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Year 10 High School Survival Guide

Guide Chapters

• Year 7 Survival Guide
• Year 8 Survival Guide
• Year 9 Survival Guide
• Year 10 Survival Guide
• Year 11 Survival Guide
• Year 12 Survival Guide

In this Year 10 High School Survival Guide, we will outline the common issues faced by Year 10 students, explain what’s required in each subject for academic success, and share the effective study habits of past students.

If students fall behind in Year 10, they will limit their choices for subject selection in Year 11 & 12.

In fact, any Year 10 students who perform poorly in English, Mathematics, or Science will be discouraged by their school in undertaking subjects such as English Advanced, Maths Extension 1, Chemistry, or/and Physics in Year 11.

Staying ahead in Year 10 is clearly crucial!

In this article we discuss:

• An Overview of Year 10

Assessing which subjects are right for me

• Understanding Year 10 Subjects

Year 10 English

Year 10 mathematics, year 10 science.

Let’s look at what Year 10 involves for your child.

An overview of Year 10

What’s expected of students in year 10.

Students must prepare for the following when transitioning into Year 10:

• They must expect an increase in conceptual difficulty as the modules/topics become more challenging to understand;
• They must expect an increase in workload as it takes longer for homework completion;
• They must be more self-directed in their learning;
• They must assess which subject(s) to continue for their studies in Year 11.

Year 10 students must have a solid grasp of the fundamental concepts of their subjects in preparation for Year 11.

Common issues amongst Year 10 students

Some of the common issues that Year 10 students experience are listed below:

• Students are unsure which Year 10 subjects they should continue their studies in Year 11 – A large number of students choose the wrong subjects in Year 11 based on their ‘like’ for the subject in Year 10 rather than based on the prerequisite or recommended subjects guidelines outlined in each university course.
• Students don’t place enough emphasis on understanding key concepts – In Year 10, students learn new topics which require the application of existing knowledge and understanding in more complex ways. If students don’t have a clear understanding of the key concepts required of the course, it is more difficult to meet the learning outcomes. As a result, they often default to memorising a large amount of information.
• Students do not revise regularly – As students begin to encounter more complex problems, and develop the core skills required for the HSC, they need to revise on a regular basis to develop confidence and demonstrate mastery of the core skills.
• Students struggle to cope with more homework – Many students underestimate how much homework they should be doing per day for Year 10. In preparation for Stage 6, students should be doing at least 2.5 hours of study per day.
• Students don’t manage time to adjust for increased workload – It’s very common for students to procrastinate and leave things until the last minute. A large number of students try to prepare for their exams 3 days before the exam date.
• Student lack self-directed learning – One of the most important skills students learn in high school is self-directed learning. Learning how to research and how to practice skills independently is an essential skill for the HSC and university. Students must develop these skills early on.

Year 10 is the final opportunity to determine which subjects are the right fit for Year 11. Students who have a clear idea of what subjects they plan to study in Year 11 and 12 are more likely to take Year 10 subjects seriously and therefore be more successful.

As universities are increasingly requiring students to have a minimum HSC result in English and Mathematics for various courses, it’s important for students to decide early in Year 10 which subjects they wish to continue in Year 11. This way, they can maximise their chances of success in key areas and subjects.

Please see the flowcharts below for the minimum competencies required for different levels of English, Mathematics, and Science.

Year 10 Students who wish to study English Advanced or Extension 1 in Year 11 need to demonstrate a high level of competency.

• Mathematics

Year 10 students studying Mathematics Advanced (5.3) must demonstrate mastery of topics for consideration in Year 11 Mathematics Extension 1 course (3-unit).

Year 10 students studying Science must demonstrate a high level of competency in all of the three modules (The Living World, The Chemical World, The Physical World) in order to be considered for Year 11 Biology, Chemistry or/and Physics.

Note the university courses that require these subjects.

In order to demonstrate high competency or mastery of topics in English, Mathematics, and Science, students are expected to dedicate at least 12 to 15 hours of study each week. In addition, Year 10 students continue to receive a significant amount of work from their various subjects. This means that students will need to do a significant amount of homework each night.

Conscientious students will do at least 2.5 hours study per evening.

Understanding Year 10 subjects

Year 10 students will  learn the following compulsory subjects :

In Year 10, students continue to study the electives they chose from these broad areas :

• Creative Arts
• Human Society and Its Environment
• Personal Development, Health, and Physical Education (PDHPE)
• Technological and Applied Studies

Year 10 English is where students finish Stage 5. Stage 5 has a specific group of learning outcomes set by NESA.

Matrix Theory Books are designed to help students achieve the complete list of Stage 5 Outcomes:

• Responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated and sustained texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure;
• Effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing a wide range of texts in different media and technologies;
• Selects and uses language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts, describing and explaining their effects on meaning;
• Effectively transfers knowledge, skills and understanding of language concepts into new and different contexts;
• Thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about information and increasingly complex ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts in a range of contexts;
• Investigates the relationships between and among texts;
• Understands and evaluates the diverse ways texts can represent personal and public worlds;
• Questions, challenges and evaluates cultural assumptions in texts and their effects on meaning;
• Purposefully reflects on, assesses and adapts their individual and collaborative skills with increasing independence and effectiveness.

This means that in Year 10:

• Students further develop their analytic skills;
• They learn new techniques, practice analysing them in texts, and begin to discuss how these develop meaning;
• Students should have learned how to develop arguments logically, they need to consolidate this skill in preparation for Years 11 and 12;
• Students need to develop their essay skills.

Confidence with essay structure is the key to acing the HSC for English Advanced.

The texts in Year 10 increase in complexity to prepare students for Years 11 and 12:

• Students will learn to analyse a variety of different types of texts – poetry, fiction, non-fiction, film, and drama;
• To analyse these students must become increasingly confident discussing literary and poetic techniques using meta-language;
• Students should be masters at writing P.E.E.L paragraphs; these are the building blocks of Band 6 essays;
• In Year 10, students should consolidate their knowledge about textual forms, genres, and develop their understanding of literary movements.

The table below outlines the Year 9 and 10 English program at Matrix:

Year 10 students will face long responses and essay questions.

Students must be confident answering Year 10 essay questions like this:

Ace Year 10 English with the Beginner’s Guide to English

Learn how to conquer Year 9 English with our comprehensive Guide. Read it now .

Year 10 Mathematics consolidates the complex ideas and methods that lay the foundation for the HSC. In Stage 5, learning is split into 3 streams: 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 .

Mathematics 5.1 and 5.2 students will go into Year 11 and study general Mathematics. Students who study 5.3 will study Mathematics 2 unit Preliminary and Extension 1.

Students who struggle with the concepts in the table above have two choices:

• Put in the work to develop their skills and get on top of the ideas for the unit.
• Consider taking General Mathematics.

Students must have confidence in these subjects going into Year 11 or they will struggle to keep up. Having a solid grounding in trigonometry will make calculus more accessible. Calculus is a core subject for mathematics advanced and extension in Years 11 and 12. Matrix students these areas comprehensively.

More detailed information about Stage 5 Mathematics can be found on the  NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) website.  At Matrix, students address all of the topics set by NESA in their Year 10 Mathematics Theory Books. Each lesson is designed to ensure students meet the Stage 5 outcomes.

The table below outlines the Year 9 and 10 Mathematics program at Matrix:

Students need to be confident answering questions like this unaided:

Stage 5 Science is taught over two years. The order that students study these disciplines will vary from school to school. In Stage 5 Science, students will have the opportunity to explore the main branches of Science and see which they might like to pursue in the future. Students study basic chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and a topic on space. Typically, chemistry, physics and biology are divided between Year 9 and Year 10, so that students will likely continue their study of these topics in Year 10. Geology and space may be separated, with one being taught in Year 9 and the other in Year 10.

Stage 5 Science is broken down into 5 subject areas :

• Working Scientifically (Skills),
• Physical World,
• Earth and Space,
• Living World,
• Chemical World.

More specific information about these  Stage 5 topics can be found on the NESA website .

In Years 9 and 10, students study the following topics:

At the end of Year 10, students will be asked to pick specific Science modules – physics, chemistry, or biology. Year 10 is the opportunity to learn which fields interest them!

More detailed information about Stage 5 Science can be found on the  NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) website.  At Matrix, students address all of the topics set by NESA in their Year 10 Science Theory Books. Each lesson is designed to ensure students meet the Stage 5 outcomes.

The table below outlines the Year 9 and 10 Science program at Matrix:

At the end of Year 10, Matrix runs an Experimental Science course (which both replaces and includes the Space topic). This is aimed at addressing the Skills parts of the syllabus which are formally assessed in Years 11 and 12 but never explicitly taught in schools. This topic covers skills such as designing and evaluating an experiment, assessing types of errors, and analysing results qualitatively or quantitatively through graphs. The skills covered are transferable to all senior science subjects.

Year 10 Science allows students to gain a thorough understanding of fundamental scientific concepts and develop knowledge and skills to prepare students for HSC science subjects.

We hope this article and the links provided are a useful resource in preparing you for what’s to come in Year 10, and in achieving your academic ambitions.

Ace Year 10 Maths

Struggling to get on top of maths? Read our Beginner’s Guide to Year 10 Maths and learn the secrets to acing Maths!

Year 11 High School Survival Guide

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Study tips and advice for Year 10 and Year 11

Wednesday 11th, December 2019

Kartiya Ilardo

High school has unfortunately (yes, I enjoyed school very much) ended for me, but lucky for some who read this, your schooling adventure has just begun. Following are study tips and advice for students in Year 10 and 11!

Try to attend all classes

The first step is to attend your classes, when you can of course. It is okay if you feel under the weather and your bed seems more beneficial for you compared to school. However, this means you miss out on information. In Year 10, this is not all that bad, but in Year 11 and especially Year 12, it can lead to gaps in your knowledge.

Luckily, this is easy to fix. If you happen to be away for substantial reasons make sure you catch up on what was taught in that lesson through means of talking to your friends, or making an appointment with your teacher.

For me, I knew missing classes would actually cause more stress, I suppose it was FOMO.

Develop an effective study habit

Year 10 is probably the year where homework gets tough. Soon enough, you get more every day and procrastination seems the easier option. Stop! Pull yourself out of the dangerous pit of procrastination and tackle the homework head on. Now, this doesn’t mean knuckling down for twelve hours straight; this calls for an effective study plan!

Plan out your homework hours and make sure you include breaks! Breaks may even be more important than studying itself, how is the brain supposed to absorb all of this knowledge juice if the poor thing wants a rest?

If you start to plan out your study in Year 10 and Year 11, and maybe even abide by it (note: there can be some exceptions, like if you have a test on a specific subject, I would focus more on that despite what the study plan says) you will be ready for the gruelling studying Year 12 entails, maybe with all this practice, you will feel comfortable with studying because you’ve made it a habit and we are creatures of habit.

Handwrite notes

We all know typing notes is easier on our fingers and much faster and neater than handwriting. But what do we also know? We know all (depends on subject) of our tests, SACS and exams need to be handwritten. This means we need to build our handwriting muscles! We want our phalanges buff and strong so we can flex them in the exam period.

So it is vital, that we develop this skill during Year 10, 11 and 12. Students in most of my classes would type notes for English. My teacher didn’t support this because they knew these students wouldn’t be as good at writing in the exam as they could’ve been if they had written all year, which put them at a disadvantage.

To give yourself an advantage WRITE! Write as much as you can, but be wary not to tire your poor fingers, remember they need a rest too! Come test time, your fingers will feel good and want to write neatly and quickly for you.

Pinpoint your weaknesses and work on them

Year 10 and 11 do not actually affect your ATAR directly. This is the perfect opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. This is probably the best advice for English, since it can only be improved by pinpointing your mistakes and improving them with each practice essay.

With other subjects too, if you feel you do not understand a certain concept ask your teachers and friends! Absorb their knowledge.

If you know you cannot last a three-hour exam (applies more to year 11s) write at increasing time intervals. First time can be thirty-minutes, and if this is okay with you, go to an hour. If an hour is too much, maybe go down a bit to forty-five minutes and then increase from there.

Year 10 and Year 11 is where you develop habits and acknowledge your weaknesses, and you use these years to improve and build a solid foundation for these habits so that come year 12, you have a strong start.

Do not stress much about grades

As Year 10 and 11 do not directly affect your ATAR, it doesn’t really matter if you get a really bad score, in fact, it might be a blessing in disguise according to the point above. That bad grade is not telling you that you have failed, it is warning you, it is wanting you to go and figure out where the gaps in your knowledge are so that you can improve next time.

As disheartening as it can be to see a measly grade on something you worked hard on, don’t worry, it happens to the best of us, we just need to use it as a stepping stone to the road of success, which is hella bumpy. Enjoy this tumultuous journey, love its flaws and its perfections!

General Advice

Join atar notes.

This is not a paid promotion, this is a sincere and genuine piece of advice from my heart. If you are in Year 10 or later, join now! There is a treasure trove of helpful information that will definitely get you through VCE. If that isn’t enough, this community is in abundance of kind-hearted geniuses who bestow their wisdom and knowledge onto those who seek it. I found this the most supportive and helpful VCE resource so it would be in your advantage to join.

This is not a paid promotion either, it is another sincere and genuine piece of advice from my heart. Quizlet is the best tool for any VCE student. They may only be electronic flashcards but damn, they help you retain information you never thought you could retain. I do have every single term for Psychology and Computing: Software Development Units 1,2,3 and 4 on there the link is this:

https://quizlet.com/theghostwhoquizzes

Taking care of yourself

Lastly, and I think the most important piece of advice is to take care of yourself. A member on ATAR Notes, Bri MT, has the following quote:

“Invest in wellbeing so it can invest in you.”

This couldn’t be more accurate. Yes, VCE is important to some, but you are more important than anything else in the world. Treat yourself when you finish the week! Go out with friends and family! Watch your favourite movie or lie down and listen to your favourite song. Do nothing.

You are at the centre of your world and if you are feeling terrible on the inside, then the world outside will reflect that.

It is normal to cry and feel down, especially during VCE. It is okay :). Talk to someone if you feel that will be helpful, teachers and counsellors at school are there for you, but just being by yourself is okay too. 🙂

Trust you will do well and you will.

I’ll leave you all with some quotes I think are important. Good luck and I believe each and every one of you will do very well, now all that is left is to believe in yourself. <3

“every mistake increases our chance to make progress.” – George Adair

“symptoms are not enemies to be destroyed, but sacred messengers who encourage us to take better care of ourselves.” – Jon Gabriel

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What are Study Skills?

Study skills are the skills you need to enable you to study and learn efficiently – they are an important set of transferable life skills.

Our pages provide generic study skills advice – appropriate to learners across all disciplines and in different life circumstances: full and part-time students, those returning to education later in life, those engaged in professional development and anybody who wants to learn how to learn effectively. 

Key points about study skills:

You will develop your own personal approach to study and learning in a way that meets your own individual needs. As you develop your study skills you will discover what works for you, and what doesn’t.

Study skills are not subject specific - they are generic and can be used when studying any area. You will, of course, need to understand the concepts, theories and ideas surrounding your specific subject area. To get the most out of your studies, however, you’ll want to develop your study skills.

You need to practise and develop your study skills.   This will increase your awareness of how you study and you’ll become more confident.  Once mastered, study skills will be beneficial throughout your life.

Study skills are not just for students.   Study skills are transferable - you will take them with you beyond your education into new contexts. For example, organisational skills, time management, prioritising, learning how to analyse, problem solving, and the self-discipline that is required to remain motivated.  Study skills relate closely to the type of skills that employers look for.  (See Transferable Skills and Employability Skills for more.)

At SkillsYouNeed we provide quality content on many life skills – and many of these are relevant to studying.

You’ll find two types of study skills pages – pages that directly relate to skills you need for study (such as How to Write an Essay ) and pages that are more general life skills but which are also important to studying (like Active Listening ).

Our Study Skills Pages Include:

Getting Organised to Study

Getting organised is an important first step to effective study.  Our page covers the basic organisation skills you need to consider – fundamentals such as where and when to study and the importance of developing a network of contacts who can help you when you need it.

This page covers some of the basic principles of time management – with reference to study. If you manage your time badly then you will be less productive, which can lead to stress and anxiety. This page will help you by outlining the importance of a personal study timetable and how to set goals and prioritise your time.

Sources of Information for Study

Learn what is meant by, and the importance of, primary, secondary and tertiary documents and how you may source such information in a library or online.

By understanding different writing styles you can put what you read into perspective. This page covers the main writing styles that you are likely to come across, including academic, journal, and journalistic styles.

When studying, it is likely that you will need to read a lot of information – and you will wish to use this time effectively as possible by developing your reading skills. Discover ways that you can engage with your reading, form links, understand opinions and put ideas and research into perspective. In short, develop your reading skills.

Critical Reading and Reading Strategies

This page explains what is meant by critical reading and critical thinking – skills which are fundamental to true learning, personal development and advancement. The page also covers how to develop a personal reading strategy and use SQ3R to help you manage your reading.

Note-Taking

Learning to take notes effectively is not only important to study but also in many other situations, at work and in your personal life.  Develop your note-taking skills with our pages: Note-Taking for Verbal Exchanges and Note-Taking for Reading .

