They're not wrong, knowing and understanding the syllabus is what's gonna get you marks. Yr 11 is formatted quite different to Year 10 where it seemed the syllabus didn't really matter. When I started Yr 11, all my teachers said "memorise your syllabus!" and I was so confused as to why it was so important. But it is important!!!
You should organise your notes by the headings and subheadings in the syllabus. For SOR, this might look like: Principal Beliefs (heading) with maybe a definition and an overview, then The Three Jewels (subheading) with Buddha as a sub-sub-heading and some notes, etc.
ATAR notes and Studocu are great resources but honestly whatever you learn in class, class textbooks/workbooks etc is the most helpful, as whatever teachers provide is most def what's gonna be in tests and assignments.
Remember the syllabus is your friend!!