As part of St Catherine’s School’s Thinking Agenda and focus on academic care, we have recently run several sessions for our senior students on how to prepare for the upcoming examination period in an effective manner.  

The sessions, undertaken during the students’ Academic Advisory Sessions, emphasise the holistic nature of academic care and draw from the work of Cal Newport and the Science of Learning, regarding how students can perform at their best.  

During the sessions, the girls also respond directly to the advice provided across VCE Examiner Reports in all subjects regarding common student errors in thinking. Below is a synthesised summary of the guidance provided to students, which parents are encouraged to discuss with their daughters.  

Step 1: Creating the right study conditions   

First, students were encouraged to make the organisation of notes and materials their first task, to be completed within one week, to enable them to study more effectively with the physical materials at hand.  

Second, to enable optimum cognitive performance and focus, students need to care for their body, brain and mind through prioritising nutrition, sleep, and movement throughout the exam period.  

The girls were also encouraged to work pen-to-paper, as too much screen reading requires a style of reading not required for examinations.  

They should also seek out a quiet place in which they can study and focus. Perhaps considering taking advantage of St Catherine’s Nicholas Library and the many university libraries open on weekends.  

Step 2: Revision focus and key study strategies 

When revising, students need to concentrate on three broad areas for each discipline: 

1. Knowledge, facts, and concepts (information recall)
2. Application and problem-solving (applied thinking)
3. Examination performance (timing and emotional regulation) 

After an initial reflection stage, where the girls identify areas for improvement in each of the categories, they can then begin their study in a focused, targeted manner. 

Core elements of successful, strategic learners include retrieval practice, chunking, deliberate practice, and metacognitive self-talk under timed conditions, which are all elements of our Teaching for Thinking approach.  

For example, a highly strategic student would begin their examination period learning key information and building vocabulary using retrieval practice, before switching to spaced practice in the latter weeks. Meanwhile, they would be completing multiple applied questions (in practice exams) using thinking routines to familiarise themselves with unseen material and learn to manage any potential anxiety that may arise. Upon receiving feedback from their teacher, they should immediately seek to address this feedback as part of deliberate practice, so they can improve over the examination period.  

Step 3: Avoiding common traps  

Effective study is connected with good thinking and self-regulation. Therefore, there are common traps students must avoid. For example, students should be wary of ‘pseudo-study,’ whereby they devote hours of study time to easy, low-impact tasks (such as rewriting notes) rather than attacking applied questions (which is more challenging).  

Students should also put in place a ‘distraction stopper’ action-plan to avoid having their concentration fragmented by electronic devices, procrastination, or socialising. Finally, they should practise ‘self-coaching’ through examinations, so they can prepare for the inevitable ‘curly’ exam questions.  

From our collective experience from the previous two years of running this program, we know students who applied the advice during SWOT VAC found they were able to approach examinations with a sense of confidence, competency, and control.  

We wish all our senior students the very best for their examinations and congratulate them on their remarkable persistence through the last three challenging years.