It pays to carefully think about and plan an essay or other piece of written work before you start writing.  This page provides you with a framework for planning which will help ensure your work is relevant, well-constructed and produced efficiently.

Essay Writing

Learn about the processes involved in writing an essay, or other piece of assessed work.  Avoid common mistakes and follow best practice to help ensure that the work you produce is of a high quality.

How to Write a Dissertation or Thesis

Working on a dissertation, thesis or other research project can be the most challenging part of study. Our guide offers practical advice and explains how to work on each part of a research document, including:

• How to Write a Research Proposal
• Ethical Issues in Research
• Researching and Writing a Literature Review
• Writing your Methodology
• Writing up your Results and Discussion

Learning how to reference correctly is vital if you are a student. This page not only covers why you should reference, and what may happen if you don’t, but also includes some detailed guidelines on how to reference different types of materials.

As a learner you will be required to engage with theory, but exactly what is a theory?  A theory is an attempt to provide understanding - theories attempt to answer the question, 'why?' and therefore satisfy our curiosity.  Learn more about theories and how they are usually developed.

Before you submit your assignment for school, university or work, run through a series of final checks.  Avoid potentially embarrassing or costly mistakes and increase the credibility of your work.

Reflecting On Marked Work

This page, for students, encourages you to engage in the feedback you receive from a marker when your work is returned.  Don’t just look at the bottom line, the mark, but understand the comments and feedback and learn from any mistakes.

Revision Skills

Revising for examinations can be a real challenge for many people. Learn and practice some key skills to make your revision time as productive and effective as possible, leaving you better prepared for exams and tests.

Further Reading from Skills You Need

The Skills You Need Guide for Students

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Our eBooks are ideal for students at all stages of education, school, college and university. They are full of easy-to-follow practical information that will help you to learn more effectively and get better grades.

Other Areas Related to Study

Writing Skills

The writing skills section of SkillsYouNeed includes many other pages that we hope you’ll find useful.

Our pages: Spelling , Grammar and Punctuation for example can help with assignment writing.  You may also find information on our pages: Gender Neutral Writing and Clichés to Avoid useful.

Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are the skills we use every day to interact with others and many are relevant to effective study.

For example see:  Listening Skills , Problem Solving and Decision Making , Questioning and Types of Questions , Verbal Communication and Effective Speaking .

Personal Skills

Our Personal Skills section covers areas of personal development . 

Useful pages for study include:  Building Confidence and Self-Esteem , Tips for Dealing with Stress , Relaxation Techniques , and Self-Motivation .

Start with: Getting Organised to Study

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Ultimate Study Skills Guide: Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for Every Grade

Because they really do need to learn how to learn.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that study skills are life skills. Taking good notes, creating a focused workspace, managing distractions, making plans—any and all of these are skills people of all ages use every single day. Taking time to teach good study skills up front can equip students to succeed in school and beyond.

We’ve broken down many of the top study skills students need, including examples by grade level. Remember that there are a lot of different ways to study successfully. Offer students options and help them find the strategies that work best for them.

Study Spaces

Organization and time management study skills, learning styles, taking and using notes, effective reading study skills, completing assignments, test taking, finding help.

Choosing the right place to study is the first step to good study skills. Teach students to consider these elements.

Choose Your Space

For some students, this means a dedicated study space like a desk in their room. Others may prefer to curl up in a chair with a lap desk or work at a table in a common space. Whichever they choose, it should be an area that’s dedicated to study while they’re using it.

Source: organizeandarrangeit/Instagram

• Elementary School: Many students begin doing homework on the dining room or kitchen table, where parents can supervise. As students get older, encourage them to explore other spaces too, especially those where they can work independently.
• Middle School: By this age, kids will probably need a dedicated study space of their own, where they can keep supplies and works-in-progress. If that’s not possible, create a bin or box where they can store stuff while they’re not using it, then pull it out when it’s time to study.
• High School: Older students should be able to carve out a study space pretty much anywhere, since that’s something they’ll need to be able to do in the working world too. As long as they’re able to concentrate and get their work done, don’t be too picky about where they choose to do it.

Make Yourself Comfortable

“Comfortable” looks different for every person, so don’t assume all kids need to be sitting at a desk to work well. At the same time, they shouldn’t be so comfortable that they’ll fall asleep!

• Elementary School: When kids are doing independent reading, let them choose any spot they like. For other work, make sure they have a sturdy writing surface, like a table or lap desk. Ensure they have enough light to see what they’re doing, and teach them good posture if they’re sitting in a chair so they don’t develop stiff muscles.
• Middle and High School: Show them how to adjust the font size on screens so they’re not squinting to read. Encourage them to use blue light filters if they’re spending a lot of time on computers.

Manage Distractions

Learning to concentrate while ignoring distractions is a key life skill, and one that we all need to develop. Some students will have no trouble tuning things out, while others are going to need a lot of help with this one.

• Elementary School: Kids at this age are very easily distracted, so their study space should be as calm as possible. If a quiet room isn’t available, they might need noise-canceling headphones or even a white-noise machine to help them concentrate. Muting the TV isn’t enough—be sure it’s off completely. Remind friends and siblings to leave kids alone while they’re working.
• Middle School: These kids are old enough to recognize distractions but might still have trouble handling them. Encourage them to turn off phones and electronics (although some students are fine listening to music while they work). Students at this age are old enough to politely ask friends or family not to interrupt them while they work.
• High School: By this time, students know that the world is full of distractions and you can’t quiet them all. But you can teach them to mute their phone and messaging notifications, close all unnecessary windows on their laptops, and be firm about letting others know they need to be left alone to study.

Gather Your Supplies

One way to eliminate distractions is to ensure you have everything you need in place before you start. This includes books, notes, office supplies, and more. All kids should have water and some healthy snacks on hand too.

Source: jugglingactmama/Instagram

• Elementary School: Having a dedicated, well-stocked study space makes it much easier for kids to settle down to their work. Keep a supply of sharpened pencils, glue sticks, scissors, markers, and other items in a nearby drawer or a bin they can grab when they’re ready to get started.
• Middle School: Students this age likely keep just about everything they need in their backpacks, so they’ll want it nearby when they study. Remind them to restock their supplies once a week (including sharpening pencils in advance).
• High School: Depending on the assignment, these students may not need a lot of physical supplies, but they should still gather any books, notes, laptops, pens and highlighters, etc., they need before they settle in for a study session.

These two study skills are also vital life skills, so the sooner kids learn them, the better. They’ll be grateful later in life!

Use a Homework Planner

As soon as kids starting having any kind of homework, they need a planner. For younger students, this could be a daily take-home folder, while older kids will need a more sophisticated system. Either way, use it consistently so it becomes a habit.

• Elementary School: Take-home folders are perfect for organizing worksheets and other assignments. Put unfinished work on the left and finished work on the right. Use sticky notes on the worksheets or the front of the folder to write reminders about what needs to be done, including any due dates. Parents of younger students can review these folders each day, while upper elementary kids should mostly be able to keep track of things on their own.

Source: Busy Classroom

• Middle School: Use a planner notebook that includes calendars to help keep track of long-term assignments, with pages for daily notes and to-do lists. Teach students to make notes in them during class or immediately after, and start every study session by reviewing any current assignments and their due dates.

Source: Starts at Eight

• High School: Kids can continue using paper planners, or transition to online calendars or apps. Show them how to set useful reminders online, so things don’t slip through the cracks.

Source: LP Tutoring

Create a Daily Study Plan

When kids sit down to tackle the day’s work, encourage them to begin by making a plan. Assess what needs to be done, estimate the amount of time it will take, and decide what to do first.

Source: Beyond Booksmart

• Elementary School: Parents and young kids should sit down together to look over the day’s assignments and talk about what to work on first. Some students might like to get easy tasks out of the way before settling in to harder ones, while others prefer to handle more difficult things first. Help them find the method that works best for them.
• Middle School and High School: This age brings a higher amount of homework, so students should always start by determining how much time they’ll need to complete it. Let them experiment a bit—do they work best by completely finishing one assignment before moving on to the next, or do they like to do a little bit of each and take some breaks in between? Over time, they’ll find the methods they like best.

Chose the Best Study Time

Kids’ days are often jam-packed with activities, leaving homework and studying to get squeezed in whenever it fits. Take time to find out what time of day kids are at their best, and prioritize that time for study. For instance, if a student seems to learn better if they do their homework right after school, try to choose extracurriculars that meet in the evenings or weekends instead. Some students might even prefer to get up early in the morning and work, and that’s OK too as long as they’re getting enough sleep.

• Elementary School: Let kids try doing their homework at different times throughout the day, and see if there are times when they’re better at concentrating. If so, teach them to schedule their schoolwork during those times, and make extracurricular choices for them accordingly.
• Middle and High School: Students probably know by now when they work best, but busy schedules can make that more difficult to accommodate. Remind them to try to make smart choices and to tackle schoolwork when they’re feeling as fresh and alert as possible.

Keep Materials Neat and Organized

Some adults thrive in messy work spaces, and that’s OK. But kids should make an effort to keep their spaces and materials organized so they have fewer excuses for not getting things done.

Source: mywallpro/Instagram

• Elementary School: In early grades, parents should help kids go through their backpack each night, cleaning out trash and restocking supplies. Help them set up an organization system using the different pockets. Show them how to use different-color folders and notebooks for each subject, and clean out every folder regularly. Set the backpack by the front door each night so it’s ready to go in the morning. Upper grade students should gradually do some or all of these things on their own.
• Middle School: Transition to entirely managing backpacks and study spaces on their own. Parents might check in once a week or at the beginning of a school quarter to see if students need some assistance getting organized.
• High School: In addition to managing their physical study materials, ensure kids at this age know how to keep things organized online. Show them how to use files and folders, where to back things up, and how to manage their email and message inboxes. Encourage them to set aside a regular time to make sure everything is in order, and make improvements as needed.

Take Breaks

Students need both physical and mental brain breaks while they study! Remind kids to get up and move around regularly, rest their eyes, and give their brain a break for a few minutes every so often.

• Elementary School: Younger students should be able to work for about 15-20 minutes before taking a break, with upper grades going as long as 30 minutes. They usually won’t need reminders to take breaks, but they might need some help keeping those breaks to no more than 10 minutes or so.
• Middle School: These kids can work 30-45 minutes at a time and should learn to recognize the signs of needing a break on their own. When they start to get very fidgety, feel a headache coming on, squint while they’re reading, or feel hungry or thirsty, it’s time for a short break. Teach them to set a timer to know when the break is over and they need to get back to work.
• High School: By now, students can work an hour at a time but should be encouraged to take regular breaks all the same. In fact, just like adults, they should aim to get up and move for at least 5 minutes every hour. Physical activity like stretching, yoga, or even dancing to music will help refresh them so they can get back down to it. If they have trouble remembering to take breaks, have them set a timer to remind them.

All students use different learning methods to retain and understand the same information. Some like written words, some prefer to hear it and talk about it. Others need to do something with their hands or see images and diagrams. These are known as learning styles. While it’s important not to pigeonhole students into any one style, kids should be aware of any strengths they have and use them to create strong study skills.

Source:  Nnenna Walters

Know Your Style

There are four generally accepted styles: visual, auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic (movement). You can learn more about them here. It’s worth taking time to understand which (if any) style appeals to a student more.

• Elementary School: Most kids are exposed to a wide array of learning activities, strategies, and methods here and will slowly form preferences. If parents or teachers notice that kids aren’t learning well using one method (e.g., flash cards to learn math facts), have students try activities from different styles instead (like videos or songs).
• Middle School: At this age, students should have some idea of which study methods fit their learning styles. They should continue to experiment, especially in subjects where they struggle to master the material.
• High School: Kids in these grades who still don’t understand how they learn best may benefit from taking the VARK questionnaire . It will point them in the right direction and help them find the best study methods.

Choose Appropriate Study Materials

Here are some examples of study materials and activities that appeal to different learning styles, no matter the age or grade level.

Source: Elementary Shenanigans

• Visual: Diagrams; charts; graphs; maps; videos with or without sound; photos and other images; graphic organizers and sketchnotes
• Auditory: Lectures; audiobooks; videos with sound; music and songs; text-to-speech translation; discussion and debate; teaching others
• Read/Write: Reading textbooks, articles, and handouts; watching video with subtitles turned on; using speech-to-text translation and transcripts; making lists; writing answers to questions
• Kinesthetic: Hands-on practice; educational craft projects; experiments and demonstrations; trial and error; moving and playing games while learning

Study after study have shown the importance of actively taking notes rather than passively reading a handout later on. The act of writing engages different parts of the brain, forging new pathways that help students retain information in long-term memory. Taking good notes and using them properly are study skills every student needs to master.

Learn Different Note-Taking Strategies

There are a variety of good strategies, like outlines, the Cornell Method, sketchnotes, and more. There’s no one best method; it often depends on the material and the learner.

Source:  Think Insights

• Elementary School: Actively teach kids how to take notes in a variety of styles. Learn about seven top note-taking strategies here , and share them with your students. Teachers can start with handouts and graphic organizers but should slowly transition to more independent methods.
• Middle School: Students should be mastering the skill of taking their own notes, choosing a style that works best for them. They may need reminders of key points to capture but should now be able to isolate the important info.
• High School: Note-taking should be automatic by now, and many students will have developed preferred styles. Teachers should not insist on a specific note-taking strategy, but should ensure kids are capturing the information they need.

Organize and Review

Taking notes is just one part of the process. Students with good study skills also know how to use them effectively.

Source: The Mad Scientist

• Elementary School: Help students keep all notes from one subject or project in one notebook or folder. Show them how to place them in an order that makes sense, and use tabs, tables of contents, or other organizational methods. Encourage them to review each day’s notes when they go home at night, to reinforce the learning.
• Middle School: Students in these grades might want to reorganize their notes on their own when they get home, re-copying them or even typing them into a computer. They should be able to use effective organization strategies, to find the notes they need later on during a study session.
• High School: Students should plan to spend time after every class going over that day’s notes, reviewing and reinforcing what they learned. They should be able to rely heavily on their own notes when reviewing for a test or completing a project.

“Read chapter three for homework tonight.” Sounds simple enough, right? But there’s a big difference between skimming the material and actually learning from it. Here are the study skills students need to learn while they read.

Highlighting

Everybody loves a handful of colorful highlighters, but using them effectively is a study skill all on its own. Kids can highlight both texts and their own notes.

Source: cozmic_mae/Instagram

• Elementary School: Read material with students, showing them how to highlight key words and phrases instead of whole blocks of text. Show them color-coding strategies for organizing the information. Give them practice passages specifically for learning these skills.
• Middle School: Introduce students to online highlighting tools, since many of the texts they’ll be reading are digital. If necessary, they can print out reading material to highlight physically instead.
• High School: Kids should be pretty expert at highlighting by now, but watch for students who are still highlighting whole blocks without really knowing why, and show them the fundamentals.

Rereading and Taking Notes

In a lot of cases, reading something once simply isn’t enough. All students should learn to reread materials, using that time to highlight and take notes.

Source: SERC

• Elementary School: Reread passages together, pointing out key words, phrases, and ideas. Make notes while reading, both in the text and on separate paper. Try to complete review questions without referring to the text.
• Middle School: Students will know they’ve read thoroughly when they can complete review questions without looking back. Show students how to write their own review questions as they study (the Cornell Method of Note-Taking is perfect for this) so they’ll know they truly understand the material.
• High School: Continue to reinforce good reading study skills by giving students review questions to complete or asking them to make an outline or sketchnotes to sum up what they’ve learned.

Kids need to learn how to thoroughly complete an assignment, whether it’s a worksheet, an essay, or a term-long research project. These are the study skills they should know.

Understand the Assignment

Having a clear understanding of what’s being asked is so important. Otherwise, kids might wind up doing the wrong work, then having to tackle it all over again.

• Elementary School: Show kids how to carefully read directions at the beginning. Have them repeat back what they’re expected to do, and make notes if they need reminders. Teachers should provide instructions in writing whenever possible and make them clear and simple.
• Middle School: Encourage students to ask questions about assignments up front, or throughout if necessary. Continue to ensure they fully understand the directions before they start, especially when there are multiple steps.
• High School: By now, students should be able to make their own notes about expectations and can handle a series of more complicated steps. They should make a habit of reviewing all that information before they begin work.

Make a Plan

Once they know the expectations, students should plan how they’ll do the work.

• Elementary School: Help students evaluate the assignment and decide which parts they’ll do first. This is also a good time to estimate how long the work will take.
• Middle School: Encourage kids to think about how they like to approach assignments. Do they like doing easy problems first, then circling back around to harder stuff? Do they sometimes get stuck and frustrated? If so, how can they get “unstuck” and continue to make progress?
• High School: Many high school assignments are more complex, and students will need to lay out the steps to take. For instance, a research project might require choosing a topic, getting approval, starting research, planning a presentation, and giving the presentation, with multiple sub-steps in each. This all feels more manageable when you have a plan in place first.

Save Your Work

Such a basic study skill, and so extremely important!

• Elementary School: Help students ensure all assignments go back into the appropriate folders and all folders make it into their backpack when they’re done. Don’t leave things lying around where they can get lost.
• Middle and High School: In addition to keeping physical papers in order, be sure kids know how to save files online, including backing up their work. Many programs save automatically, but that’s not always the case. Show them how to keep backed-up files on an external drive or in the cloud, in case their hardware fails.

