advice for yr10? (1 Viewer)

gluuie

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2021
Messages
15
Gender
Female
HSC
2024
I currently am doing pretty well in my classes but during tests i rlly flop, even if i know the content or the answer. I'm not dumb tho, i learn content that's pretty advanced but ig im just not a test person?

I need to do really well in my first yr10 semester because i'm trying out for selective entry for yr11 at maybe sydney girls, girraween, maybe penrith? I'm currently attending a partially selective school, howver i'm not in the selective stream.

tell me ur thoughts about it and what i should doooo !! also please let me know any other good selective schools that are kind of lower ranked :)
 

laterz laterz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2020
Messages
471
Gender
Male
HSC
2021
maybe try putting yourself in exam conditions at home. so like, set up a table, a timer/clock and sit in a silent place where no-one disturbs u. then mark your test according to the guidelines or smth like that. if u arent able to achieve a certain mark, give urself a punishment such as doing more exams till you get the required mark or ask ur mum to take ur phone away for a day. idk i have never been in this situation but i am guessing this is smth u can do.
 

iwanttodogoodinschool

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2019
Messages
1,496
Gender
Female
HSC
2021
Maybe it's got to do with your revision strategies. How do u usually prepare for tests? Do you make notes? Memorise them? Use flashcards? Attempt tons of practice questions? Test yourself in timed conditions?

I reckon there's no such thing as being a "test person"... Of course, some people get exam anxiety or just mess up due to timed conditions but this can easily be overcome.

I know its dumb but maybe read a few blogs/watch a few youtube videos about how to best prepare for tests, and try to see what will work for you. Don't be afraid to experiment! This is the perfect time as when you approach year 12 you'll be well equipped and will know what works for you.

Other than that, try to maintain any stress you have, especially regarding selective entry as you have said. It's not good at all to put pressure on yourself. Just try your best and you'll be fine. (cheesy i know - but its true!)

Good luck
 

gluuie

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2021
Messages
15
Gender
Female
HSC
2024
I normally make flashcards and do a bunch of worksheets !
 

kkk579

hello
Joined
Jul 24, 2021
Messages
1,668
Location
Sydney, Australia
Gender
Female
HSC
2025
I currently am doing pretty well in my classes but during tests i rlly flop, even if i know the content or the answer. I'm not dumb tho, i learn content that's pretty advanced but ig im just not a test person?

I need to do really well in my first yr10 semester because i'm trying out for selective entry for yr11 at maybe sydney girls, girraween, maybe penrith? I'm currently attending a partially selective school, howver i'm not in the selective stream.

tell me ur thoughts about it and what i should doooo !! also please let me know any other good selective schools that are kind of lower ranked :)
maybe try for hurlstone? it’s quite competitive to get into. good partials are Chatswood and sefton
 

gluuie

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2021
Messages
15
Gender
Female
HSC
2024
I heard hurlstone is super competitive and so as Sydney girls. I'm only considering Sydney girls since there is no entry test but i'm also considering fort street despite the long commute.
 

kkk579

hello
Joined
Jul 24, 2021
Messages
1,668
Location
Sydney, Australia
Gender
Female
HSC
2025
I heard hurlstone is super competitive and so as Sydney girls. I'm only considering Sydney girls since there is no entry test but i'm also considering fort street despite the long commute.
lol I’m in year 8 Rn and Im trying out next year for fort street and girraween. It’s gonna be my first time applying, I was thinking of doing it in year 7 and 8 but my reports were ehh. Kinda wished I lived closer tho, both fort and girra are around 1hr and 20 min from my home by train
 

gluuie

New Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2021
Messages
15
Gender
Female
HSC
2024
samee !! i live i quite far from majority of selective schools. I was never really interested in applying for selective when i was younger, so i never tried out for the yr6 selective test which i really regret not doing. It's good that you want to start applying and if you don't make it in you can try again! If you want any yr9 tips then feel free to ask :)
 

kkk579

hello
Joined
Jul 24, 2021
Messages
1,668
Location
Sydney, Australia
Gender
Female
HSC
2025
samee !! i live i quite far from majority of selective schools. I was never really interested in applying for selective when i was younger, so i never tried out for the yr6 selective test which i really regret not doing. It's good that you want to start applying and if you don't make it in you can try again! If you want any yr9 tips then feel free to ask :)
oh haha, will do!
 

