty.
Hold online study groups
Just because we are stuck at home doesn’t mean we can’t still be in contact! Encourage your students to host online study sessions on Zoom or Facetime with their friends and classmates. You could provide your students with a series of questions or a past paper that they can answer together or swap responses for. Not only will this help your students to revise their content, they will also feel more connected to their classmates and will remember they are not in this alone.
Take advantage of the down time
There’s not much to do if you’re in living a lockdown, so encourage your students to make the most of this time. This is the perfect opportunity to revise content. Teacher PD has study templates that can help with their revision. The study templates are available for a number of subjects including Food Technology, Design and Technology, Textiles and Design, Industrial Technology, Community and Family Studies and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education and students can use these to write their own revision notes to the correlating syllabus dot points and outcomes.
Maintain normal study techniques
Keeping up all of the usual study tricks is important as well during this time as well. Some of the tried and tested ways for students to make the most of their study time is to set a schedule, keep a routine, minimise distractions and take regular breaks. Maintaining these techniques will help your cherubs to make the most of the time they spend studying and prevent burn out.
Remind them they are in control of their studies
While your cherubs are not in control of the pandemic or lockdowns, remind them that their ability to study for the HSC is completely in their control. Our cherubs are constantly being inundated by bad news and may start feeling like they’ll never return to school and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. This could affect their study mentality but by reminding them that they are in complete control of their performance, they may take greater ownership over their studying.
Keep bouncing back
Living through this pandemic can make everything feel like it is too hard, particularly when it comes to online learning. It can be tempting for the best of us to throw our hands in the air and give up, let alone our HSC students. But tell your cherubs the key is to not give up! Remind them they have faced plenty of adversities over their 13 years of schooling and, most importantly, they have just a handful of months to go. The blood, sweat and tears will be all worthwhile in the end.
We wish all of this year’s HSC students the best of luck with their exams! We know you’ll go far despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic!