Review and Revise

Finishing the last problem on the page or typing the final word on a paper doesn’t mean you’re done. Good study skills means going back to review your work and make revisions.

Source: EnglishWritingTeacher.com

• Elementary School: Parents and younger kids should go back over completed homework together to make sure it’s complete and correct. Perform math problems “backwards” to see if the answers make sense. As kids get older, parents should remind them to review and check their answers on their own.
• Middle School: Students should regularly remember to check their answers before turning in an assignment. Advise them to make sure they’ve done everything they’ve been asked to, to the best of their ability.
• High School: Reviewing and revising should be automatic now. Writing assignments should include plans for multiple revisions. Teach students to use spell-check and grammar-check programs as needed, and encourage them to read their writing out loud to hear how it sounds.

Some kids naturally do well on tests, but others freeze up and forget everything they’ve learned . Fortunately, test-taking study skills are something kids can learn over time.

Source: Tammy DeShaw/The Owl Teacher

Review the Material

Kids should develop a variety of strategies for reviewing for a test, including review questions, flash cards, discussions, looking over notes, and more. It’s also important to follow a regular study schedule on any subject, instead of leaving all the review to the last minute.

• Elementary School: Whenever possible, adults should work with kids to help them study. Make flash cards, talk over the material together, sing spelling word songs—model good study skills for them to help them learn.
• Middle School: Help students continue to use a variety of review strategies. Teachers can provide review questions, set up study groups, and create online materials for them to use, just to name a few.
• High School: Kids should be coordinating their own review by now, whether independently or in groups. Make sure they know how to contact you if they have questions while they’re studying.

Get Rest and Eat Well

At any age, feeling your best is key to acing a test. Discourage students from staying up late to cram, and see that they have healthy meals and snacks on the day of the test. If they’re allowed, be sure they have bottled water on hand to stay hydrated before and during the test itself.

Tackle Easy Questions First

This one is especially important for students who have difficulty managing their time, or those who get incredibly nervous about tests. Focus on showing what you know, and build confidence as you go along.

• Elementary School: Teach kids to look over the entire test first so they can see what they’ll be expected to do. Tell them to ask questions right away if they have any. On the second run-through, they should answer any questions or problems they’re certain about. Finally, they can go back and handle more challenging questions, one at a time. In younger grades, practice this skill by using guided test-taking sessions.
• Middle School: Before a test, remind students of the process. Have them look the whole thing over first, and ask if anyone has any general questions before they begin. Monitor kids as they complete the test, and nudge along any who seem stuck on one particular question or section.
• High School: By now, kids should have the process down pat, but teachers should be aware of nervous test-takers and quietly remind them to focus on what they know.

Watch the Time

It’s a simple skill but a valuable one. Get kids used to glancing at the clock, but not obsessing over how much time is left.

• Elementary School: Tell kids how much time they have up front. Offer reminders several times, especially toward the end, but don’t do it in a way that amps up anxiety.
• Middle School: Make time expectations clear up front, and remind students once or twice of the remaining time as they work. Students should be glancing at the clock occasionally as they work; at the end of every page or section is a good rule of thumb. If they feel like they’re running out of time, remind them to use the “easy questions first” strategy.
• High School: Older students should be able to look over a test and compare it to the amount of time they have, so they know they’re working at the right pace. Teachers can offer a reminder halfway through and five minutes before the end.

Review Before Submitting

Just like with assignments, students should try to make time to review test answers before they turn it in. (And to make sure they put their names on their paper!)

• Elementary School: Actively ask students who are turning in their papers to go back to their seats and review their answers first. Build in a little extra test time so every student has a chance to review their work.
• Middle School: Remind students to review their work before submitting it when you pass out the tests. Offer additional reminders to those who regularly turn in work that needed another look.
• High School: Students should remember to build in time to look things over at the end as they start taking the test. The five-minute reminder toward the end is their cue to look over what they’ve done.

Even when you have terrific study skills, sometimes you need some assistance. Asking for help when you need it is something everyone needs to be able to do. While kids can’t expect adults to walk them through every step of the process, they should feel free to reach out for guidance when they need it.

Know How and When To Contact Teachers

Help students keep contact information handy and know the appropriate ways to contact their teachers as needed.

Source: StudentSavvy/Teachers Pay Teachers

• Elementary School: Most outside-school communication is between parents and teachers at this point, but kids should be encouraged to ask their own questions during the school day whenever possible. As they get older, parents should do their best to let kids take the lead.
• Middle School: Students should be almost entirely independent of parents when communicating with teachers now. They should know when teachers are available to chat in person (including before and after school, if possible). Adults can also show them how to write respectful emails or texts if teachers have made that contact information available.
• High School: At this point, students should be nearly 100% responsible for talking to their teachers when they need to. They should keep a contact list of email addresses, phone numbers, or other info. Additionally, they should recognize and respect preferred methods of contact.

Create Study Groups

While some kids work best on their own, many others thrive working with others to keep them on track and motivated. Setting up study buddies or groups enhances everyone’s study skills.

Source: MiddleWeb

• Elementary School: Parents will likely have to coordinate any in-person or online study sessions. Teachers can help by pairing students together as partners or for tutoring, and providing virtual study spaces when necessary.
• Middle School: As students get older, they should learn to seek out strong study partners. Help them recognize that their best friends may not always be the best choices when it comes to studying. Encourage them to have peers over to study, or to meet in public places like libraries.
• High School: Kids should be independently forming their own study support systems. However, they might ask teachers for help when they need one-on-one tutor recommendations. They may work together at school, at home, at the library, or online.

Use Resource Tools

There are more ways to learn and study than ever before. Help students find the right options to support their studies.

• Elementary School: Encourage students to look up answers in the right places: What does a word mean? Check the dictionary. When did the Civil War start? Here’s how to Google that. Help younger students use the resources to ensure they’re finding the information they need.
• Middle School: “Hey Google, how many moons does Jupiter have?” Kids this age know how to ask questions on the web. However, they need to learn how to make sure the answers are reliable. Teach them about primary sources (like following Wikipedia info back to its original source) and how to verify information in several different places.
• High School: A huge number of resources are online these days, so be sure students know where to find them and how to use them. Provide trusted online dictionaries and encyclopedias, show them how to seek out a thesaurus or rhyming dictionary, and guide them to video sites beyond YouTube, just to name a few.

How do you teach study skills in your classroom? Come share your ideas and ask for advice in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook !

Plus, check out 15 life skills every teen should learn ..

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Study Skills for Students

Proven tips and techniques for studying smarter… not harder.

Study Skills Checklist Use our study skills checklist to identify study skills areas where you should improve and focus.

Habits of Highly Effective Students Learn how to develop and apply effective study habits that will help you become a highly effective student.

Discover Your Learning Style Discover which learning styles and preferences will enhance your study skills and improve the rate and quality of your learning.

Effective Time Management Learn how to optimize your studying and get more accomplished with effective time management.

Finding a Place to Study Let’s say it one more time, Location! If you’re constantly being bombarded by distractions, it can be difficult to study. Finding a location that suits your method of learning is key to effective studying. Learn More

Study Skills Guides

Struggling to be a successful student? Don’t get discouraged, it isn’t magic! But it does require desire, dedication and a lot of work. If you want to learn how to become a successful student, then you’ve come to the right place.

Our study skills guides for students will provide you everything you need in order to learn how to learn more effectively.

Active listening, reading comprehension, note taking, stress management, time management, testing taking, and memorization are only a few of the topics addressed in our study skills guides for students. If you’ll take the time to learn and apply the study skills concepts and principles taught in our guides you’ll not only improve your performance in school but also your ability to learn in general — and that will benefit you the rest of your life!

Whether you’re a freshman in college looking to get ahead, a teacher seeking study skills resources for your pupils, or a high school student just trying to survive, you’ll find the study skills guides, tutorials, and resources you need right below.

To get started select a category link below.

• General Study Skills

Test Taking Guides

• Study Skills by Subject

Or scroll down to browse all our study skills resources and tutorials.

General Study Skills Guides

The following are general study skills guides, tutorials and articles for students, parents and teachers that offer proven tips and strategies for improving study skills habits, effectiveness and learning ability. Topics covered include time management, learning style, note taking, reading, math, vocabulary, writing, and listening, among others.

• Study Skills Checklist
• Discover Your Learning Style
• 10 Habits of Highly Successful Students
• 16 Study Motivation Tips, Tricks, and Hacks
• Improving Reading Comprehension
• Study and Learning Skills for Online Classes
• The Cornell System for Taking Notes
• Improving Your Note Taking
• Improving Your Memory
• Active Listening Skills Guide
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Critical Reading Guide
• Using Effective Time Management To Optimize Your Studying
• Finding a Good Study Location
• Using Studying Groups
• Strategies for Reading Textbooks
• SQ3R Strategy for Reading Textbooks
• Vocabulary Building Strategies
• Basics of Writing An Essay
• Writing Research Papers
• Setting and Achieving Goals
• The Forgetting Curve
• The Study Cycle
• The Learning Pyramid Explored

Test taking is a skill in and of itself. Even some of the brightest students struggle when it comes to test taking. Learning how to take tests is an important aspect of educational performance, development and progression. Below we’ll explore both general and specific tips and strategies for taking and enhancing performance on various types of tests, including short answer, multiple choice, essay, oral, openbook, and standardized.

• Test Preparation Tips
• Coping With Test Anxiety
• Simple Strategies for Improving Test Performance
• Test Taking Strategies
• Short Answer Tests
• Taking Essay Tests
• Multiple Choice Test Taking Tips
• True/False Tests
• Solving Math Word Problems
• Quantitative and Math Test Preparation Strategies
• Openbook Tests
• Oral Test Taking
• ACT Test Taking Strategies
• SAT Test Taking Tips and Techniques
• LSAT Strategies
• How To Study for the MCAT
• Test Taking Strategies for Nursing Students
• NCLEX Test Preparation Guide
• The ACCUPLACER Test Guide
• GED Study Guide
• GRE Study Guide

Study Skills Resources by Subject

Understanding general, yet proven, strategies for studying and test taking is the first step to becoming an effective learner and student. However, each subject you study is unique and requires a slightly different learning approach. For example, learning how to do calculus is very different from studying American heritage. While both subjects require good study habits, effective listening, and reading comprehension skills, each requires a different approach to learning. Below we’ll explore specific study skills and strategies as they relate to performance within individual subject areas.

• Anthropology
• Compu t er Science
• Engineering
• Foreign Language
• Political Science

Senior School - Study Skills Guide: Year 10 Study Skills

• Using your time effectively
• Keeping motivation high
• Understanding the Task
• Research & Evaluating Information
• Academic Writing
• Academic Integrity
• Referencing This link opens in a new window
• Year 10 Study Skills

Year 10 Study Skills Workshop Resources

Roadblock Resources

Top Tips for Revision Time

Top Resources for Revision Time

People are the greatest resource!

At Carey:  Subject teacher, Classmates, Mentors, Librarians

Personal:  Parents, Older siblings, Family friends, Tutors

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VCE Study Tips

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The Ultimate Guide to Year 10 English

November 2, 2021

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Go ahead and tilt your mobile the right way (portrait). the kool kids don't use landscape..., 1. what do year 10s learn in english, 2. year 10 english curriculum breakdown, 3. year 10 english texts, 4. how to get good marks in year 10 english.

Year 10 English is when the Pre-VCE year kicks in. Most schools will treat it as an opportunity to expose you to the VCE curriculum, but with Year 10 level texts. This means they’ll cover the same assessment tasks and begin teaching you the skills you need to have by the time you get to VCE.

Other schools will use this year to prepare students for the different English subjects that are offered at the VCE level, so they can decide by the end of the year. These may include VCE English/EAL, VCE Literature and VCE English Language.

For this blog, we’ll focus on the current Victorian Year 10 Curriculum (this will be updated as they change).

Similar to the VCE years (Year 11-12), most Year 10’s will be expected to complete the following assessment tasks:

Text Response

• Comparative text response
• Creative (with a written explanation)

Argument Analysis

Under each area of study, there will be key skills that you will need to learn to nail the accompanying assessment tasks.

Considering what you would have learnt in Year 9, Year 10 builds on those skills a bit further. Fundamentally, you would need to provide more detail whenever you’re expected to analyse evidence or provide an explanation and there will be specific essay structures your teacher will want you to follow. This may vary depending on your school.

Check out ' What should Year 9 students expect when they enter Year 10 ' for a more in depth breakdown of the Year 9 to 10 transition!

Let’s break down each assessment task you’re expected to complete as mentioned above.

Watch our video What kind of assessments can you expect at a Year 10 level!

Many Year 10 students will be introduced to the world of annotations when going through the text response unit. This is because the text will need to be understood inside out for you to score highly on the essay.

When you begin annotating your text, look for the following:

• Key ideas explored by the author
• Characterisation and character transformation
• Social/Historical/Cultural/Political context
• Stylistic features used by the author, such as symbolism, motifs, etc.
• Words you don’t understand (and then define them)

To help you have a better understanding of your text, teachers will usually assign you comprehension questions about your text and that will be their way of easing you into writing analytical body paragraphs.

Examples of prompts you may receive for text response include:

• ‘Night paints a vivid picture of a broken society in a broken place.’ Discuss.
• ‘Holden’s critique of phonies in The Catcher in the Rye is his way of critiquing society.’ Do you agree?

As important as the keywords are in the prompt, you need to be able to identify the type of prompt you have chosen to answer. Similarly, you must take some time to familiarise yourself with the task words that commonly pop up in prompts.

Check out The Ultimate Guide to Text Response to get a more specific idea of HOW you can smash out this essay.

Comparative Text Response

This is oftentimes deemed to be the most difficult area of study students will complete in English. Instead of just interpreting and analysing one text, you’re now presented with two texts you will need to find common ideas and themes to discuss.

To get in the high-scoring range you will need to do the following to help you stand out from the rest of your classmates:

• Constantly form links between the texts and the prompt you’re answering
• Consistent and detailed comparison throughout the essay between the two texts
• Be able to demonstrate a depth understanding of the texts
• Refer back to the writer’s views and values (their intention/message to the reader)
• Explore the different ideas expressed by the author
• Examine HOW the author has created certain effects on the reader , taking into consideration their use of narrative and stylistic choices
• Use relevant metalanguage

We also have The Ultimate Guide to VCE Comparative to help you break down HOW you can best prepare for this assessment task.

If you would like to know the pros and cons of the different comparative essay structures you can follow, check out this blog .

Creative Task

This particular assessment will generally be based on the text you have studied with your class. It may be a collection of short stories, a novel, poems, etc. The majority of the time, teachers will expect you to pick one of the characters from the text and write an alternate plot for them while also mirroring the style of the original text . 

Sometimes, teachers will allow you to pick the story and character you get to focus on, other times, they’ll provide you with a list you can choose from. If you’re given free rein for this task, check out our creative ideas you can adopt.

A written explanation usually accompanies this assessment task as well. This is where you break down your creative task for your teacher, sharing with them your purpose for writing it the way you have. You will address your language choices, themes, literary devices used, intended audience, etc. This tends to be around 200 words in length. Here’s a blog that explains HOW you can write the best written explanation.

Some more creative writing resources to help you out with this assessment:

• How To Achieve A+ In Creative Writing
• How YOU Can Be A Better Creative Writer! For ANY Student
• 11 Mistakes High School Students Make In Creative Writing

Mimicking the analysing argument essay you will need to complete in both Year 11 and Year 12, you will be expected to:

• Demonstrate your understanding and knowledge of both written and visual features of persuasion in your analysis (this is where the intended effect of the writer comes into play)
• Be able to identify and explain your assumptions with sophistication 
• Show insightful knowledge of both explicit and implicit meaning within the texts
• Prove that you know HOW language choices can influence the audience
• Use relevant metalanguage (this may include persuasive devices, language or visual techniques)

Some schools like to pick a specific issue to focus on, for instance, social media. All of the articles and tasks they assign their students to analyse will then be focused on this issue. Other schools will expose their students to a variety of different issues. Either way, you will be exposed to a variety of persuasive material and forms, including opinion pieces, speech transcripts, editorials, cartoons , etc. This is elaborated on in The Ultimate Guide to VCE Language Analysis .

Different schools will teach different analysis techniques. One of the most common ones includes the WHAT-HOW-WHY method . This will be applicable when you move into Year 11 and 12 English too.

Introductions for this particular essay are just as straightforward and can be quite formulaic. Check out our YouTube video on how to write an A+ language analysis introduction to learn the elements you need in an argument analysis introduction. If you’re curious about the writing process for the entire essay, then check out this video .

A lot of the time in Year 10, you will also be unpacking media advertisements. This will tie into the argument analysis area of study.

Here, you may be analysing HOW and WHY advertisements are created the way they are and the choices made by the creator to influence the specific target audience. Sometimes, you will also have the opportunity to create your own! If this is the case, you will also most likely write up a written explanation of around 200-300 words explaining the choices you have made.

As you would have read in The Ultimate Guide to Year 9 English, reading is one of the most important skills that need to be maintained as you progress through high school.

Here is a list of 10 texts many students at a Year 10 level may have read:

• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

How many of these texts can you tick off the list? 

a) Knowing Where to Start

Of course, it’s important to acknowledge your strengths in English; however, to improve upon your marks and do even better, you will also need to fine-tune your weaknesses . Merely relying on strengths won’t be enough anymore. 

