I just finished the first week of Year 11. It went much faster than I thought it would.

Specialist Maths: We went over some basic combinatorics, covering things such as permutations and combinations and other related content. I don't feel challenged yet, but everybody seems to find this subject extremely difficult so we'll see how it goes.
Math Methods: We also went through basic content, there was nothing too challenging. We looked at progressions and recursion, and they were fairly straightforward topics to grasp.
Physics: We didn't learn any content, but we did some setup. The whole of Week 1 was dedicated to revisiting SI units, significant figures, and prefixes.
Chemistry: This time, our teacher briefly skated over content from last year. We only covered physical vs chemical change, but at least it was fun because on Friday we got to watch our teacher perform some experiments.
English: Our homework was to read the first chapter or two of a novel, and I'm still procrastinating on that. I'll try to do it tonight I guess.
Digital Solutions: I only picked this subject because I did it in Year 9 and enjoyed it. Apparently it doesn't scale too well, but if I do well I shouldn't have to worry about that. I forgot almost all of the content, so my teacher assigned me Grok lessons to get me back on track.

I also have three assignments soon: one which is given to me in Week 3, and two which are given to me in Week 4.

I start my job on Wednesday this week. I'm looking forward to it, and several of my friends are doing the same job too.

I'll try to update all of you later when something significant happens. Until then, bye!

    I work at Kmart and am starting yr 11 tmr, only advice is ONLY DO MAX 2 SHIFTS A SCHOOL WEEK at ur job no matter how much they beg u or how much u want money, work the long shifts on holidays

    WelcomeToHell Damn, you've done so much already lol. I'm just getting to know my teachers and revising for our U3 Methods exam...

      a month later

      Welcome back everyone!

      I've just submitted my first assessment item. It was a formative internal assessment for Specialist Maths.

      I'm still struggling with the workload, there's still heaps of homework to do and three more assignments to complete.

      I'll update you all later!

      25 days later

      Term 1 just ended and although I don't feel great about my grades, there's always the opportunity to improve next term. Since I don't have much to comment on besides my grades, I'd like to do a brief reflection on each of my subjects.

      Digital Solutions: I really enjoyed doing the subject. It was unique as it offered students the opportunity to code and gain practical experience instead of the mundane textbook and notebook work that most subjects have.
      For my formative assessment, I received 15/20. Although this was tied for the lowest grade in my class, my teacher was very supportive and she helped me identify weaknesses in my assessment. Hopefully I can get a better grade next term.
      English: This term's topic was about imperialism, and accordingly I analysed the novel The Secret River and the film Avatar. After initially getting a shocking grade of 16/25, fortunately my work was moderated up to 18/25. My teacher explained how my literary essay was too recount-heavy and lacked critical analysis, so I will try to implement the feedback and improve my grade next term.
      Chemistry: My results this term were a huge shock to me, as I view myself as more of a math/science student. I did struggle in some key areas, but I managed to get help and eventually was able to understand all of the content. During the exam, my biggest weakness was time management, and as the clock ticked down I scrambled to write answers down. My mark was 46/60, and unsurprisingly most of the lost marks were due to me rushing or being careless.
      Physics: I feel like this term was a warm-up term, because my whole class managed to grasp the content relatively easily. I received 19/20 for my data test which got converted into 10/10 because the marking guide stipulated that >90% was 10/10, >80% was 9/10, >70% was 8/10 and so on. This was somehow the highest grade in my class, as almost everyone failed to answer a trick question worth 2 marks.
      Math Methods: I understood the content fairly easily, but made a single silly error in the exam which cost me 2 marks. I ended up getting 18/20 in the exam, and it had the same marking guide as Physics(so the grade on my report card was listed as 9/10). I am really proud of the grade I achieved in my assignment, as I diligently and tirelessly worked on it while asking the teacher and peers for help. I ended up getting 19/20 for the assignment.
      Specialist Math: Vectors and proofs were two of the topics in which I struggled the most(this seems to be the case for most people doing specialist). This time I triple-checked each answer before the end of the exam, and I got a completely undeserved 20/20. I did bomb the assignment, receiving 16/20 due to my nonexistent evaluation and dubious analysis throughout the assignment. Since the assignment was worth more than the exam, it dragged my grade down and I cannot truthfully say that I am happy with my specialist grade.

      And that wraps up the commentary for Term 1. See you all next term!

      10 days later

      I'll write a mini update since I'm currently working on my chemistry assignment.

      In week 8, my cohort received our chem assignment. I was actually looking forward to it, since its high scaling ensures that it will pull my low chem grade up significantly if I get a high grade on it 😃

      Instead of working on my planning document, I procrastinated like an idiot until week 10, when my teacher did a progress check. Luckily he was pretty chill about it and simply didn't give me any feedback instead of giving me a punishment and/or screaming at me in front of the whole class.

      I decided to start working on Saturday (two days ago 💀 ). I've almost finished devising my research question and I plan to start my rationale tomorrow.

      Hopefully I can complete my draft before Wednesday week 1 because that's when it's due.

      Good luck to all fellow year 11's doing QCE!

      21 days later

      Time for me to write another post in my journey journal bc why not 🙂

      Over the holidays, I decided to drop Digital Solutions and replace it with Engineering. It was a difficult decision because I had already learnt a lot of content and so had the Engineering cohort.