011235

Active Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2021
Messages
207
Gender
Male
HSC
2023
I think you are probably hitting a wall I hit in about year 8, if you put in the work you'll get over it pretty fast.
I felt like I knew all the content but didn't do super well in exams (didn't do super poorly either).

Exam technique is a important part of exams you should try to nail down now. To me it sounds like you don't really know how to approach exams. Making sure you are doing practice exams within the time limit will help you to figure out how to "do exams" and make sure you complete all parts within the time limit.

Make sure you are also doing effective revision. Use spaced repetition and active recall (very good youtube videos on these). I.e. don't cram the night before reading over all your notes. That will not end well. Something better would look like doing a wide range of practice questions regularly after you learn content.

I feel like this is something a teacher would say but this is true, look at the NESA key words glossary (Define, Explain, etc) espec. for (junior) subjects like science, geo, hist. You should know reasonably how much detail you should give based on the words in the question. Also, you'll probably find in short-answer/long-response you can figure out where each mark would be allocated, if you know that then you know what to include in your response.

Good luck with year 10!
 

ExtremelyBoredUser

Bored Uni Student
Joined
Jan 11, 2021
Messages
2,479
Location
m
Gender
Male
HSC
2022
I currently am doing pretty well in my classes but during tests i rlly flop, even if i know the content or the answer. I'm not dumb tho, i learn content that's pretty advanced but ig im just not a test person?

I need to do really well in my first yr10 semester because i'm trying out for selective entry for yr11 at maybe sydney girls, girraween, maybe penrith? I'm currently attending a partially selective school, howver i'm not in the selective stream.

tell me ur thoughts about it and what i should doooo !! also please let me know any other good selective schools that are kind of lower ranked :)
All the advice above is great and you should apply them all. Not sure if this works with everyone but I've experienced the same thing and I've found when I studied the content with a time restriction and simulating that same feeling of stress/anxiety, I got more work done in shorter spans of time as well as identify the silly errors and mistakes I make in such topic.

For example when learning Differentiation, I would mix up the order of the top bracket in the quotient rule when I was trying to quickly solve a question so I would then constantly practice such questions so I don't make that same mistake. Can't say this works for everyone since people want to not have that feeling of stress lingering when they're studying so this might be more preferable when revising. Just a suggestion.
 

Life'sHard

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 24, 2021
Messages
1,102
Gender
Male
HSC
2021
Uni Grad
2025
I currently am doing pretty well in my classes but during tests i rlly flop, even if i know the content or the answer. I'm not dumb tho, i learn content that's pretty advanced but ig im just not a test person?

I need to do really well in my first yr10 semester because i'm trying out for selective entry for yr11 at maybe sydney girls, girraween, maybe penrith? I'm currently attending a partially selective school, howver i'm not in the selective stream.

tell me ur thoughts about it and what i should doooo !! also please let me know any other good selective schools that are kind of lower ranked :)
Do more papers under exam conditions at home. It's the only way to get used to it.
 

username_2

Active Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2020
Messages
116
Gender
Male
HSC
2020
I currently am doing pretty well in my classes but during tests i rlly flop, even if i know the content or the answer. I'm not dumb tho, i learn content that's pretty advanced but ig im just not a test person?

I need to do really well in my first yr10 semester because i'm trying out for selective entry for yr11 at maybe sydney girls, girraween, maybe penrith? I'm currently attending a partially selective school, howver i'm not in the selective stream.

tell me ur thoughts about it and what i should doooo !! also please let me know any other good selective schools that are kind of lower ranked :)
Yes I like the above suggestions as a very good general solution and sometimes you might need more. For example, is it you are making a lot of silly mistakes and if so, is it due to time pressure or confusion between multiple options. Think about every step you take in an exam while doing each question with utmost care and clarity. For me this was a problem for a long time even though I understood most high level concepts. Just be extremely precise and a 100% sure about what you' re answering, how you're answering and why are you doing it the way you are. These are important questions to ask yourself during practice such that it becomes second nature in actual test and you actually would feel much more confident. Or you might have something - but being specific and narrowing down the why at this stage is the most important.