Identify the skills you need to improve and be specific!

For example, ‘I need to make my introductions shorter and simpler’ or ‘I will plan my essay more extensively so I will know which pieces of evidence will be relevant for each body paragraph.’

If this is the case, writing a million essays won’t get you to where you want to be. It would be inefficient and a waste of everyone’s time. Hone down your focus to one or two things , instead of every skill that falls under essay writing. 

Referring back to the above example, if you want to make your introductions shorter and simpler, read through a few sample high-scoring introductions and test them you can adopt for an introduction and know which one will work best for you. Or if your pain point is the planning process, compile different essay planning templates and use them in your essay planning so you can narrow down your options for different types of prompts.

This way, starting small will help you improve without overwhelming you so much. Check out How I Went From Average To A+ In High School English to get that boost of motivation and confidence before you embark on this learning journey.

As you do this, don’t forget to keep in mind the 7 Deadly (English Writing) Sins you should always avoid!

b) Work With Your Teacher

As we’ve explained in our Instagram post on the feedback loop , getting feedback for your essay or paragraph from your teacher and tutors will also help you improve much faster !

If you’re not familiar with the essay writing feedback loop process, it goes:

• Step 1: Write a paragraph(s) or essay
• Step 2: Get input on what works and fix what doesn’t (this input can come from your teacher and/or tutor)
• Step 3: Redraft or write a new one to test your skills
• Step 4: Repeat

Whether it’s just a plan, an introduction, a body paragraph or even a complete essay, taking the initiative to seek help from your teacher will provide you with clarity on what it is you need to be working on. This is crucial if you want to jump from a C grade to an A+. 

Each time you write a practise essay or paragraph, you should have a goal in mind so you know what you’re trying to improve upon. This way, you can cut down your workload and reduce study time !

I would recommend you do this as many times as necessary until you get that 10/10 essay so you can use it as a template or model essay in the future!

c) Write Under Timed Conditions

Even though a lot of the time in Year 10, teachers will be a bit more lenient so they’ll permit you to bring in a cheat sheet into the exam or assessment. However, that doesn’t always mean you’ll be able to finish on time, so it’ll serve you best to do some additional practise essays under timed conditions. 

Some things to look out for when you do practise writing timed essays or paragraphs:

• Ensuring that your handwriting is legible 
• Trial and error different types of planning methods to find which suits you best
• Know the essay structure you want to adopt for the particular essay
• Avoid ‘fluff’ (unnecessary details) and get straight to the core idea and analysis since that is where you’ll get the marks
• Practise makes perfect! 

Here’s a YouTube video that details how you can go about writing 3 essays in 3 hours which you’ll eventually need to do!

At LSG, we have the most qualified tutors who have received the marks you’re after who can walk you through your high school English journey with you. 

What will we offer you?

• Regular English advice and support (whether that is homework help, essay feedback or if you just want to go the extra mile and get ahead with your English studies)
• A specialised LSG Signature Program that can cater to your goals and help you develop the knowledge and get all the consistent writing practise you need
• Guidance as we work through the necessary writing skills and strategies that will get you the A+ you desire
• Access to exclusive LSG resources that will save you time creating your own notes (planning and writing templates, sample high-scoring essays, and so much more!)

If you want more information on why you should pick us, check out our tutoring page . Otherwise, click here to express your interest today!

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Can you believe it’s already 2021? To kick off the year in VCE English, you’ll probably be working on your Oral Presentation sometime soon. The past year has flown by, but so much has happened in that year - there are plenty of juicy and controversial topics to get stuck into for your SAC.

Each heading below represents a broad topic and each subheading under it takes you into more specific debates. A more precise topic can make your speech more engaging and current, so feel free to pick a broad issue that resonates with you but don’t forget to zoom in on more specific questions too.

If you haven’t already, check out our Ultimate Guide to Oral Presentations for some general tips and tricks to get you started!

1. Working From Home

ICYMI, there’s been this global pandemic going around for about a year now. It’ll probably come up in a few speeches this year, but let’s work through some more specific ways of using it in yours.

First up is working from home. In 2020, a lot of people spent a lot of time working from home - but this hasn’t been possible for everyone, meaning that it could be worsening certain forms of inequality. ‘Essential workers’ like supermarket clerks and delivery drivers have not been able to work from home, which might put them at a disadvantage when it comes to the flexibility or even the conditions of their work. Conversely, a ‘ tax on remote workers ’ has been proposed which would see people pay a 5% tax if they chose to work from home instead.

Is working from home all that it’s chalked up to be? Is it a positive sign of flexibility, or a widening gap between the manual working class and white-collar professionals? What can we learn about working from home now that we can apply to the future? Is it the environmentally responsible thing to do?

The hidden impact of the coronavirus pandemic is rising urban inequality – 26/11/2020 ‍ Rebound in carbon emissions expected in 2021 after fall caused by Covid – 11/12/2020

Possible Contentions: 

• All workplaces, especially those with essential manual or physical labour, should provide paid health and safety training to staff who are for example more at risk of disease
• A working from home tax is a bad idea - it encourages people to commute and pollute. We should look to ways of promoting flexibility and sustainability instead
• Casual workers in manual professions should be given paid sick leave and other entitlements to make their jobs as flexible as remote office workers

2. Education

You might’ve spent 2020 learning from home too. Everything happened pretty quickly right at the start of the year, but as the months wore on it became clearer that some students were adjusting better than others. In particular, ‘ digital exclusion ’ became a big problem for many students around the country. Inequality is once again a big theme: access to the internet and other technology is vastly uneven, and students who were already dealing with things like mental ill-health were set further back by remote learning. Even though the Victorian government applied special considerations to all Year 12 students in 2020, this is far from a long-term fix.

What can be done about the education system to make it fairer, or even just to make it work better for you? Is it an issue with technology, or are there underlying problems around, say, mental health and wellbeing? Maybe it’s time to axe the ATAR system - would a new scoring system solve these problems?

Coronavirus kept Victorian students out of class. This is what we know about long-term effects of school closures – 21/09/2020 ‍ Government must address barriers to education in rural and remote areas, inquiry finds – 12/11/2020 ‍ The ATAR Benefits No-One: Reflections of a ‘High-Achiever’ – 02/11/2020 (yes this is a shameless plug for my own piece)

Possible Contentions : 

• The government should supply public schools with tech for every student, including iPads and broadband devices
• The government should implement a needs-based approach to technology in schools
• Schools need engagement staff as well as teaching staff: COVID-19 has shown just how easy it is for students to disconnect
• Replace the ATAR with something that measures skills and interests, rather than just results

The Climate Crisis

1. the paris agreement.

The Paris Agreement is an international agreement that was signed a little over five years ago. It binds every country to a commitment of carbon neutrality by 2050 - this means that everyone will be taking as much CO2 out of the atmosphere as we emit. Part of the Agreement is that countries have to commit to new, increasingly ambitious plans every five years, and this deadline has just passed.

How did we do, you might ask. While the mid-century goal still stands, the five-year increment isn’t looking fantastic - most countries , including Australia , haven’t strengthened their climate targets. The Prime Minister was even snubbed out of a speaking slot at a UN climate summit, some suggest because of his inaction on climate. None of this has really snatched headlines though.

Is this something that you’ve been following? If not, is it a problem that this news isn’t really getting out there? What can Australia do better with regard to the climate crisis?

The Paris agreement five years on: is it strong enough to avert climate catastrophe? – 08/12/2020 ‍ The Paris Agreement 5 years on: big coal exporters like Australia face a reckoning – 14/12/2020 ‍ Australia records fourth hottest year as it risks being isolated globally on climate change – 05/01/2021

• Australia needs to be proactive on the Paris Agreement, rather than doing the bare minimum
• Australia needs to transition away from coal
• Our country’s lack of climate action is a great source of shame, particularly for young Australians who want a better future
• The Australian media should take the climate crisis more seriously

2. Environmental Racism

One aspect of the climate crisis we’re starting to talk about more now is environmental racism. The term started in the US , where it was used to describe the disproportionate impacts of environmental problems like pollution on working class people of colour. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply in Australia though - earlier in 2020 , a sacred Aboriginal site was blasted by Rio Tinto in order to expand a mine. Now, taxpayer money is being set aside for fracking in the Northern Territory. This will have an adverse impact on not only the climate, but also the local water quality on which First Nations communities depend.

What can be done about environmental racism? Is it about making changes in government, or about activism from outside the halls of power? If environmental racism is the problem, is there a solution that can tackle both problems at once? Is it even accurate to refer to them as two separate problems?

The young Indigenous woman fighting fracking in remote NT – 11/11/2020 ‍ $50 Million Hand-Out to Northern Territory Frackers – 17/12/2020 ‍ Fighting not just to survive, but to flourish – 21/12/2020 ‍ Making sense of Australia’s climate exceptionalism – 01/01/2021

• Indigenous land rights is not just a social movement: it could help us avoid environmental disaster as well
• Politicians are too reliant on fossil fuel companies: we need more grassroots activism around climate justice
• Fracking is dangerous, its impacts disproportionately affect BIPOC communities and as such it should be banned

3. A Carbon Price?

This topic was kind of on our 2020 topic list , but the debate around climate action has changed a little bit since. A carbon price would make the atmosphere a commodity basically - corporations would have to pay in order to pollute.

But maybe that’s still giving them too much power? If you can just pay your way out of environmental responsibility, who’s to stop you from polluting? Maybe there isn’t a capitalistic or free-market solution to carbon emissions - maybe we need to rethink our entire relationship with land and country. What can and should Australia learn from its First People in this regard?

Australia’s plants and animals have long been used without Indigenous consent. Now Queensland has taken a stand – 16/09/2020 ‍ ‘As an Australian it will affect you. It’s your land as well’: Indigenous tourism’s new online travel agency – 03/12/2020 ‍ What is cultural burning? – 31/12/2020 ‍ The barriers to a carbon fee and dividend policy – 07/01/2021

• A carbon price is still necessary, but it’s a stepping stone in a larger conversation
• Putting a price on excessive pollution isn’t the same as creating laws to prevent it: as such, it is no longer enough

1. First Nations Justice

You might recall the huge impact that George Floyd’s death had on conversations about race around the world. Though this erupted in a wave of furore last June, the conversation has been shifting ever since. In Australia, we’ve been grappling in particular with First Nations justice. While the Prime Minister ’s made attempts to unify the country through certain words and gestures, First Nations leaders such as Lidia Thorpe , the first Indigenous senator from Victoria, have been calling for something more substantive. In the meantime, police brutality against First Nations people continues.

Where to from here? What does the future of First Nations justice look like in Australia, and what is the role of leaders like Ms Thorpe? Where do non-Aboriginal folks fit into this? What could we do better?

Lidia Thorpe: Victoria's first Aboriginal senator urges end to deaths in custody and mass incarceration – 09/09/2020 ‍ ‘We have the fight in us’: Lidia Thorpe’s incredible journey to historic place in the Victorian Senate – 23/09/2020 ‍ 'Unfinished business': Senator Lidia Thorpe on fighting for Treaty for Indigenous Australians – 10/12/2020 ‍ Can we breathe? – 31/12/2020

• Reconciliation is an outdated term; it implies two parties are coming together as equals, when history would tell us otherwise
• Lidia Thorpe’s election is the first step in a longer journey towards representation, truth-telling and self-determination
• Even after the #BlackLivesMatter movement in 2020, we still a long way to go with anti-racism
• Australia is far from a multicultural utopia: we need to learn to treat politicians like Lidia Thorpe with more respect

2. Refugees

In 2019, the ‘medevac’ bill allowed refugees to be brought to mainland Australia for medical care. That bill has since been repealed, but it did allow some refugees to leave their detention centres and receive medical treatment. 60 of them have now been detained in various Melbourne hotels for over a year now. In December, they were moved to a former COVID-19 quarantine hotel, where they will continue to be isolated and detained.

What injustices (plural) are going on here? Did medevac force us to confront our out-of-sight-out-of-mind asylum seeker policy? And if this isn’t the impetus we need to shut offshore detention once and for all, what exactly will it take?

The Mantra 60 should be freed from torture. Here’s why the Coalition won’t do it – 15/12/2020 ‍ Former mayor among protesters arrested as police escort refugees and asylum seekers to new Melbourne hotel – 17/12/2020 ‍ Refugees and asylum seekers moved from Mantra hotel in Melbourne – 17/12/2020 ‍ ‘We are human, we are not animals’: Mantra refugees transferred to another hotel – 17/12/2020

• Bring back medevac: it was a bare minimum policy to begin with, and it’s unconscionable that it would be repealed, thereby denying sick people healthcare
• Australia’s refugee policy is as lazy as it is harmful: something needs to change
• The hotel industry is profiting off detention and we should consider boycotting chains like Mantra

3. COVID-Related Racism

This could’ve gone in the first section, but it poses important questions about ongoing and future race relations in Australia. During 2020, Asian Australians and particularly those with Chinese heritage experienced a sharp increase in racially-provoked harassment. Towards the end of the year, Chinese Australians were asked in a Senate committee hearing to condemn the Chinese Communist Party, which many have described as race-baiting. Many Australians with Chinese heritage have no relation to the Chinese government, so it’s jarring that they’d be called upon to give an opinion like this.

How does race still impact civic life in Australia? If you’re Australian, should you be expected to have opinions about or deny loyalties to foreign governments? Does it matter what race you are, and if so, how is that problematic?

Chinese Australians say questions from Senator Eric Abetz about their loyalties are not asked of other communities – 15/10/2020 ‍ Eric Abetz refuses to apologise for demanding Chinese-Australians denounce Communist party – 16/10/2020 ‍ More than eight in 10 Asian Australians report discrimination during coronavirus pandemic – 02/11/2020 ‍ Too many men in pin-striped suits – 10/12/2020 (this is an interesting one that also touches on gender and class in civic life)

• Politicians are increasingly out of touch with Australia’s diverse communities because they are just so overwhelmingly undiverse
• Again, Australia is not a multicultural utopia. When times get tough, the racism really jumps out
• Australians are yet to confront the reality that there are Chinese Australians (which sounds like a joke, but based on these articles isn’t really a joke) - their behaviour continues to ‘other’ people who actually really are Australian, telling them they somehow don’t belong
• More people of colour should run for public office; this starts with civic empowerment in schools

1. Representation

As it turns out, journalism isn’t a very diverse profession. When issues about disability come up, for example, they’re often covered by abled journalists in a “pity party” or “inspiration porn” manner. When issues about race come up, it’s also often white people who cover them, usually with racist undertones as well. We started seeing a bit of this in 2020: the stories that kept coming up about people breaking COVID restrictions were often targeting minorities - their names and faces would be splashed across newspaper front pages, while their white counterparts were afforded privacy and forgiven for making a mistake.

How fair is the media landscape towards people from minority backgrounds? What different forms might racism and ableism take in the media, and how can we overcome them? Is it as simple as allowing disabled people to tell their own stories, for example?

Muslims, Chinese Australians and Indigenous people most targeted in racist media coverage – 11/11/2020 ‍ ‘Double standard’: Experts weigh in on publicly shaming only certain COVID rule-breakers – 22/12/2020

• The media landscape isn’t fair towards minorities: stereotypes can be subtle but persistent
• Journalism schools should create more scholarships for diverse applicants
• Australian media should adopt a code of ethics around representation of minorities

This may or may not come as a surprise to you, but young people are also one of the groups that are likely to be underrepresented in the media. A report from the Foundation for Young Australians found that there were not only less stories about young people in the media in 2020, but barely half of them actually quoted a young person.

Again, we return to questions around representation - does the media have an ethical obligation to let young people tell their own stories? How much do you, as a young person, trust the media to accurately depict you? What can be done about this?

Young People Have Been Pretty Much Ignored By The Media During COVID – 28/10/2020 ‍ Research Report: mainstream media either ignores young Australians or castigates them – 21/12/2020

• Young people can no longer trust the media, and this is detrimental to civic society
• There needs to be a national youth broadcaster, kind of like the ABC, run by young people for young people

Remember Kevin Rudd? The former Prime Minister has been making waves recently for starting a parliamentary petition for a royal commission into media diversity. The petition was signed by a record 501,876 people, and it looks like the commission - a bit like a government inquiry - will go ahead. The ‘media diversity’ in question isn’t about race or disability though - it’s more about media ownership. In Australia, Rupert Murdoch owns almost two-thirds of metropolitan media circulation. He’s also a climate sceptic , which means a large chunk of his media output is also climate-sceptic.

What is the role of media in democracy, and can it still fulfill that role if one person gets to own so much of it? What are some ways Murdoch has used his influence, and what have been the consequences for the Australian people? What should the royal commission look to now achieve?

Petition calling for media royal commission and setting Australian record tabled in Parliament – 09/11/2020 ‍ Rudd and Turnbull will be called to give evidence at Senate inquiry into media diversity – 11/11/2020  

• Because the media holds government to account in the eyes of the people, one person owning this much of the media gives them too much power
• Australia’s climate inaction is a direct result of Murdoch’s media empire, and we need to break it apart to get honest debate and coverage

Pop Culture

In December 2020, the Australian singer Sia was caught in a bit of Twitter beef. She defended casting Maddie Ziegler, an abled actress, in a disabled role for her upcoming film. Disability justice activists argued that autistic people should be able to portray themselves, and that roles for autistic people should be written by them as well. Sia later admitted this was “ableism”, but didn’t back down on her decision.