      However, I felt like Engineering would be more fun and useful for getting into uni, and it also has the added bonus of scaling REALLY well compared to Digital.

      On Monday Week 1, my Digital Solutions teacher was going around the class and helping people out with their assignments. I had not done anything for it because I was already committed to dropping the subject. As she got to me, I explained that I was dropping the subject and told her why I felt that it was necessary

      She looked quite sad, but wished me luck for the future. I was also sad because I would be leaving my friends behind, but to this day we still occasionally meet at lunch to chat.

      The next day (Tuesday), I went to my Digital Solutions class but as soon as I arrived my teacher informed me that my timetable had been changed. I packed up all of my books and the teacher told everyone to say goodbye to me. Everybody clapped and wished me well as I made my way from my seat to the door and exited that classroom for the last time.

      Fast forward to today and I'm struggling to do my Engineering assignment. Hopefully I can get some help from others in my class because otherwise I'm screwed haha

      7 days later

      My chemistry assignment was due today and I handed it in. It was SO PAINFUL to complete, I literally had to grind for the entire weekend in addition to normally editing it over the course of 4 weeks.

      Hopefully I don't choke and get below 50%, but otherwise I'm chilling.

      My goal is to get 16/20 or higher. I don't know if I'll actually achieve that because as we all know I'm garbage at chemistry, but one can hope

      I completed my specialist math exam today. I did study throughout the term, but no amount of study could have prepared me for what was going to be on the exam.

      I choked so hard and I really don't want to talk about it.

      Still in an extremely bad mood 😠

        8 days later

        WelcomeToHell
        had mine today, in the same boat as you ahahah. I felt somewhat prepared but the complex unfamiliar questions just confused the absolute heck out of me and I didn't know where to start.

          My specialist grades were released early and I ended up getting them on Wednesday of this week. Needless to say, I was not happy. My main weakness was time management, as I was not able to finish the exam and left a few questions unanswered.

          I am confident that if I work on my time management skills, I will not make a blunder this bad again.

          On the "bright" side, my overall grade for the year so far is a very low B, so let's hope that it doesn't slide further.

          Note: a significant portion of my cohort (probably 30-35%) failed the exam so I'll consider myself lucky and not stupid this time. The mark is still absolutely horrific though.

          11 days later

          I got my chemistry assignment back at the start of this week. It was a meh grade, not bad but lower than what I would have wanted. There is a data test at the end of the term so I'll definitely be studying for that.

          Methods was a different story: I completely bombed that. It wasn't as bad as my specialist percentage, but it was still crap compared to my historical performance.

          I time failed both math exams, which definitely contributed to my low grades. I need to start working MUCH faster now, because I skipped 2-3 questions for both exams.

          That might be one of my new yearly goals actually. To work quicker in exams and not time fail.

          7 days later

          I just submitted both my English and my Engineering assignments. I only have a chemistry data test left on Thursday and then I'm done for the term.

          This term's results are probably going to be really disappointing, both my math exams were disastrous and everything else is meh.

          I seriously hope this won't happen again (especially in year 12).

          Oh, and I also have to do my English presentation on Thursday. It'll probably be nice and chill with only 5 speakers/audience members.

          15 days later

          I somehow clutched up and my grades for Term 2 aren't as bad as I thought they would be. Here's my termly reflection for all 6 of my subjects. Note that the percentages listed are for the whole semester and not just for this term.

          Engineering (92%): I have mixed feelings about Engineering. Although I knew I did well considering that I had just switched from Digital Solutions, I feel that I could have done better. I did not put enough effort into my drafts and checkpoints and hence I did not receive the feedback necessary to get a better grade.

          Physics (90%): I'll admit that I completely threw this term. We only had an assignment this term and since its weighting was relatively high, it dragged down my semester grade by an entire 10%. Once again, I was lazy with the draft and only submitted a half-complete draft. Unsurprisingly, most of the marks that I lost were in the sections that I didn't complete in my draft.

          Chemistry (87%): Chemistry is that one subject that is basically unpredictable. For my assignment this term, I also submitted a half-complete draft (I know that I'm being repetitive here, but this has been a recurring problem for me this term). I ended up getting full marks for the first section, but dropped marks on the last two sections because of my careless evaluation and identification of limitations and uncertainty. After receiving that mark, I furiously studied for the upcoming data test and smashed that with a 10/10. I'll really need something special next term to save my chem grade.

          Math Methods (82%): I really don't want to go into too much detail because I've already commented about my methods situation in another post. I ran out of time on the exam making silly errors and then crossing them out again. I even had to redo entire questions because I was being clumsy with either the math or the interpretation of the question. My goal next term is to SPEED UP my working out and also to not make careless errors.

          English (82%): This one really surprised me because I was fully expecting to fail this term. However, I ended up getting 92% this term and combined with the 72% last term, it puts me at what I got for the semester. I wrote my speech in a way that was accessible to the audience instead of being formal like I usually do in essays. As for the speaking itself, I did my best to include pauses, hand gestures, and other features that are present in good speeches. Hopefully I can keep up the good grade next term.

          Specialist Maths (71%): I don't want to think too hard about this because I absolutely FLUNKED this term's exam. I had the same problem with specialist as methods, but I made more mistakes this time and attempted even less questions.

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