Oh yea and skip questions that you're stuck at by putting a circle around the question number to remind yourself. You donot have to do exams in a linear patter - try the easier ones first , hard ones later such that you will get the most marks you can. Good luck and hope it is useful :)
 

nourished.

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
188
Gender
Male
HSC
2017
I currently am doing pretty well in my classes but during tests i rlly flop, even if i know the content or the answer. I'm not dumb tho, i learn content that's pretty advanced but ig im just not a test person?

I need to do really well in my first yr10 semester because i'm trying out for selective entry for yr11 at maybe sydney girls, girraween, maybe penrith? I'm currently attending a partially selective school, howver i'm not in the selective stream.

tell me ur thoughts about it and what i should doooo !! also please let me know any other good selective schools that are kind of lower ranked :)
Oddly enough, how you write your response is just as important as what you know. Take a look at your past exam papers and look at what feedback your teacher has left for you. Jot these down on a separate piece of paper. After a while, you will have compiled a pretty good list of where your areas of improvement are. And, from this, you can actually make a blueprint for how you should structure your future responses.
 

jimmysmith560

Le Phénix Trilingue
Moderator
Joined
Aug 22, 2019
Messages
4,548
Location
Krak des Chevaliers
Gender
Male
HSC
2019
Uni Grad
2022
does anyone have tips on exam technique??? like preventing careless mistakes and stuff
I think the main element to consider (in addition to sufficient and effective preparation) is focus. Careless/silly mistakes may occur due to a lack/loss of focus at any time during your exam, the causes of which may include reading the questions too fast/not enough times, particularly with maths exams. Something you can do to prevent such mistakes is to carefully/slowly read the question to ensure you are fully aware of what it requires in terms of response. Reading the question multiple times will also contribute to this certainty.

Another thing you can do is to go through your answers towards the end of the exam. This requires good time management, as you will need to complete all questions in a timely manner, giving you adequate time to go through your answers. Going through your answers, in addition to the aforementioned technique, will maximise your ability to identify any careless/silly mistakes you may have made and (if applicable) address those accordingly.
 

_jp.

New Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2021
Messages
3
Gender
Male
HSC
2023
lol I’m in year 8 Rn and Im trying out next year for fort street and girraween. It’s gonna be my first time applying, I was thinking of doing it in year 7 and 8 but my reports were ehh. Kinda wished I lived closer tho, both fort and girra are around 1hr and 20 min from my home by train
yeah you gotta consider whether going to a selective school is worth that much travel time. you would be tired after school n it would take time out of study, etc.
 

_jp.

New Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2021
Messages
3
Gender
Male
HSC
2023
I currently am doing pretty well in my classes but during tests i rlly flop, even if i know the content or the answer. I'm not dumb tho, i learn content that's pretty advanced but ig im just not a test person?

I need to do really well in my first yr10 semester because i'm trying out for selective entry for yr11 at maybe sydney girls, girraween, maybe penrith? I'm currently attending a partially selective school, howver i'm not in the selective stream.

tell me ur thoughts about it and what i should doooo !! also please let me know any other good selective schools that are kind of lower ranked :)
I transferred from a rank 400+ school to baulko n it important to consider how ur going to adjust especially if u have never been in a selective class/cohort. Transferring in Year 11 can mean there are more spots, but it can be more difficult as by that time more ppl at the school start to actually do work n stop chilling like they did in 7-10 😂. If u prepare properly before transferring this won't impact you much, tho if you arrive to a cohort that is extremely competitive, it is going to be more difficult for you to adjust to. Not sure abt how many ppl they take in yr 11 at the schools ur interested in, but it is generally more than 7-10 entry. This means there are more ppl in the same position as you n can make it easier to adapt.
 
Joined
Sep 1, 2019
Messages
86
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2022
I'd say you should try to study and do your homework more to get yourself better ready for Stage 6 and can get good study habits going so you are ready by Year 11.

Don't act like the idiot I am and sit on your ass all day doing nothing. If I didn't do that in year 10, I probably wouldn't have gone down the shitter in year 11.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top