Advice for Year 11s 2024

abbey1234321
If u have any questions in particular feel free to ask

Some tips from my own experience:

• Start experimenting with a notes system that you intend to use in your final year. Practice making concise, well formatted notes.
• Learn from your mistakes by keeping a notebook of the feedback you have received. I usually reworded my teacher's dot points. I was able to consolidate my work in my last year by using this collated feedback.
• Get into good study habits so that it is an easier transition to year 12. But this doesn't mean overdoing the study; simply get into a routine of doing it so that you can amplify such routine in year 12.

Im going into year 12 this year so here are my tips

• Figure out your best/favourite/easiest way to study for each of subjects. They may all be completely different per subject but you want to be in a good routine and know where you are keeping your stuff/taking notes for year 12 as it will make starting a 3/4 a lot easier

• If you're doing a 3/4 this year PLEASE put the effort in and treat it as a year 12 subject, not another 1/2. 3/4's regardless of the subject will take more effort and time so please try your best to do well in this subject as if you are disappointed with your result at the end of the year, it will definately demotivate you going into year 12

• This wont relate to all subjects but a lot of them the first couple of chapters are the main things that carry onto and relate to year 12 work so put the effort in early as a lot of my subject the unit 2 work is irrelevant in 3/4

haps do you have any advice on how to figure out what note-taking way works best/ easiest way to study?

A lot of testing different techniques, which can be found online. I found the 20-5-20 method works really well! Short periods of study tend to be way more achievable than long periods of study. When they say breaks are important, they really mean it. It is SO NOT worth doing long periods of study and pushing through when you have clearly stopped paying attention. Find a good activity to do during breaks like dancing, stretching, going for a 5 min walk. Something to get you moving in the fresh air can help snap that lethargy. Also, phones. Figure out early in the year how much you want your phone to control you, because it will if you don't put in the effort to take a break from your phone. It is so easy to use it as an excuse to procrastinate. It is much better to procrastinate doing something enjoyable and productive if you really can't do schoolwork. Hope that helps!

i hope i’m not doubling-up on what the others have put in this thread, but this is some advice i have after completing year 11 in 2023.

1 - understanding is the key
first thing’s first is that year 11 doesn’t actually matter so much. you just need to pass your subjects and your school will promote you to year 12. in saying that though, do not slack off. a lot of stuff in year 11 will be covered in more depth in year 12, so being able to understand concepts will be really important if you are looking to perform well in year 12. just don’t burn yourself out, because you are going to need a lot of brain power for year 12.

2 - experiment with study techniques
find what is best for you. throughout year 11, i found myself experimenting with many ways of studying and adapted what worked best for me, and this would vary subject per subject. for business management and psychology, i would use quizlets and make handwritten summary notes to help understand concepts. for general math, i did lots of practice questions. and for english, i did practice writing, but i am aware of classmates who used quizlet to study quotes.

3 - develop good study methods
start working towards making study time work for you, and adapt this in year 12. will it be 1 hour consecutive or broken into two 25 minute study blocks and two 5 minute breaks? find your designated study spot, how you will take your notes (see more below), etc.

4 - making good notes
handwriting is the key, because you are building muscle memory. last year i hand wrote all throughout unit 1, and it worked. but it was a bit time consuming, so i decided to do typed notes for unit 2. that lasted a week and a half, because i wasn’t absorbing anything. this year, i’m handwriting my notes on my ipad, so if you have an ipad with an apple pencil that would definitely be a good way to save paper and the environment.

any questions feel free to reply!!

girlmeetsvce My way probably wasnt the most efficient but I guess it turned out to be quite helpful in the end.

Throughout year 11 i tried handwriting in books, handwriting on loose leaf paper, typing on computer, writing on ipad, summary cards, really a lot of things. This was ultimately because I couldnt decide what way worked best for me and decided I wanted to try them all out to see what worked best. I also found that different subjects had different ones.

I definately recommend trying out a few different ways and seeing what way you best retain information, you are motivated to do (some people can get bored when hadnwriting and end up not doing it), and what you enjoy doing.

I like making pretty notes (which isnt always efficient) but it motivates me to take notes and make summary sheets which are really beneficial for me!

Sorry this is a much longer response than you probably wanted but my main thing is to to try to find one that you best retain info! (and think you can be consistent with)

girlmeetsvce oh also i didnt really tough on the studying in general part of the question, but again just do what you think you can be consistent with.

Also trying out difffertent places to study can be beneficial! Its not for everyone but I loveeeee studying T the state library as it makes me feel really porductive, and pretty much studying at any library. Studying at my desk at home sometimes distracts me and I end up not doing as much so yeah try out different places/times of the day too!!

Kay thank you! I actually have been noticing my phone getting in the way of a lot of things and I do want to work on that. If you don't mind, could you pls tell me what the 20-5-20 method is?

haps even I love writing pretty notes! I prefer handwriting but hate how much time it takes and how sometimes it ends up in not getting down whatever the teacher is teaching

girlmeetsvce The 20-5-20 method (or the Pomodoro method) is where you choose a subject to work on for about an hour, and you do 20-25 mins work, and then take a 5min break (AWAY from your desk, preferable outside the room you're in. get some sun, air, movement, whatever. play a good song and dance to it whatever. stretch. exercise. anything but study) and then come back for another 20-25 mins. I find this super helpful because when I wanna go on my phone instead of study, I remind myself that there are only ___ mins left of my session.

Another key study motivator is making lists. Obviously everyone is different, but for me, I struggle with my attention span, so I break down tasks into smaller tasks. That way I get the satisfaction of ticking them off, and I'm never confused as to how to approach a task. I don't have the excuse of saying that there is nothing I can do. This helps slowly complete a task instead of waiting for the night before!

As for your phone, that is an obstacle you have to decide for yourself what you want to do, because having someone force you to not be on your phone is probably just going to build up resentment and won't work (I mean it might depending how attached to your phone you are). But maybe writing up a list of random activities you could do instead of going on your phone, or keeping track of your screen time may motivate you not to be on it as frequently? I found going cold turkey and deleting social media like instagram super helpful. Year 11 is the year to experiment with all these things, especially your school-work-life balance.

One LAST thing (I promise). Please do NOT keep studying once you have completely lost motivation. Studying won't always be fun or enjoyable, and sometimes you will have to suck it up and just do it. BUT, don't keep studying if nothing is sinking in and you have stopped paying attention. 6 hours of straight study is not gonna help you if those 6 hours were spent thinking about other things, or watching youtube or tiktok or whatever.

Hope that made sense

this is so helpful, thank you!