What is the appropriate way for celebrities and creatives to approach representation? Without debating anyone’s actual identity, how can the film industry do better here?

Sia opens up about lashing out on Twitter to defend her new film – 19/12/2020 

• Abled people shouldn’t write roles for disabled people, nor should they play these roles; if a disabled person can’t play the role, then it isn’t appropriate in the first place
• Cancel culture isn’t a thing, given how comfortable Sia feels admitting to ableism and then committing to her decision anyway
• We shouldn’t cancel people, but we still need new ways to really hold them to account: otherwise, they can still get away with discrimination

The Grammy Awards have been oft-criticised for racial biases, including once again in this year ’s coming ceremony. Black artists like Beyonce are often relegated to subcategories like R&B and rap - of her 24 Grammy Awards, only one was awarded in a major category (Best Music Video in 2017 for ‘Formation’). Meanwhile, she was arguably snubbed for Album of the Year wins in both 2017 (Adele won) and 2015 (Beck won). Now though, the Grammys are hoping to #ChangeMusic and acknowledge the contributions of Black artists to the industry. 

What should this look like? Are award wins all it will take? Is a change for the future enough to fix wrongs of the past? Maybe awards aren’t even that important - is cultural impact what really matters?

#ChangeMusic Roadmap aims to redress racism in music industry – 17/12/2020 

• The cultural impact of Bla(c)k artists can’t be measured through awards
• Awards are a necessary first step to acknowledging Bla(c)k talent in the music industry
• Radios stations should make more of an effort to diversify their sets, particularly when local BIPOC talent in Australia is at an all-time high (think Thelma Plum, Sampa the Great etc.)

Be sure to check out our Ultimate Guide to Oral Presentations for more advice on how to write your speech, presentation tips and more. Or, if you really want to dive in further to make sure you absolutely nail your Oral, then you'll definitely want to check out our How To Write A Killer Oral Presentation ebook - it explores essay structure, the written explanation and even has sample A+ essays so that you can learn from past students who have succeeded in VCE!!

False Claims of Colonial Thieves is usually studied in the Australian curriculum under Area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response .

Why Is Context Important?

When studying a text, it is very important to comprehend its context. Context will help you to understand what the text is about and what the author’s point of view is - key components of doing well in VCE English! Context is especially important for False Claims of Colonial Thieves because the authors frequently reference Australia’s history. Even the title is a nod to its context - it is all about the ‘false claims’ made by Australia’s ‘colonial thieves’, or in other words, Australia’s colonial settlers. Understanding what these false claims are will help you better understand the context and therefore, do significantly better in your English essays and assessments.

Treat this blog as a starting point only . There is so much to learn about these topics, and I recommend you do your own research in addition to reading this blog. To help you do so, I have provided a reliable external source for each topic, so you can start exploring these claims in more depth.

Terra Nullius

One of the biggest ‘false claims’ that Papertalk Green and Kinsella refer to throughout their collaboration is the colonisers’ claim of Australia being terra nullius . When the British came to Australia, they claimed that the country was ‘no man’s land’, denying that the Indigenous Australians had actually lived here for thousands of years. By pretending that no one lived in Australia, this supposedly gave the British ‘legitimacy’ to assume control over the land and those already living on it - i.e. Australia’s First Nations Peoples.

Terra Nullius was used against the Indigenous peoples for many years to justify their horrific treatment. The principle was only overturned in 1992 when an Indigenous man, Eddie Mabo, challenged this claim in the High Court of Australia. Nowadays, we recognise that the Indigenous people were here significantly earlier than the colonisers and that their sovereignty (i.e. their power over the land) was never ceded.

External source for further reading: https://australian.museum/learn/first-nations/unsettled/recognising-invasions/terra-nullius/  

The Stolen Generation

Another false claim was that the Indigenous people were inferior to white people. This claim led to the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their families, so they could be raised by ‘superior’ white people and taught white cultures/languages - these children are referred to as the ‘Stolen Generation’ because they were taken away from their families without their consent.

It was thought that placing Aboriginal children (especially mixed-race Aboriginal children) with white families would make it easier to teach Aboriginal children the ‘proper’ (British) way of living. They were either placed in institutions or adopted by white families, and often faced terrible treatment, including violence, neglect and assault. Neither the children who were removed nor their families have fully recovered from this appalling policy that continued until the 1970s.

Indeed, the effects of the Stolen Generation can still be felt today. One of the major consequences discussed by Papertalk Green and Kinsella is that a lot of Indigenous culture was lost. Many of the children who were taken away were forbidden from practising their cultural traditions or from speaking their Indigenous languages. This ban led to many traditions going extinct and is a tragic effect of this heinous false claim.

External source for further reading: https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/stolen-generations  

Missions and Reserves 

Another claim explored in the text is the idea that Indigenous peoples could not look after themselves and would be better off with white people ‘protecting’ them. This led to the government forcing Aboriginal people to leave their ancestral lands and relocate to newer, smaller areas - a process known as land alienation. There were two types of this land - missions and reserves - and Aboriginal people faced poor treatment on both.

Missions were usually run by Christian groups so they could convert the Indigenous people to their religion. There was a strong degree of control exercised over these Indigenous people, who were expected to learn the skills required for menial jobs (such as cooking and cleaning). Contrastingly, those living on reserves were not typically subject to as much control. These people were sometimes provided with rations from the government, but there were not usually officials to oversee them.

Both missions and reserves are referred to in False Claims of Colonial Thieves , so it is important to understand the difference between the two.

External source for further reading: https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/missions-stations-and-reserves  

Now that we’ve examined some of the more historical context , let’s take a closer look at the contemporary and modern background that Kinsella and Papertalk Green write about.

Close the Gap Campaign and Black Deaths in Custody

A key section of the text (particularly the latter third) explores current issues which Indigenous peoples face today. Two of these major concerns lie within the health and justice systems, so it is important to understand why Kinsella and Papertalk Green focus so heavily on these matters.

The Close the Gap Campaign (launched in 2007) aims to reduce the inequality in health and education that many Indigenous peoples face. It was created because the life expectancy is much lower for Indigenous than non-Indigenous peoples, and there is a significant difference between their expected levels of education. Unfortunately, many of these concerns have not been addressed today, and Papertalk Green discusses how her family is constantly dealing with death - a key theme in False Claims of Colonial Thieves that can be explained by this contextual understanding.

External source for further reading: https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/reports/closing-the-gap-2018/executive-summary.html  

Similarly, there are a lot of concerns with the number of Aboriginal people in prison, and how many of them die while in police custody. There was even a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (i.e. a governmental inquiry) handed down in 1987, however, many of its recommendations have not been implemented to this day. This idea of unfair policing and laws that target Indigenous peoples is a key idea in the text, and Kinsella dedicates a poem to Ms Dhu, an Indigenous woman killed while in custody.

External source for further reading: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/09/the-facts-about-australias-rising-toll-of-indigenous-deaths-in-custody  

A key theme of False Claims of Colonial Thieves is mining, which refers to the practice of removing valuable materials from the Earth. Many of these resources are found on traditional Aboriginal lands, which are destroyed by the mining process. This is especially offensive to many Indigenous groups because many Indigenous cultures have a strong spiritual connection to their land (often known as Country). There is consequently a lot of tension between the Indigenous populations and governments, especially in Western Australia, where both of the authors live.

External source for further reading: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Former_Committees/uranium/report/d07  

How Can You Use This in Your Essays?

Understanding a text’s context is very important in being able to analyse the text in appropriate depth.

For example, knowing that mining is often considered harmful to the lands to which Indigenous peoples have a strong connection, will allow you to discuss this concept in your essays. Indeed, Papertalk Green argues that mining is just as harmful to Indigenous peoples as earlier ‘false claims’ were, which is a sophisticated idea for you to use in your assessments.

As you begin to better understand and incorporate context into your essays, you can then take things one step further by examining how the author has used context as a means of demonstrating their authorial intent . For example, the effects of the Stolen Generation have been explored in several poems, and a possible viewpoint is that the Stolen Generation was used to demonstrate the devastating loss of Indigenous cultures and traditions.

Whether you revel in the ideas and intricacies of poetry or could not think of anything more monotonous to read, grab a tea (or coffee if it’s one of those nights), your favourite late-night snack, and prepare to be amazed by just how simple it is to absolutely NAIL a poetry essay.

Don’t worry, I know that same overwhelming feeling when poetry can seem as if it’s not even in English, but I can ensure you, learning how to write a poetry essay is like learning to ride a bike…. Once you wrap your head around it you’ll be cruising!

To make these tips even more practical, we’ll be focusing on John Donne’s poetry in relation to the topic below: ‍

‘Donne’s poetry explores the many aspects of human experience.’ Discuss.

‍ 1. Start off with a bang!

I’m sure you’ve heard it before… your introduction sets the tone for your essay and this could not be more true. A shallow introduction is like missing the start of your running race, or even worse arriving at a party just before it ends! You’ll just have so much catching up to do! Without being overly hyperbolic, here are a four essential tips that will ensure your assessor sees you as a high-scoring student right from your first sentence.

- Answer the question in your first sentence (even if it is in a broad manner) and always link back to the essay topic – this will show the assessor that you are answering the question given rather than presenting them with a sneaky memorised essay!

- Utilise the right terminology when outlining the type of poet and era they wrote in (i.e. metaphysical poet, Renaissance era, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth)

‍ - Outline the main poetic techniques for which the poet is known for (i.e. playful wit, rich imagery, language, challenging intellectual argument) as well as the ideas and values they endorse (i.e. elevation of reciprocal love, belief in the resurrection of Christ, celebration of eternal life)

- Wow your assessor with unique vocab (i.e. illuminate, emanate, meditate)

And here’s a sample introduction to help you even more:

John Donne’s anthology, “Selected Poetry” illuminates the human condition and thus provides much commentary on life and death. A metaphysical poet of the Renaissance era, Donne combines a playful wit, rich imagery, and perhaps most importantly language, to challenge intellectual argument and celebrate various aspects of sexual desire, mutuality and faith. Immersed in the Christian traditions of his time, Donne’s exploration of Death emanates from the Elizabethan acute awareness of the brevity and vanity of human life; however, with his sensual elevation of reciprocal love and his deep spiritual belief in the resurrection of Christ, Donne meditates upon his belief and celebration of eternal life.

2. Strong topic sentences are Crucial (with a capital C)

Time and time again students fall into one of two traps. They either try to start each paragraph with a lengthy (and often beautiful) phrase trying to encapsulate every idea they plan to introduce in the paragraph. Or on other occasions, they have no introductory sentence and instead launch straight into their poetry analysis. Your assessor may be blown away with your A+ worthy introduction and then reach this weak opening to your paragraph and have to reconsider! Your topic sentence is the frame for the whole paragraph so please, keep it clear, succinct, and relevant to the essay question.

Here are three ‘DOs’ and ‘DON’Ts’ to consider when crafting one of the most important sentences of your essay (again, sorry about the drama!)

- DON’T mention the poem you will use as evidence in your topic sentence

- DO answer and link directly to the essay topic

- DO use linking words to link the ideas in different paragraphs

And here are three STRONG topic sentences for each paragraph of this essay (note how I always link back to the topic of human experiences and link ideas between paragraphs)

- Rewriting the conventional trope, Donne’s oeuvre explores the joy of erotic love and ones’ lustful desire to engage in these sexual experiences.

- While much of Donne’s oeuvre comments on the pleasure of carnal experiences, his more harmonious poems reveal the beauty of relationships in which one can experience a deep sense of mutuality and stability.

- Silhouetted against the backdrop of the Elizabethan reign, Donne’s more metaphysical poems demonstrate the struggle of the process of dying and individual corruption, and the manner in which it leads to the acquirement of God’s love and grace.

3. Organise paragraphs by IDEAS

What makes a poetry essay so unique is that your paragraphs are based on broad ideas rather than the motifs and behaviours of characters in novels. This means that when planning your essay you must ensure that each paragraph has only one idea and that each paragraph is based on a different idea. From there you can work out which poems best represent each concept to work out which poems you will use for each paragraph. This is why I love poetry essays as planning for them is so easy! All you have to do is think of three or four different ideas for the essay topic and then find your textual evidence by working out which poems best reflect these ideas…. Simple! Right?

Here are the three ideas that I plan to discuss in each of my paragraphs of this essay as well as the poems I would use:

- Sexual/physical human experiences

- ‘Elegy 19: To His Mistress Going to Bed’ & ‘The Flea’

- Mutuality and reciprocity as an experience/element of spiritual love

- ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’

- The innately human experience of dying and being embraced by God in heaven

- ‘Hymn to God My God in My Sickness’ ‍

4. Analyse, not summarise

If there was one thing that was playing in my head over and over while writing a poetry essay it was ‘analyse, not summarise’. It is so easy to fall into the trap of simply summarising the poetic techniques and language of the different poems rather than analysing their meaning and linking this directly to the essay question. Even if you have the best plan and ideas going for you, if an assessor notices you going into summary mode they’ll assume you’re just rewriting a memorised essay rather then answering the exact essay question given…. DISASTROUS! To prevent this utter catastrophe, I urge you to please, link to and answer the specific essay topic EVERYTIME you introduce a new poetic technique/piece of evidence. Verbs such as demonstrates, elucidates, illustrates, exemplifies, illuminates and augments are ‘must haves’ in your poetry tool-box as they will ensure that you are analysing not summarising.

Here is a sample paragraph for you to consider (notice how I always link back to the idea of mutual/reciprocal love and experiences every time I introduce a new poetic technique or quote)

While much of Donne’s oeuvre comments on the pleasure of carnal experiences, his more harmonious poems reveal the beauty of relationships in which one can experience a deep sense of mutuality and stability. The poem, ‘’A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’’ explores the sense of security and harmony which spiritual love and experiences permit. Adopting a hush, reverent tone manifested by the use of sibilance, through the enjambment of the phrase ‘’Dull sublunary lovers love, / (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit / Absence’’, Donne elevates mutual love to a higher plane, one that transcends the lines of poetry. When accompanied by the stability of the ABAB rhyme scheme that works to echo the couple’s settled love, this presents the experience of reciprocity and mutuality of love to be higher than the dull and earthbound nature of love that is solely physical. Hence, Donne reveals the bliss that mutual love permits mankind, given it eclipses the desire for any form of physicality. Further elucidating the strength of mutual love, Donne illuminates how when couples are separated it is ‘’not yet a breach, but an expansion’’, thus celebrating the manner in which deep, reciprocal love not only eclipses the divisions of the clock but how it expands ‘’like gold to airy thinness beat’’ when separated. By connoting spiritual love to the pure and malleable nature of gold, this simile characterizes mutual love to be the prime of human experiences and relationships. Intertwining the elegant conceit of a compass to represent the love that connects the speaker and his mistress, Donne garners the notion that no matter how far ‘’one doth roam’’ the intellectual bond between the couple will remain ‘’firm’’ and enable the pair to overcome any form of physical separation. Hence, Donne illuminates  the complex and impermeable bond that this serene form of human experience can foster.

‍ 5. Vocab and metalanguage are the easiest ways to SHINE

To say it plainly, writing with unique and refreshing vocabulary is enough to send your grade SOARING. It will not only render your ideas and discussion ever more complex, but has the power to enlighten and stimulate your assessor (and this is something we all want to do… right?). Utilising the correct poetic metalanguage every time you introduce a new quote or line of poetry will ensure that your analysis remains both specific and detailed. As seen in the paragraph above, discussing the poetic techniques provided me with another form of evidence (rather than just the quotes from the poem) to elucidate how these different forms of human experience are illustrated in each of Donne’s poems.

To assist you further, here is some metalanguage for the poetic techniques and structures that frequent John Donne’s poetry:

- Sibilance, alliteration, imagery, paradox, conceit, metaphor, simile, personification, rhyme structure, tone, volta, enjambment, metre (i.e. iambic pentameter, trochaic tetrameter), monosyllabic phrasing

- Stanza, verse, quatrain, cinquain

6. Finish with a jaw-dropping conclusion

A mediocre conclusion is like leaving your assessor with an unpleasant aftertaste that unfortunately, will not go away. So please, finally give your conclusion the attention it deserves and follow these five tips to ensure you leave your assessor waiting for that mic to drop!

- Pan out to the broad, abstract ideas that the poet wrestled with

- Discuss the aspects of the poet that set them apart from other poets at the time (i.e. for John Donne that is his intellectual imagery, arresting voice, wit, fusion of passion and logic and the manner in which he challenged intellectual argument and strongly held societal conventions)

- Short and sweet not long and wordy!

- Reinforce the period and society in which the poet wrote

- You can include a secondary quote if you want, however only if it relevant to the essay topic and ideas you discussed

Here is a sample conclusion to assist you:

Railing against the societal value of religion prominent during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the originality of Donne’s ideas about love, death and God along with his strikingly intellectual imagery and rich language incite and interest his more religious readership of the joys of sexual, mutual and religious experiences. The poet and playwright Ben Jonson once wrote that John Donne ‘’was the first poet in the world in some things.’’ Hence, it is through his witty and authentic form of expression that Donne allows us to reflect on and celebrate precisely what it means to be human.

