What are your Pre-Exam Rituals?

[RuiAce]

Sweeping call Rui! I went to a Catholic school but I wouldn't say the system is better

Oh whoops my bad! I meant in general, not always

[conic curve]

Oh whoops my bad! I meant in general, not always

I know for a fact facilities at catholic schools (or private schools in general) are better than public schools. What about teachers (especially english teachers)? Are they much better and more dedicated than ones at public schools?

[RuiAce]

It's mostly facilities yeah.

Teachers? Not necessarily.
Also the teachers at my school are not applicable for random open discussion.

[conic curve]

It's mostly facilities yeah.

Teachers? Not necessarily.
Also the teachers at my school are not applicable for random open discussion.

I believe school uniform as well. WHat do you mean by "teachers at my school are not applical for random open discussion"?

[elysepopplewell]

I'm very envious of a lot of state schools as opposed to my Catholic High school actually! The diversity of extra curricular activities is mainly the biggest reason I feel this way!

[conic curve]

I'm very envious of a lot of state schools as opposed to my Catholic High school actually! The diversity of extra curricular activities is mainly the biggest reason I feel this way!

Do you think the education system is better at private schools or better at public schools (talking about top 100)?

[jakesilove]

Do you think the education system is better at private schools or better at public schools (talking about top 100)?

As a general rule, schools who are able to pay their teachers more will attract better teachers. This absolutely isn't always true, and there are countless incredible teachers working at public schools who could move to private schools, but prefer working in the public sector. However, good teachers can make a big difference (not necessarily to the single student who is going to try freakin' hard regardless, but to the cohort as a whole). This is a really unfortunate byproduct of the private/public distinction; teachers, who may PREFER teaching to a wider group of students who are receiving education for a much lower price, often move to the private sector because the pay differential is often quite substantial.

[conic curve]

As a general rule, schools who are able to pay their teachers more will attract better teachers. This absolutely isn't always true, and there are countless incredible teachers working at public schools who could move to private schools, but prefer working in the public sector. However, good teachers can make a big difference (not necessarily to the single student who is going to try freakin' hard regardless, but to the cohort as a whole). This is a really unfortunate byproduct of the private/public distinction; teachers, who may PREFER teaching to a wider group of students who are receiving education for a much lower price, often move to the private sector because the pay differential is often quite substantial.

Yeah true, thing is are there really any bad teachers who work in private schools?

I know for a fact even top selective schools have bad teachers. I personally think that teachers who work at selective schools should get paid more

I don't know whether or not the department of education (i.e. if you go to a public school) takes into account a teachers teaching ability and their dedication to their students

[RuiAce]

Yeah true, thing is are there really any bad teachers who work in private schools?

I know for a fact even top selective schools have bad teachers. I personally think that teachers who work at selective schools should get paid more

I don't know whether or not the department of education (i.e. if you go to a public school) takes into account a teachers teaching ability and their dedication to their students

Yeah. I didn't approve of every single teacher at my school.

But one thing to note is that there's always a case that's flawed. It might be a rare occurrence but hardly does it never happen.

I'm very envious of a lot of state schools as opposed to my Catholic High school actually! The diversity of extra curricular activities is mainly the biggest reason I feel this way!

Oh really?

Hmm, from memory we were offered Duke of Ed, had an annual college concert and also still your typical school-wide and state-representative sports competitions

[ssarahj]

Yeah true, thing is are there really any bad teachers who work in private schools?

I know for a fact even top selective schools have bad teachers. I personally think that teachers who work at selective schools should get paid more

I don't know whether or not the department of education (i.e. if you go to a public school) takes into account a teachers teaching ability and their dedication to their students

I agree with Jake and also Rui here, there are DEFINITELY less than awesome teachers at private schools. There's always going to be exceptions to any of the blanket statements that are put onto schools in terms of private vs. catholic vs. public etc.
At schools where you pay a substantial amount of money to attend there's often more resources and an emphasis on "getting your money's worth" which may create the perception that the teachers are superb and get better results, but I think there's also heaps of other factors that determine a school's quality.

[conic curve]

Yeah. I didn't approve of every single teacher at my school.

But one thing to note is that there's always a case that's flawed. It might be a rare occurrence but hardly does it never happen.Oh really?

Hmm, from memory we were offered Duke of Ed, had an annual college concert and also still your typical school-wide and state-representative sports competitions

My school never had this (I go to a public school by the way). We have a talent quest (which is really lame) and literally not many people show interest in it

My school only has some state wide competitions, has crap facilities, like they don't bother to paint over or fix up old broken things and uniform is so expensive, like for a public school why would it be so expensive? They have a second hand store though for all the old donated uniform from ex-students which costs less than $10 per piece. The principal gets really mad if you don't wear uniform but if you have financial issues he can understand and he'll speak to you

Anyways what are facilities like at your school? Also how does the deputy principal/principal react to students not wearing uniform?

[elysepopplewell]

I have a great interest in politics, current affairs, gender, race, sex and sexuality, etc, etc. And being in a Catholic school, a lot of this was restricted in the extra-curricular. We could only contribute to Catholic charities (as directed by the CEO of Parramatta), our inter-school debating topics had to comply with Gospel values, (which meant that when we had the debate topic "technology will be our downfall" - arguing about IVF being a positive advance was a complete no no), and there were some Legal Studies concepts that I had to research myself. I know these are all small things, but for someone incredibly interested in world affairs and modern advance, I would have loved to see more diversity. My geographic location comes into this a lot as well.

My school was great, I had great teachers, I took up every opportunity I could. But, I did an assignment at Burwood Girls High School for Uni earlier this year and it was a school after my own heart. Posters about Gonski funding everywhere - charity events for FGM survivors, etc, etc.

So that's what I kind of mean about the "extra-curricular" stuff. I wish it was a more secular approach to learning so that I could have adapted a lot more worldly stuff to my learning, rather than more Catholic stuff. I'm saying this from the perspective of someone who became increasingly less Catholic through High School as well. My geographical position, being in Sydney's far west, definitely impacted on the way I received education as well. Like I said, I was so fortunate to receive awesome education. But if you asked me to be critical, I'd prefer secular education for High School, because it is more suited to me.

[kb123]

What I do before an exam:
 
Day before: Skim over the types of questions and review notes for around an hour. Then I stop, do something relaxing such as watching a movie or reading. At this point, you should know everything that could be in the exam you are doing inside out

The Day (could be done earlier on too): If you can, talk to a friend about the topics your are going to be tested on, maybe swap notes in case you both have information the other doesn't. This actually helped me in many situations when I just forgot to mention simple points in my notes that would later be in the test (but because I looked at my friend's notes, I remembered the answer )

Most of all: STAY CALM. Don't fret crazily over the exam. You should feel confident. This feeling would come naturally if you studied the topics on the test thoroughly and have done heaps of practice papers. Remember to check your answer, make sure it actually makes sense and you didn't make a stupid mistake.

Talking about stupid mistakes, the most stupid mistakes I have ever made during high school was arranging numbers in ascending order incorrectly in year 7 or 8 maths (it was the only freaking mark I lost in the whole test!) and forgetting to write the C in 4 degrees celcius....

Katya

[christopherk8]

honestly, my method during trials was to sleep early and hope for the best because no matter how much more i studied it wouldnt sink in anymore than it already had

[ssarahj]

honestly, my method during trials was to sleep early and hope for the best because no matter how much more i studied it wouldnt sink in anymore than it already had

Ha love that!  A decent sleep is so so so important, and hoping for the best isn't a bad idea either