How to get a headstart these summer holidays (by a 99+ student)

[Cassidyhogi]

Transitioning from Year 11 into Year 12? Here is what you should do these holidays to get a headstart!
-   Collect notes and resources from external sources.
This includes Atarnotes (believe it or not), your school intranet and from past students at your school. It is much more convenient and time-efficient to already have these notes downloaded to refer to during the year.
-   Read advice from past students.
Atarnotes is filled with advice from past students that have received amazing scores. Instead of reading their advice throughout the year learn from them now, find what they have in common and learn from their mistakes or regrets. Try to adopt their strategies to your studying throughout the year. One thing that helped me was to learn about the different mindsets you need to approach your different subjects.
-   Begin your study notes!
If it feels a bit too early to start consolidating information and completing practice questions, begin your glossaries and flash cards for the first couple of area of studies for your subjects. Then during the year you won’t have to waste time making flashcards when you could be studying them or doing a practice SAC/exam. Additionally, making study notes like the ones mentioned is not as hard as completing practice questions. This allows you to relax before the real torment begins! I personally found this more helpful then getting ahead in textbook questions because by the time we would cover that topic in class, I would have forgotten everything and would have had to do the same amount of practice questions during the year.
-   Practice the skills you learnt in Year 11 that you will need for Year 12.
Mastering these skills before beginning Units 3 and 4 is essential to doing well. For Specialist Maths practice complex numbers, vectors, calculus etc. For Chemistry work on carbon chem, chromatography and volumetric analysis. For Methods- everything and for English- language analysis.
-   Print out the study design and write information under each dot point.
If you are taking a heavy-content based subject such as biology, history, bus man etc use your textbook and other resources to write information under each dot point. write your information in the simplest way possible. I would answer each dot point in the study design with more dot points of clear and concise information that I could understand no matter how much of the content I had studied at school. You can refer to this in preparation for your SACs and the exam so you’re sure you know everything you need to know. VCAA exams are based on the study design so if you know everything under each dot point, you’re set! I found this much more helpful and time efficient during the year than completing chapters because I would forget how to complete certain questions. When you have made simple notes according to the study design you can refer to them whenever and understand the content straight away.
-   Get organised!
Organise your binders and stationery etc. Buy a calendar and pencil in your SAC dates etc. Purchase a diary or planner to stay organised for the year. Watch some youtube videos on how to stay organised. This is the time to do those procrastination type activities. I found myself unorganised during the year and in need of better ways to study efficiently, so I turned to youtube.
-   Create your routine.
It might seem too early to do so, but it is better to have one planned or you will start the year chaotically. Your routine will almost definitely change throughout Term 1. Try to have an established routine by the end of the first term. It does not have to be as strict as “I am going to study English every day from 4-5pm and then methods from 5:15-6:15pm…” just have planned study blocks and study the subjects you need to according to your timetable and SAC dates. Plan your breaks too and non-school activities so that you can balance your studies with the rest of your life.
-   Reflect on how you studied in your previous years.
If you completed a year 12 subject in year 11, figure out which study methods worked and did not work. Establish the study methods that suit you when remembering content, applying content and improving in practice exams.
-   Find your motivation!
Motivation is key to succeeding in VCE. Find long term and short term motivation. Short term motivation is necessary when you do not feel like long term motivation is worthy or important. List your goals and motivational messages/quotes to look back to during the year when you need to. I created a vision board before the year started which I used throughout the entire year. Print out some extra motivational quotes that you can stick in your binders and notebooks when the quotes you have been reading since January do not seem so inspiring anymore. When long term motivation does not seem worth it anymore, treat yourself after a study period or SAC. After a SAC, watch a movie. If you study for four hours after school, watch your tv show or have a chocolate bar- whatever works for you.
-   Your holiday homework!
Even if it is not compulsory or your teacher won’t bother to check- do it! Your teacher gave it to you for a reason, it is bound to be helpful. It may be revision of Units 1 and 2 to prepare your for Units 3 and 4 or it might be chapter work. Simply doing this can get you ahead of your class. I was one of the very few people who completed the holiday homework in my Chemistry class and am glad I did.
-   Relax!
Although Term 1 is not as torturous as the rest of the year, it is important to relax before you begin year 12. I only had two SACs in Term One but it was still pretty stressful just thinking about what was to come. After the first day of school, the only time I truly felt relieved was after my last exam. So spend time with friends and family and all that because Year 12 has not officially begun.
All the best!!