Introduction

Many lawyers today would cite this 60-year-old story as an inspiration—Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is, at its core, the tale of one attorney’s quest against racial injustice in his Deep South home, and of his children coming of age in the shadow of their father.

The novel is narrated in two parts by his younger child, Scout, and along with her brother Jem and their friend Dill, she traces their upbringing as inspired by Atticus’ moral teachings of tolerance, courage and justice. The first part follows their childhood, and their interactions with characters such as Boo Radley, Walter Cunningham, Miss Caroline and Mrs Dubose, while the second part follows the Tom Robinson trial itself, testing the children on the moral lessons of their childhood and disillusioning them to the overwhelming racism of their community.

We’ll be going through the novel’s major themes, and also looking at it a bit more critically within the historical context of civil rights and racial justice struggles.

Before we dive into To Kill A Mockingbird, I'd highly recommend checking out LSG's Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response .

Prejudice and Race in To Kill A Mockingbird

All throughout the novel resonate messages of tolerance over prejudice. However, before any question of race is introduced, the children must confront their prejudices about Boo Radley, a local recluse who was rumoured to have attacked his parents. While they (particularly Jem and Dill) lowkey harass Boo by playing around his yard, re-enacting dramaticised versions of his life, and sending notes into his house with a fishing pole, they undoubtedly get drawn into the rumours as well: he was “six-and-a-half feet tall”, he “dined on raw squirrels” and he had a head “like a skull”.

What is prejudice, after all? In this case, it doesn’t have to do with race necessarily—it’s more about how the children judge Boo, form a preconceived image of who he is, before they really know him.

And this happens to other white characters too—notably Walter Cunningham, a boy from a poor family who Aunt Alexandra straight up derides as “trash”. Even when invited to dinner by the Finches, he is dismissed by Scout as “just a Cunningham”, and this is where Calpurnia steps in as the moral voice, chastising her for acting “high and mighty” over this boy who she hardly knows.

The racial dimension of prejudice is impossible to ignore though—as Atticus says, “people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box”. The word ‘resentment’ has special significance here in the context of the Great Depression (in which the novel was set—more on this in a later section) but the general idea is clear: Black Americans like Tom Robinson were guilty, and therefore doomed, the minute they stepped into a court because the white jury inevitably bore prejudices against them.

At the end of the day, the panacea Lee presents for prejudice is empathy, the idea that only by truly understanding someone, “climb[ing] into [their] skin and walk[ing] around in it”, can we overcome our own prejudices—something that the jury isn’t quite able to do by the end of the novel.

Justice in To Kill A Mockingbird

In the second part of the novel, these moral questions around prejudice and empathy find an arena in the courtroom, where Tom has been unfairly charged with rape and is being defended by Atticus. The court of law is supposed to be this colour-blind, impartial site of dispute resolution, where anybody “ought to get a square deal”, but the reality we see in the novel falls dramatically short; Tom is indeed ultimately found guilty despite the evidence to the contrary.

The intersection of these themes—race, prejudice and justice—forces us to confront the reality that our legal institutions may not be as colour-blind and impartial as we thought. As Atticus says in his closing statement, “a court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up.” However, what we see is that the people who make up a jury are not necessarily as sound as he/we would hope—Scout later recognises that the true trial occurs in the “secret courts of men's hearts”, and that racist biases were always going to get in the way of a fair verdict.

Heroism and Courage in To Kill A Mockingbird

All of that sounds pretty dire, so is the novel then purely pessimistic? We’re going to complicate this a little here, and then (spoiler) a little more in the “Past the Basics (II)” section, but let’s say for now that even though the outcome may be cause for pessimism, the novel is not so pessimistic on the whole. This is because of one central moral that stands out from all of Atticus’ other teachings, and that strings the entire story together, namely the idea that courage doesn’t have any one single shape or form, that anybody can be courageous.

In Part One, we find an unlikely hero in Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, who the children describe as “plain hell”—when Jem takes out her flowers, Atticus makes him read to her as punishment. Only when she dies is it revealed that she was a morphine addict who had been trying to cut the habit in her last days, which Atticus sees as extremely brave: “[Real courage is] when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” For all we know, this could’ve been about himself…

Another example of Atticus switching up what it means to be heroic is in the way he puts down Tim Johnson. Don’t stress if you forgot who that is—Tim is the rabid dog. Jem is blown away by his father’s marksmanship, which he had never actually witnessed. Atticus transforms this into yet another lesson about courage: "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand."

What we see here is Lee trying to broaden the reader’s imagination of what a hero could be, or what courage could look like, and all of this momentum eventually builds to the trial in Part Two. Even Tim Johnson’s name calls to mind parallels with Tom Robinson’s legal battle, in which Atticus heroically takes up the huge responsibility of protecting the innocent, and in spite of his best efforts, both times he fails.

Yet maybe both times he knew it would be inevitable—courage is “know[ing] you’re licked before you begin”, right?  

Fatherhood vs Adolescence in To Kill A Mockingbird

This knowledge seems to be one of those unfortunate things that comes with age and life experience. While Atticus already understands this, it doesn’t quite click for his children until the end of the novel. Jem is particularly shaken by the guilty verdict: “It ain’t right”, he cries.

The novel is sometimes referred to as a bildungsroman for this reason: at its core, it’s a coming-of-age story. Jem may have been really idealistic about law and justice and the court system, but this is the first time in his life that he has had to grapple with the reality that all these institutions might be flawed, and that his dad is a hero not because he always wins, but because he’s willing to get into the fight even when he knows he might lose. Even though these messages came through all across the novel, Jem’s personal investment in the Robinson trial brings it all together for him.

Thus, on the one hand, you have this disillusionment and loss on innocence, but on the other, you also have this shift in worldview that may well be valuable in the long run.

It’s also worth noting that Jem isn’t the only character who experiences this though—and also that heroism isn’t the only theme that is affected. Scout experiences similar disappointments, and they both grapple with other questions of conscience, tolerance and conformity throughout the novel.

Past the basics: Narrative Structure

I’ve hinted to this briefly throughout the themes, but the two-part structure of the novel plays a key role in delivering the key moral messages. While Part One isn’t necessarily the story you’d expect (given that it’s very long and almost completely not about the trial itself), many of the characters and their interactions with Jem, Scout and Dill are incredibly meaningful. (Walter Cunningham and Mrs. Dubose are covered above, but try to form some of these connections yourself).

Boo Radley is the key character who connects the two parts of the story. He spends much of the first part in hiding, occasionally leaving gifts for the kids in a tree (chapter 7), or giving them a blanket during a fire (chapter 8). However, he’s also victim to their prejudice and their gossip—they don’t see him as a person, but rather as an enigma whom they can harass and talk about at will. In the second part however, he emerges to save Jem from Bob Ewell and is actually a rather unassuming man. Here, Scout and Jem must reckon with the moral lessons they’ve been taught about prejudice, but also about innocence and courage. It’s through these interactions as well that they come closer to understanding Atticus, and his brave quest to defend the innocent. In many ways, the first part of the novel sets up and drives these ideas home.

Past the basics: Critical Racial Analysis

As foreshadowed, we’re going to complicate the heroism element of the novel here, and I’ll start with a quote from a New York Times review: “I don’t need to read about a young white girl understanding the perniciousness of racism to actually understand the perniciousness of racism. I have ample firsthand experience.”

So is there an issue when a story of Black injustice only elevates white people as heroes? Not to say that Atticus can’t be heroic, but what does it say that he’s the brave, stoic hero in a story about a Black man’s unjust suffering?

I think to best understand these complexities, it’s worth situating the story in its historical context.

• 1930s : Great Depression; when the novel is set . Economy had collapsed and masses were unemployed; with slavery abolished, Black people were competing with white people for labour, fuelling resentment. Harper Lee grew up in this time, so there are autobiographical elements to the novel.
• 1960s : Civil Rights Movement; when the novel is published . For the first time in history, Black heroes were capturing national white attention and shifting the needle drastically towards racial justice. It was in this watershed wave of activism and social change that people read this book for the first time, and it was received as a deeply authentic voice within this movement.
• 2010s : Present day; when the novel is currently being read . We’re closer towards achieving racial justice now, but we’re also in a world where more and more young people are cognisant of these issues. While the novel’s image on the surface (of white kids being blown away by the existence of racism) is fading in relevance, there are underlying messages that are still relevant: racism and prejudice is inevitable, and can occur across and within racial lines; courage and heroism can take many forms (consider how Black characters—such as Calpurnia—also act in heroic ways); and the experiences of young people, whether experiencing racism firsthand or witnessing its divisive impact, undoubtedly shape their values and morals as they enter the adult world.

If the same story was published today, it probably wouldn’t have the same impact, but think about what kinds of messages endure anyway, beneath the surface story.

Essay Prompt Breakdown

To Kill a Mockingbird argues that empathy is courageous. Discuss.

Which brings us to a topic that is a bit knottier than it might first seem. Although empathy is shown to be courageous, particularly in the context of its setting, part of the novel’s message is also that courage can be fluid. This means that you might agree for a paragraph or two, emphasising the importance of context, before expanding on this idea of courage in the third.

• Paragraph One : empathy can be a courageous trait in divisive times. Atticus says from early on that it’s important to “climb in [someone’s] skin and walk around in it” in order to better understand them. He initially says this about Walter Cunningham, but it’s a message that finds relevance all throughout—which occurs in parallel, of course, with his other lessons about courage, and how it can take different forms (as in Mrs. Dubose). Understood together, Lee suggests that empathy can in itself be a form of courage.
• Paragraph Two : we’ve blended two themes together in the previous paragraph, but let’s bring in some context here. Empathy only stands out as being particularly courageous because of the historical milieu, in which people were not only racist, but allowed racist resentments to surface in the economic struggle of the Depression. In fact, these “resentments [were carried] right into a jury box” where people failed to display the very courage that Atticus consistently espouses.
• Paragraph Three : that said, even if empathy is courageous, courage can take on many forms beyond just empathy. Consider Scout backing away from a fight with Cecil Jacobs (“I felt extremely noble”—and rightfully so) or the resilience of the First Purchase congregation in using their service to raise money “to help [Helen Robinson] out at home”. That these characters, Black and white, can hold their heads high and do the right thing in difficult times is also courageous.

In your opinion, what is the most central and relevant message from To Kill a Mockingbird ?

What is the role of innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird ?

Lee argues that legal institutions are fraught with human bias—is this true?

In To Kill a Mockingbird , who pays the price for racism, and what do they lose?

Challenge: In To Kill a Mockingbird , how are isolation and loneliness different, and what is Lee suggesting about society in this regard?

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay Prompt Breakdown Video

Video Transcription

Something that I want you to take away from this video is being able to develop a contention statement that is a complete, solid foundation for your essay. A lot of the time when I ask students what they’re trying to say in a specific section of their essay, they can’t really explain it, they’re just trying to put relevant evidence down. Ideally, it’s worth bearing in mind when you plan that you should be able to follow your logic back to the contention at any given point, even if you’re not that confident with the topic, and even if it wasn’t the topic you’re quite prepared for.

The topic we’ll be looking at is:

To Kill A Mockingbird is a story of courage. Discuss.

So ‘courage’ is the key word here, and the way we define it will shape our entire discussion. It generally means bravery and fearlessness, but what kinds of courage are explored in the novel? It could be anything from courage to do the ‘right’ thing, or courage to tell the truth, or courage to treat people with dignity even when you don’t know if they’ll treat you the same way.

Immediately, we can see that this is a theme-based prompt . To learn more about LSG's incredible Five Types Technique and how it can revolutionise how you approach VCE Text Response essays, have a read of this blog post .

For a prompt like this, you start building your contention based on these definitions, and this is handy if you’re better prepared for another theme. L et’s say you’re better prepped to write an essay on discrimination ...

You could contend that the novel is indeed about courage, as Atticus not only teaches it to his children but also applies it to his defence of Tom Robinson in the face of structural racism. However, courage is also linked more broadly to empathy, which is explored as a panacea for discrimination. A complete contention like this breaks up your points neatly, but also grounds everything you have to say in an essay that still addresses the question and the idea of courage.

For example, paragraph one would start by looking at the forms of courage he teaches to his children . Part One, the more moralistic and didactic section of the novel ends with the idea that “real courage” isn’t “a man with a gun” but rather “when you know you're licked before you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” The section is characterised by these lessons of “real courage”—while Atticus “One-Shot” Finch downplays his marksmanship, he focuses the children’s moral instruction on characters such as Mrs Dubose, who he admires as courageous for fighting her morphine addiction.

The next paragraph would look at Atticus’ actions and also the trial in a bit more detail, as he embodies this idea that real courage exists outside of physical daring . In the racist milieu of the Deep South at the time, juries rarely “decide in favour of a coloured man over a white man.” Yet, Atticus is determined to defend Tom even at the steep cost of his own personal honour or reputation. Not only does he teach his children about the importance of courage, but he goes on to exemplify those very lessons himself. Courage in this case reflects his commitment to the truth and to defending the innocent—“this boy’s not going till the truth is told.”

However, in the final paragraph we might take a bit of a turn. Atticus, in having the courage to see Tom as an equal, is probably reflecting another very important value in the novel—namely, empathy. Though he admires Mrs. Dubose for her “real courage”, the white camellia he gives to Jem represents the goodness he sees within her despite her discriminatory attitudes. Though Jem struggles to empathise with the “old devil”, Atticus posits that it takes a degree of courage to be the bigger person and see the best in others, rather than repeating cycles of discrimination and prejudice. The idea of empathy as a form of courage is also reflected in what he teaches them about Boo Radley. When Scout is terrified by the idea that he had given her a blanket without her realising, she “nearly threw up”—yet Atticus maintains the importance of empathising with people, “climb[ing] into another man’s shoes and walk[ing] around in it” rather than ostracising them. In other words, he sees empathy as a form of courage in being the first to break social stigmas and overcome the various forms of discrimination that separate us.

Now to touch base again with the take away message . We contended that the novel is about courage because Atticus teaches it to Scout and Jem while also representing it in the trial. We also contended that courage is linked to empathy, another key value that he imparts as it helps to overcome social barriers like discrimination. The aim was to build an essay on a contention that clearly props up the body of the essay itself, even when we were more confident with some other themes, and I think this plan does a pretty good job of covering that.

Before you read this A+ essay by one of LSG's tutors, Risini, make sure you've read our Extinction blog post covering themes, characters, and more!

In a play that tackles issues ranging from conservation to human indulgence and morality it can be difficult to write a well-structured and detailed response to what usually seems like an existential topic (just like the one below). And not to mention the challenge of including all four characters in your essay without the stale character-based approach. So, below is an example of a high scoring essay with tips on how you can elevate the quality of your response to get those extra points!

In this essay, you'll see Risini has offered annotations throughout her essay to show you her thinking. If you find this helpful, then you might want to check out our Extinction: A Killer Text Guide where we cover 5 A+ sample essays (written by a 50 study scorer!) with EVERY essay annotated and broken down on HOW and WHY these essays achieved A+ so you reach your English goals! Let's get started.

Rayson’s play is about our propensity as humans to make questionable decisions despite our moral convictions. 

Mankind’s ambition to improve and develop as human beings distinguishes themselves from their bestial, primal instincts (1) . However, Hannie Rayson’s play Extinction , explores the complexities threaded throughout the human condition that propel individuals towards the ethically ambiguous (2) . Rayson examines the the insecurities peppering the contemporary lifestyle, that threaten the integrity of our outward ideologies (3) . Similarly, Rayson explores our indelible connection with nature that leads individuals to pursue baser impulses. Ultimately however, Rayson captures the strength of the human capacity to align our moral convictions with our judgements (4) . 

*Annotations

(1) This play tackles humanity and its flaws, so beginning with a broad, conceptual sentence is a good way to ease into discussion.

(2) Addressing topic.

(3) Agreeing with the topic.

(4) Challenging the topic. Indicating Rayson’s play isn’t only about questionable decision making, it is also about people’s ability to make the morally right decisions.

Paragraph 1

In spite of people’s outward conformity to their moral values, Rayson captures the power of human insecurities to compromise their values (5) . It is the birth of moral dilemmas from such insecurities, that prompts questionable decision-making (6) . Dixon-Brown, who exercises a pragmatic ideology as fortified by her Dixon-Brown Index and classifies the tiger quolls as “functionally extinct”, leaves her insecure and longing for meaningful connection and companionship (7) . Indisputably, Harry Jewell’s charming exterior and sensitivity offers to fill Dixon-Brown’s emotional chasm, but also offers a moral dilemma for Dixon-Brown: to fill this chasm, or uphold her professional integrity. Dixon-Brown’s pursuit of “illicit professional compromise” with Harry, as a result of her moral dilemma, distorts her moral stance, now considering tiger quolls as simply “hard to find” and “shy”. Rayson (8) challenges the integrity of people’s moral values, demonstrating how one’s emotional hunger can outweigh even their own moral expectations. Like Dixon-Brown, Piper (9) values her relationships, yet is neither immune to hypocrisy. Championing the untiring philosophy that “all species are worth saving”, Piper recognises humanity’s moral responsibility to offer compassion to life beyond our own species. However, she is devastated by Beast’s (10) prognosis, lamenting “I am not ready”, despite having previously baulked at “Twinkie’s pacer” (11) . Rayson undermines Piper’s outward altruism, challenging whether it merely cloaks a selfish desire to appease her own insecurities of losing her loved ones. Regardless of our moral convictions, Rayson explores the insecurities formed from our fears of loneliness that compel individuals to compromise their moral ideals. 

(5) Notice how I discuss many themes in Extinction, beyond morality and decision-making. From understanding and reasoning with characters, I also explore companionship, belonging, isolation and hypocrisy. I avoid introducing character names in the topic sentence, as this can scream ‘character-based paragraph’ to the examiner.

(6) Immediately addressing views and values of writer. This is more interesting than the conventional approach of presenting evidence, exploring it then diving into values of the writer.

(7) Here, I try to bring Dixon-Brown to life by empathising with her. Compare this with: Dixon-Brown’s pragmatic exterior is undermined when she pursues a romantic affair with Harry Jewell. This sounds more like summary and comes off robotic and unemotional, neither does it add any dimension to her character.

(8) Using the author’s name when exploring views and values.

(9) It’s always nice to have a transition sentence between a new piece of evidence, especially in Extinction when a lot of the evidence is character-based.

(10) Use of minor characters.

(11) Minor characters again.

Paragraph 2 ‍

Rayson explores people’s inextricable connection with nature that undermines the purity of our ideology (12) . In spite of Harry’s sentimental connection with nature that motivates him to pursue the Quoll Project, reminiscing of his childhood pet “Errol Flynn” and being a part of a family that made a “living off the land”, Rayson explores our darker ties to nature that leads individuals to make questionable decisions (13) . Through the symbol of the birds of prey (14) in Harry and Piper’s camp, including the beautiful “barking owl”, Rayson alludes to how humans can too manipulate and prey to indulge their baser impulses, leaving aside morals (15) . Beyond this, Rayson investigates the universal concept of mortality (16) that is shared by all life forms in nature. Confronting the shadow of mortality, Andy’s stoic façade and impenetrable ideology is undermined. He shares his stamp of impermanence with the injured tiger quoll with a “snapped spinal column”, and is likely able to empathise with it (17) . Thus, his decision to euthanise the quoll may have been the inadvertent projection of his desire to end his own suffering. Through Piper, who challenges Andy for choosing the “most convenient option”, Rayson illuminates how our ties to nature can compromise our ethics and decisions, reaffirming our propensity towards moral contradictions. 

(12) In a play concerned with the environment, I try to include people’s connection to nature and the environment when I can.

(13) Good to mention topic.

(14) Include the symbols of nature that Rayson weaves into the play and its meaning.

(15) Good to mention topic.

(16) Again, I try to discuss more themes apart from morality and decision-making by including mortality. In a play concerning endangered species and measuring the worth of life, try to discuss mortality whenever possible.

(17) Again, I think finding similarities between the lives of animals and humans is crucial in this play, rather than considering them as two separate entities.

Paragraph 3

Ultimately, Rayson captures how humanity’s moral convictions can in fact align with their decisions when decisions are founded through virtuous ideals. Despite oscillating moral values that threaten the balance of Andy and Piper’s relationship (18) , their shared morality of compassion and sacrifice reunite them at the play’s denouement. Andy’s willingness to sacrifice their relationship in order to not “waste her life” and Piper’s refusal to leave Andy side despite a future that “just leads to sadness” illustrates the human capacity to reconcile their differences when their moral values align with their future ambition. Rayson echoes this capacity for reconciliation through the setting (19) of the animal shelter in the play; a setting representing preservation and hope. Although the play begins with a “wet and windy night” in the animal shelter, intensifying the arguing and frustration (20) , Rayson closes with the “gleam” and “twitch” of the tiger quoll in the same setting. This realises humanity’s capability making moral decisions through their virtuous ideals; striving to preserve and protect one’s relationships and natural habitat. As well as the possibility of a live tiger quoll who offers hope for their natural environment, Andy and Piper, who believe in loyalty and resilience, offer hope in a world permeated by moral contradiction. 

(18) I challenge the topic but still acknowledge my previous agreement with the topic.

(19) Use of metalanguage. Here I’ve explored a more natural setting, however Rayson often transitions between the city scape at Dixon-Brown’s apartment where the “noise of the city and peak-hour traffic rumbles below” and the natural landscape, “a wildlife rescue centre tucked away in the Cape Otway rainforest”. It can be effective to notice the contrast between the two and the events that occur in each setting.

(20) If analysing setting: Explore the effect of the setting on the mood of scene or characters. Then explore its significance to the views and values of the author.

Rayson’s (21) Extinction explores humankind’s moral frailty and gravitation towards the ethical when we focus too closely on ourselves. Rayson examines the insecurities woven throughout the human condition and our inextricable ties to nature that threaten our moral foundations, both prompting individuals to consider themselves over their relationships and duties to the environment. However, Rayson ultimately captures the resilience of mankind to unite despite their flaws, offering hope for the future of our environment and species. 

(21) Finish with a reflection of the bigger picture and overarching values the author promotes or condemns.

At first glance, Extinction may just seem like a short story of a chaotic quartet, but there are so many hearty themes to unpack and discuss. After a few re-reads, you will discover some unique finds, and after a few essays, you will find overlaps and patterns in seemingly philosophical topics.

For more sample essay topics, head over here so you can start practising some of the tips you've learnt in this blog! You'll also find another essay topic breakdown where we show you a 50 study scorer's essay plan. Happy writing!

Extra Resources

The Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response ‍

Extinction by Hannie Rayson ‍

Extinction Text Guide Study Guide

Updated 19/01/2021

After Darkness is currently studied in VCE English under Area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response .

1. Introduction (Plot Summary) 2. Characters and Development 3. Themes 4. Narrative Conventions/Literary Devices 5. Sample Paragraphs 6. Additional Essay Prompts and Analysis Questions to Consider 7. Tips

1. Introduction (Plot Summary)

Christine Piper’s historical fiction, After Darkness deals with suppressed fragments of the past and silenced memories. The protagonist, Dr Ibaraki, attempts to move forward with life whilst also trying to hide past confrontations as well as any remnants of his past wrongdoings and memories. The text consists of three intertwined narrative strands – Ibaraki’s past in Tokyo in 1934, his arrival in Broome in 1938 to work in a hospital there, and his arrival in a detainment camp in Loveday (South Australia) in 1942 after the outbreak of war.

2. Characters and Development

4. Narrative Conventions/Literary Devices

• ‘a mallee tree’ - Aboriginal word for water which symbolises purity, source of life 'if it’s hit by bushfire it grows back from the root with lots of branches, like all the others here. It’s a tough tree. Drought, bushfire…it’ll survive almost anything…I was struck by the ingenuity of the tree in its ability to generate and create a new shape better suited to the environment.'
• The tag with 'the character ko…[with] its loop of yellowed string...The knot at the end had left an impression on the page behind it: a small indentation, like a scar.'

Simile/Imagery:

• 'Felt like hell on earth'
• 'The hollow trunks of dead trees haunted its edges like lost people' - Can also link to the landscape narrative convention
• 'The scene was like a photograph, preserving the strangeness of the moment.'

Description of the hospital atmosphere where the patient next to Hayashi laid

• 'Only the windows were missing, leaving dark holes like the eyes of an empty soul'
• 'The photos reached me first. I leafed through the black and white images: swollen fingers, blistered toes, blackened faces, and grotesque, rotting flesh that shrivelled and puckered to reveal bone. The final photo depicted a child’s chubby hands, the tips of the fingers all black.' - Also foreshadowing death of his and Kayoko’s child

Pathetic Fallacy:

• 'That afternoon, the sky darkened, and the wind picked up…making the world outside opaque.'
• Middlemarch (book) which symbolises Ibaraki and Sister Bernice’s friendship as Bernice was left behind
• Robinson Crusoe
• 'Being able to conduct research in this way has delivered unparalleled knowledge, which we’ve already passed on to the army to minimise further loss of life.'
• 'You haafu fools don’t deserve the Japanese blood in you!'
• 'You bloody racist!'
• 'You fucking Emperor-worshipping pig...!'
• 'Haafu' - Derogatory, racism term used to define those who are biracial (half Japanese):

An interpretation of the language use throughout the text could be Piper’s way of humanising the Japanese people to her readers and notifying them that they also have their own culture and form of communication

Another interpretation of the language use is to show that both the Australians and Japanese are just as cruel as each other because they show no respect to one another and use language in such a brutal way

Ibaraki represents that divide where he can speak both languages, yet still, cannot voice his own opinion or stand up for himself (link to theme of silence)

Personification:

• 'The void seemed to have a force of its own, drawing the meaning of the words into it.'
• 'The engine coughed into life.'

Foreshadowing:

• 'snow was falling as I walked home from the station – the first snow of the season.' - Foreshadowing the storm about to come in his life
• 'A black silhouette against the fallen snow.' - Foreshadowing Kayoko’s death

5. Sample Paragraphs

'But as soon as you show a part of yourself, almost at once you hide it away.' Ibaraki’s deepest flaw in After Darkness is his failure to reveal himself. Do you agree?

Christine Piper’s historical fiction, After Darkness explores the consequences that an individual will be forced to endure when they choose to conceal the truth from their loved ones. Piper reveals that when a person fails to reveal themselves, it can eventually become a great obstacle which keeps them from creating meaningful and successful relationships. Additionally, Piper asserts that it can be difficult for an individual to confront their past and move completely forward with their present, especially if they believed their actions were morally wrong. Furthermore, Piper highlights the importance of allowing people into one’s life as a means to eliminate the build-up the feelings of shame and guilt. ‍

Body Paragraph

Piper acknowledges that some people will find it difficult to open up to others about their past due to them accumulating a large amount of regret and guilt over time. This is the case for Ibaraki as he was involved with the ‘experiments’ when he was working in the ‘Epidemic Prevention Laboratory', in which Major Kimura sternly told him to practise ‘discretion and not talk ‘about [his] work to anybody'. The inability to confide in his wife or mother after performing illegal and mentally disturbing actions causes him to possess a brusque conduct towards others, afraid that they will discover his truth and ‘not be able to look at [him] at all'. His failure to confess his past wrongdoings shapes the majority of his life, ruining his marriage and making him feel the need ‘to escape’ from his losses and ‘start afresh'. He eventually lies to his mother by making her believe that he ‘had gone to Kayoko’s parents’ house’ for the break, avoiding any questions from being raised about his job. As a consequence, he fails to tell his family about his horrid past suggesting that he has accepted that ‘[his] life had become one that others whispered about'. Juxtaposed to Ibaraki’s stress relieving methods, Kayoko confides in her mother after she receives news of her miscarriage, highlighting that when one willingly shares their pain with loved ones, it can release the burden as well as provide them with some assistance. In contrast to this, Ibaraki’s guilty conscience indicates that he will take ‘the secret to his grave', making it extremely difficult for people he encounters to understand him and form a meaningful connection with him. Nonetheless, Piper does not place blame on Ibaraki as he was ordered to keep the ‘specimen’ business hidden from society, thereby inviting her readers to keep in mind that some individuals are forced by others to not reveal their true colours for fear of ruining a specific reputation.

Throughout the journey in After Darkness , Piper engendered that remaining silent about one’s past events that shapes their future is one of the deepest flaws. She notes that for people to understand and form bonds with one another, it is extremely important to reveal their identity as masking it only arises suspicions. Piper postulates that for some, memories are nostalgic; whereas, for others it carries an unrelenting burden of guilt, forcing them to hide themselves which ultimately becomes the reason as to why they feel alone in their life.

6. Additional Essay Prompts and Analysis Questions to Consider

• Analyse the role of silence in After Darkness . Compare the ways in which the characters in the text utilise or handle silence. What is Piper suggesting about the notion of silence?
• Discuss the importance of friendship in the text. What is it about friends that make the characters appear more human? How can friendship bolster development in one’s character?
• Racism and nationalism are prominent themes in the text. How are the two interlinked? Explore the ways they are shown throughout the text and by different characters. Is Piper indicating that the two always lead to negative consequences?
• Analyse some of the narrative conventions (imagery, simile, metaphor, symbols, motifs, landscapes, language, etc.) in the novel and what they mean to certain characters and to the readers.
• Explore the ways in which the text emphasises that personal conscience can oftentimes hold people back from revealing their true thoughts and feelings.
• Character transformation (bildungsroman) is prevalent throughout the text. What is Piper suggesting through Ibaraki’s character in terms of the friendships and acquaintances he has formed and how have they impacted him? How have these relationships shaped him as a person in the past and present? Were such traits he developed over time beneficial for himself and those around him or have they caused the destruction of once healthy relationships?

If you'd like to see how to break down an essay topic, you might like to check out our After Darkness Essay Topic Breakdown blog post!

• Be sure to read as many academic articles as you can find in relation to the text in order to assist you with in-depth analysis when writing your essays. This will help you to stand out from the crowd and place you in a higher standing compared to your classmates as your ideas will appear much more sophisticated and thought-out.
• Being clear and concise with the language choices is such a crucial factor. Don’t over complicate the ideas you are trying to get across to your examiners by incorporating ‘big words’ you believe will make your writing appear of higher quality, because in most cases, it does the exact opposite (see Why Using Big Words in VCE Essays Can Make You Look Dumber ). Be careful! If it's a choice between using simpler language that your examiners will understand vs. using more complex vocabulary where it becomes difficult for the examiners to understand what you're trying to say, the first option is best! Ideally though, you want to find a balance between the two - a clearly written, easy to understand essay with more complex vocabulary and language woven into it.
• If there is a quote in the prompt, be sure to embed the quote into the analysis, rather than making the quote its own sentence. You only need to mention this quote once in the entire essay. How To Embed Quotes in Your Essay Like a Boss has everything you need to know for this!

If you'd like to see sample A+ essays complete with annotations on HOW and WHY the essays achieved A+, then you'll definitely want to check out our After Darkness Study Guide ! In it, we also cover advanced discussions on topics like structural features and context, completely broken down into easy-to-understand concepts so you can smash your next SAC or exam! Check it out here .

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Encourages students to understand the benefits of good study practice, and to take more ownership of their learning now that they have embarked on their GCSE courses.

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Study Skills

Year 10 exams: Everything you need to know

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Is your child in year 10 ? Are you wondering about their end of year exams? In this article, you can find out everything you need to know about year 10 exams including answers to the following questions:

Are year 10 exams important?

• What are year 10 mocks exams?

How seriously should you take year 10 exams?

• When are year 10 exams?
• Will year 10 do GCSE exams in 2022?
• How do you revise for year 10 exams?

If you'd prefer to listen to the podcast version of this article, please click play on the podcast player above, or listen to it on Apple podcasts or search for The School Success Formula in your podcast player of choice.

What are year 10 exams?

Year 10 exams are part of a school's normal cycle of assessment. Schools run them to gauge where students are at in terms of their progress at the end of the first year of GCSE study (for most schools).

The content of year 10 exams, which can also be thought of as end of year exams, is usually everything that students have learned during that academic year – but teachers will usually let students know which bits of the curriculum they'll be tested on so they can focus on those areas in their revision.

Why year 10 exams are useful for teachers

Teachers use assessment, such as end of year exams, to understand their students' progress and to understand more about their strengths and weaknesses in terms of subject knowledge and skills. This enables them to adjust their teaching to help students with weaker areas.

Some schools and departments within schools may also use the exams to re-assign students to different sets to make sure they're in a teaching group that is working at an appropriate pace and depth for how each student is doing.

Why year 10 exams are useful for students and parents

Year 10 exams are useful for students because they get to understand:

• Which parts of the curriculum they know and understand well
• Which parts of the curriculum they need to pay more attention to
• Practice their revision skills before they get into year 11
• Get their first taste of what GCSE exams are going to be like

Year 10 exams are an important step on the journey towards final GCSE exams. The results don't mean anything material in the long-term – their importance is more in terms of giving students the experience of taking exams (it's like their first set of mock exams) and also giving both students and teachers a clearer idea of where they're at in their learning and what they need to work on next.

As with all mock exams, they're as valuable as the learnings you get from them . So, if you don't take them very seriously, don't get very good results and don't spend any time thinking about or reflecting on the results they're virtually useless. Whereas, if you try to do your best and spend time reflecting on what went well, what didn't and what you'll change about how you prepared for your next round of mocks they're a really helpful part of the long term preparation for GCSE exams.

Find out more about how to get the most out of your mocks here.

A very common pattern that I see as an academic coach is students doing really badly in their year 10 exams and their parents then having a major panic. They seek out academic coaching or become members of The Extraordinaries Club to try to plug the gaps and help their children to get up to speed in year 11.

I remember one family who were members of The Extraordinaries Club in particular. The son had done really badly in his year 10 exams, getting 2s and 3s in each subject. His mum was really shocked by his low grades and really worried because he needed good enough grades to get into a boarding school in the UK (they were living in Europe and he couldn't stay at his international school to do A-Levels).

She did some googling and discovered Life More Extraordinary academic coaching. She then signed up for The Extraordinaries Club . This is what she said two months after joining the club:

“In just two months my son has more direction and he feels he is becoming better prepared and more confident as he gains the necessary tools required to study more effectively. My son now has strategies in place to become more organised and to manage his time better. If he starts to veer away from these then he can revisit the videos, blogs and even the Coaching Calls to help get back on track and keep motivated to reaching his goal. As the Extraordinaries Club is aimed at both parents and students  we are now both singing off the same sheet  – whereas before this wasn't the case. I also know that if it was just me making the suggestions and giving him advice he wouldn't take it seriously. Lucy has a way of engaging with the students and they do listen. As a parent I feel that  Lucy genuinely does care about how well our children perform and she is passionate about delivering the different methods and coping strategies to them. Having just attended the first Year 11 Parent's Evening,  I can honestly say that it felt as though we were discussing a completely different boy from the one we had at the end of Year 10.”

He went on to get very respectable GCSE results and got into the sixth form he wanted to.

Let them fail or do everything you can to help them succeed?

This is the decision you need to make when you're approaching year 10 exams as a parent. Some students really benefit from the shock of doing really badly, and getting the proverbial kick up the backside.

Other students don't cope very well with failure. If they fail they either write themselves off or they become very anxious and push themselves too hard.

You know your child best and you know how to manage their psychology. You need to decide whether letting them learn from their own mistakes is the best strategy or whether you need to support them to do as well as possible.

My advice as an academic coach

Year after year I've seen this pattern of failure in year 10 exams and families having to pick up the pieces in year 11. It's not pretty and it's not easy. Year 11 is tough right from the start. Many schools now run GCSE mocks in November and then again in February or March – which means that almost from the first day of year 11 students will be revising for mocks. This leaves very little time to actually learn how to study and revise properly (which is what I teach students in The Extraordinaries Club ).

Nearly every family I work with says they wish they'd joined the club sooner when they had a bit more time and capacity to learn the study skills before the pressures of year 11 start. This is why I advise families to join The Extraordinaries Club in year 10.

When are year 10 exams held?

Year 10 exams are held at some point in the summer term. Some schools hold them as early as the beginning of May but most won't hold them until after the May half-term. In 2021 I would expect most schools to hold them after June 18th which is the deadline for submitting this year's GCSE and A-Level teacher assessed grades.

Get more information about what to expect at different points of the academic year in the GCSE and A-Level years here.

How to revise for year 10 exams

These are the basic steps you need to follow to revise effectively for year 10 exams:

• Get a list of what you need to know for each subject – ask subject teachers for this
• Identify your strengths and weaknesses – this means you can focus your revision on your weaknesses, which are the things that will make the most difference in these exams and in your build-up to GCSE exams
• Choose active revision techniques like making and testing yourself using flashcards and doing past papers using the Revision Power Hour
• Review how you did and make a plan for future exams using the exam season review

If you'd like more detailed guidance on how to set up an effective revision strategy for year 10 exams, come along to my Revision Kickstarter Workshop on Saturday 15th May. During the live workshop, I will guide students through creating a personalised revision plan, that can just be revisited and tweaked as they go through year 11. You will also get access to a series of subject-specific How to Revise  masterclasses which give students revision tips and exam technique for the core academic subjects.

Click here to find out more about the next Revision Kickstarter Workshop.

They happen frequently throughout the year and it's never too early to get a year 10 set up to revise in the right way.

Year 10 exams – in summary

Year 10 exams are an important part of the two-year journey towards taking GCSEs at the end of year 11. If students take the opportunity to learn how to revise effectively and reflect on what they've learned from taking their year 10 exams it will stand them in good stead for the demands of year 11.

If you're looking for more help with this, sign them up for the next Revision Kickstarter Workshop or join The Extraordinaries Club.

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Lucy Parsons

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Catherine McAuley College: Year 10 Study Skills Sessions

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Session 1: Successful Students and Stress

Aim: To be able to articulate and recognise what makes a person successful at learning. To highlight stress management strategies.

• Whiteboard and 2 Whiteboard Markers
• Stress Management Do’s and Don’t Cards (Laminated Cards)
• Extra Video: How to Organise an Agenda (8:42 min)
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Session 3: How to Be and Stay Organised

Aim: To explore different ways to be and stay organised and have students select a few of these as strategies that they can practice over this term.

Resources:  (download below)

• Worksheet: Tips on How to Manage Your Time
• Video: How to get organised for school (2:13 min)
• Worksheet: Quotes on Goals
• Worksheet: Goal Setting
• Extra Video: Binder Organization Tips (8:50 min) 
• Tips on How to Manage Your Time
• Quotes on Goal
• Goal Setting
• Extra: Term Planner

Session 2: How to Manage Your Time and Effectively Study

AIM: To explore current study habits and consider the aspects of study - where (what places are available to them), when is the best time and tips on how much, how to focus etc.

• Worksheet: Home Study Habits Quiz
• Worksheet: SWOT Analysis of Study Habits
• Worksheet: Study TimeTable Template
• Last year’s Library survey of Year 10-12 students the MOST IMPORTANT study skill students listed was – How to manage your time and study effectively.
• Overwhelmingly, the student responses to the question ‘What are some of your concerns about school?’ focused on managing workloads and not keeping up with workload demands.
• Home Study Habits Quiz
• SWOT Analysis of Study Habits
• Study Timetable Template

Session 4: What's My Learning Style?

• Learning Styles Study Strategies

Aim: For students to be aware of and explore different learning strategies through a learning style quiz.    

• Online Survey: VARK Learning Styles
• Worksheet: Learning Styles Study Strategies
• Extra Video: How to Take Awesome Notes : Tips and Tricks! (9:16 mins)

There are many different ways that we can learn. Most of us have some strengths as a visual, auditory AND tactile learner… but how do we PREFER to learn? By finding the answer to this question, we can then choose study methods that are tailored to OUR  personal strengths.

Many studies have proved that our brains are NOT able to multi-task when we are trying to learn something new. Your brain can not multitask and adequately remember ideas or develop new ideas.

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Top 10 Study Tips to Study Like a Harvard Student

Adjusting to a demanding college workload might be a challenge, but these 10 study tips can help you stay prepared and focused.

Lian Parsons

The introduction to a new college curriculum can seem overwhelming, but optimizing your study habits can boost your confidence and success both in and out of the classroom. 

Transitioning from high school to the rigor of college studies can be overwhelming for many students, and finding the best way to study with a new course load can seem like a daunting process. 

Effective study methods work because they engage multiple ways of learning. As Jessie Schwab, psychologist and preceptor at the Harvard College Writing Program, points out, we tend to misjudge our own learning. Being able to recite memorized information is not the same as actually retaining it. 

“One thing we know from decades of cognitive science research is that learners are often bad judges of their own learning,” says Schwab. “Memorization seems like learning, but in reality, we probably haven’t deeply processed that information enough for us to remember it days—or even hours—later.”

Planning ahead and finding support along the way are essential to your success in college. This blog will offer study tips and strategies to help you survive (and thrive!) in your first college class. 

1. Don’t Cram! 

It might be tempting to leave all your studying for that big exam up until the last minute, but research suggests that cramming does not improve longer term learning. 

Students may perform well on a test for which they’ve crammed, but that doesn’t mean they’ve truly learned the material, says an article from the American Psychological Association . Instead of cramming, studies have shown that studying with the goal of long-term retention is best for learning overall.   

2. Plan Ahead—and Stick To It! 

Having a study plan with set goals can help you feel more prepared and can give you a roadmap to follow. Schwab said procrastination is one mistake that students often make when transitioning to a university-level course load. 

“Oftentimes, students are used to less intensive workloads in high school, so one of my biggest pieces of advice is don’t cram,” says Schwab. “Set yourself a study schedule ahead of time and stick to it.”

3. Ask for Help

You don’t have to struggle through difficult material on your own. Many students are not used to seeking help while in high school, but seeking extra support is common in college.

As our guide to pursuing a biology major explains, “Be proactive about identifying areas where you need assistance and seek out that assistance immediately. The longer you wait, the more difficult it becomes to catch up.”

There are multiple resources to help you, including your professors, tutors, and fellow classmates. Harvard’s Academic Resource Center offers academic coaching, workshops, peer tutoring, and accountability hours for students to keep you on track.  

4. Use the Buddy System 

Your fellow students are likely going through the same struggles that you are. Reach out to classmates and form a study group to go over material together, brainstorm, and to support each other through challenges.

Having other people to study with means you can explain the material to one another, quiz each other, and build a network you can rely on throughout the rest of the class—and beyond. 

5. Find Your Learning Style

It might take a bit of time (and trial and error!) to figure out what study methods work best for you. There are a variety of ways to test your knowledge beyond simply reviewing your notes or flashcards. 

Schwab recommends trying different strategies through the process of metacognition. Metacognition involves thinking about your own cognitive processes and can help you figure out what study methods are most effective for you. 

Schwab suggests practicing the following steps:

• Before you start to read a new chapter or watch a lecture, review what you already know about the topic and what you’re expecting to learn.
• As you read or listen, take additional notes about new information, such as related topics the material reminds you of or potential connections to other courses. Also note down questions you have.
• Afterward, try to summarize what you’ve learned and seek out answers to your remaining questions. 

Explore summer courses for high school students.

6. Take Breaks

The brain can only absorb so much information at a time. According to the National Institutes of Health , research has shown that taking breaks in between study sessions boosts retention. 

Studies have shown that wakeful rest plays just as important a role as practice in learning a new skill. Rest allows our brains to compress and consolidate memories of what we just practiced. 

Make sure that you are allowing enough time, relaxation, and sleep between study sessions so your brain will be refreshed and ready to accept new information.

7. Cultivate a Productive Space

Where you study can be just as important as how you study. 

Find a space that is free of distractions and has all the materials and supplies you need on hand. Eat a snack and have a water bottle close by so you’re properly fueled for your study session. 

8. Reward Yourself

Studying can be mentally and emotionally exhausting and keeping your stamina up can be challenging.

Studies have shown that giving yourself a reward during your work can increase the enjoyment and interest in a given task.

According to an article for Science Daily , studies have shown small rewards throughout the process can help keep up motivation, rather than saving it all until the end. 

Next time you finish a particularly challenging study session, treat yourself to an ice cream or  an episode of your favorite show.

9. Review, Review, Review

Practicing the information you’ve learned is the best way to retain information. 

Researchers Elizabeth and Robert Bjork have argued that “desirable difficulties” can enhance learning. For example, testing yourself with flashcards is a more difficult process than simply reading a textbook, but will lead to better long-term learning. 

“One common analogy is weightlifting—you have to actually “exercise those muscles” in order to ultimately strengthen your memories,” adds Schwab.

10. Set Specific Goals

Setting specific goals along the way of your studying journey can show how much progress you’ve made. Psychology Today recommends using the SMART method:

• Specific: Set specific goals with an actionable plan, such as “I will study every day between 2 and 4 p.m. at the library.”  
• Measurable: Plan to study a certain number of hours or raise your exam score by a certain percent to give you a measurable benchmark.
• Realistic: It’s important that your goals be realistic so you don’t get discouraged. For example, if you currently study two hours per week, increase the time you spend to three or four hours rather than 10.
• Time-specific: Keep your goals consistent with your academic calendar and your other responsibilities.

Using a handful of these study tips can ensure that you’re getting the most out of the material in your classes and help set you up for success for the rest of your academic career and beyond. 

Learn more about our summer programs for high school students.

About the Author

Lian Parsons is a Boston-based writer and journalist. She is currently a digital content producer at Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education. Her bylines can be found at the Harvard Gazette, Boston Art Review, Radcliffe Magazine, Experience Magazine, and iPondr.

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Year 10 – Study Skills Mentoring

The Year 10 Study Skills Mentoring programme has been designed by NSSW, using material from The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell

Course details

• Pupils are mentored in study skills strategies
• An 8-week programme, 1 hour/week
• For Year 10 pupils who would benefit from small group mentoring
• Group size is one tutor to 3 pupils
• Learning styles and active learning strategies
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• The expected outcome is that pupils develop knowledge and implementation of effective learning and study strategies
• The course is delivered by trained Student Ambassadors from NSSW partner institutions, supported by NSSW Institutional Officers
• Up to 5 tutors per session, 15 pupils
• Eligibility: NSSW selected Attainment Raising schools
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Evaluation Pupils will complete skills audits in week one and week eight. NSSW will analyse pre- and post- course data to assess progress towards raised attainment.

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Teach. Learn. Grow.

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Summer learning loss: What we know and what we’re learning

Concerns about students losing ground academically during summer break go back at least a century, with early evidence suggesting that summer contributed to large disparities in students’ outcomes. This narrative spurred expansion of a variety of summer programs and interventions aimed at stemming summer learning loss.

However, in the last five years, there has been a spirited debate about two long-standing questions about students’ summers: 1) the degree to which test scores actually drop during the summer and 2) the degree to which summer break contributes to educational inequities. A new layer to this conversation is the response to the learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. School leaders and policymakers have used the summer break as a potential time for academic recovery. Summer programs have emerged as one of the most popular recovery strategies offered by school districts, with an estimated $5.8 billion of ESSER funds expected to be spent on summer programs by September 2024.

With more focus on the impact of summer on students’ learning and the potential to extend the school year, it is essential for educators, policymakers, and families to have an up-to-date understanding of the impact of summer breaks on students’ learning patterns. In this post, we aim to highlight what is known about summer learning loss by quickly summarizing recent research and posing some questions that remain unanswered about the role of summers on students’ learning.

Students’ test scores flatten or drop during the summer

While our initial understanding of summer learning loss dates back to studies conducted in the 70s and 80s , a recent collection of studies in the last six years provides a fresh look at students’ learning across summers using four modern assessments ( ECLS-K direct cognitive tests , MAP® Growth™, Star, and i-Ready) with large national (though not typically nationally representative) samples. See “School’s out: The role of summers in understanding achievement disparities,” “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,” “Evidence of ‘summer learning loss’ on the i-Ready diagnostic assessment,” “Findings on summer learning loss often fail to replicate, even in recent data,” and “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”

Figure 1 compares the test score patterns across four different studies. Three important patterns stand out:

• On average, test scores flatten or drop during the summer , with larger drops typically in math than reading.
• Studies using test scores from ECLS-K:2011 show that student learning slows down but does not drop over the summers after kindergarten and first grade. However, research using interim and diagnostic assessments ( MAP Growth , Star, and i-Ready ) has found far larger summer drops across a range of grade levels.
• Given the sizable differences in the magnitude of test score drops across tests, it remains uncertain whether summer slide should be considered a trivial issue or a serious educational challenge.

Figure 1. Comparison of summer slide estimates across datasets

Note: All estimates are reported as the total average summer test score change in standard deviation (SD) units relative to the prior spring test score. Whenever possible, we report the estimate that adjusted scores for time in school prior/after testing in the fall and spring. Sources: Author calculations based on data reported in ECLS-K:20210-11 , MAP Growth , i-Ready , and Star .  

Who is most likely to show summer learning loss.

While all three diagnostic assessments show some degree of summer slide in grades 3–8 on average, the research community lacks consensus about whether summers disproportionately impact certain students. Paul von Hippel and colleagues have pointed out that whether and how much summers contribute to educational inequalities (across students of different income levels, races, ethnicities, and genders) depends on the test used to study students’ learning patterns. Nonetheless, we can present a few key patterns from this line of research:

• Learning rates are more variable during the summer than during the school year. See “School’s out: The role of summers in understanding achievement disparities,”   “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,”  and  “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”
• Gaps between students attending low- and high-poverty schools do not consistently widen during the summer. See “Is summer learning loss real, and does it widen test score gaps by family income?”  and  “Is summer learning loss real?”
• Test score differences between Black and white students hold steady or narrow during the summer. See “Do test score gaps grow before, during, or between the school years? Measurement artifacts and what we know in spite of them”  and  “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,” though results can be sensitive to the metric and test used. See also  “Black-white summer learning gaps: Interpreting the variability of estimates across representations” and “Findings on summer learning loss often fail to replicate, even in recent data.”
• The field cannot really explain why differences in students’ summer learning occur. See “Rethinking summer slide: The more you gain, the more you lose”  and  “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”

Planning effective summer programming

It is clear across recent studies that summer is a particularly variable time for students. Summer break is also increasingly a time in which districts are offering a range of academic offerings.

During summer 2022, an estimated 90% of school districts offered summer programs with an academic focus. However, evidence on the effectiveness of academic summer programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. One study of eight summer programs in summer 2022 found a small positive impact on math test scores (0.03 SD), but not on reading. The improvements in math were largely driven by elementary students compared to middle schoolers. However, the effectiveness of these programs remained consistent across student groups, including race/ethnicity, poverty, and English learner status.

It is crucial to recognize the challenges associated with scaling up summer programs. In the districts studied, only 13% of students participated in the summer programs , which only lasted for an average of three to four weeks. Prior research indicates that for summer programs to yield measurable academic benefits, they should run at least five weeks with at least three hours of instruction a day. Additionally, getting students to regularly attend summer programs remains a significant hurdle. To address this issue, districts should actively recruit families to participate and offer a mix of academic instruction and engaging extracurricular activities. By adopting these strategies, districts can maximize the effectiveness of their summer programs and better support student learning during the break.

If you’re interested in learning more about effective summer programs, we encourage you to read the following:

• “Effective summer programming: What educators and policymakers should know”
• “Investing in successful summer programs: A review of evidence under the Every Student Succeeds Act”
• “Analysis: Summer learning is more popular than ever. How to make sure your district’s program is effective”
• “The impact of summer learning programs on low-income children’s mathematics achievement: A meta-analysis”
• “The effects of summer reading on low-income children’s literacy achievement from kindergarten to grade 8: A meta-analysis of classroom and home interventions”

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