First Education

One thing I’ve noticed a lot with students is that revision usually only starts once schools officially hand out exam notifications. For Years 7 to 10 especially, students often only get about two weeks notice before exams, so mentally they treat that as the point where studying begins. Then suddenly everyone is stressed, tired, and trying to relearn an entire term’s worth of content in a few nights.

But realistically, students can start revision way earlier without doing anything extreme. Even just revising topics as they finish in class makes a huge difference later on. That way, when those two weeks before exams finally arrive, students can spend their time actively studying through practice questions and applying knowledge instead of trying to understand the content properly for the first time.
The funny thing is most students are not actually lazy. A lot of them fully intend to study earlier, but because exams feel far away, revision keeps getting pushed back. Especially with maths and science subjects, that becomes a problem pretty quickly because topics build on each other. If one thing gets missed early on, everything after it starts feeling harder too. What usually works best is not even intense studying. The students who seem the calmest during exam periods are normally just doing small amounts of revision consistently throughout the term.

At the end of the day, exams are always going to be stressful to some extent. But there is a massive difference between normal exam nerves and full panic from trying to learn everything at the last minute. Starting earlier usually does not just improve marks either, it makes the whole exam period feel far less overwhelming.

Lily Powell

A lot of students think doing practice exams just means smashing out as many papers as possible. But the truth is, it’s not about how many you do, it’s about how you use them. Done properly, practice exams can be one of the most effective ways to improve your marks.

The biggest mistake students make is finishing a paper, checking the answers quickly, and moving on. That doesn’t actually help much. The real improvement comes from going back through your mistakes and figuring out why you got things wrong. Was it a silly error, a timing issue, or something you didn’t fully understand. That’s where the learning happens.

Practice exams also train your brain for the real thing. Sitting down for a full paper helps you get used to the pressure, the timing, and staying focused for a long period. It stops exams from feeling unfamiliar or overwhelming. By the time the real exam comes around, it just feels like another paper.

They’re also great for spotting patterns. You start to notice the types of questions that come up again and again. In subjects like maths and English, this is huge. You begin to understand what markers are actually looking for, which makes your answers more structured and confident.

Another big benefit is time management. A lot of students know the content but struggle to finish exams. Practice papers help you learn how long to spend on each question and when to move on.

At the end of the day, practice exams aren’t just revision. They’re training. If you take the time to review your mistakes, understand your weak spots, and learn from each paper, you’ll see real improvement. It’s one of the smartest ways to study, especially in the lead up to big exams like trials or the HSC.

Eireyna Papinyan

History is one of the ‘big four’ subjects in school, alongside Mathematics, English and Science. Unfortunately, history has seen a great decline in schools.

History used to be much more comprehensive and deep. Students would examine the major events of European and world history such as the rise of the ancient civilisations, complex evolutions of social and governmental systems (feudalism, liberalism, democracy, oligarchy, monarchy, communism, capitalism), great personalities such as Napoleon, Augustus, Constantine, von Bismarck, Churchill, Justinian, Charlemagne, etc., the rise of Christianity and Islam, the great European revolutions, the World Wars, etc.

However, throughout my entire high school career, in which I was determined to take as many history classes as possible, I never studied these events in great detail with the exception of the Second World War (in Europe), Russia, and some other isolated periods.

The focus has been on learning skills and writing, but this has lead to a decline in the comprehensiveness and breadth of content. I feel that this is detrimental to the study of history, because most people want to learn history in order to learn more about the nations and peoples of the world. Instead, this is diluted in favour of preparing for systematic assessments like the HSC.

Learning should be for the sake of learning, not for exam marks. Learn history!

Raphael Dokos

In terms of studying for exams there’s definitely a gap between knowing something, and having the ability to retrieve that knowledge under the pressure of an exam environment. Whereas textbooks, and note-highlighting only go so far; completed past papers are universally seen as the highest standard for revising, simply because they involve the transition from passive to active recall.

Active Recall at its finest:
As well as causing your brain to work to retrieve information, as opposed to simply recognizing it in an exam paper (and building stronger neural pathways), examiners are predictable, and after completing a couple of years of papers you begin to understand the nature of them, the types of questions that come up, and importantly how the marking scheme works. Here, you not only understand ‘what’ to learn but also ‘how’ to answer.
The art of not so much the information but the practicalities:
Beyond all the topic knowledge past papers are crucial in helping students overcome the ‘hidden’ difficulties of the exam;
Time Management. Being able to complete questions in a limited time prevents them from getting stuck on a particular low-mark question.
Knowledge gaps identified. A practice test gives a “progress test”, showing where a student knows the material, and what topics require more immediate attention.
Reducing anxiety. Obviously everyone knows what an exam looks like, down to the font size on the questions, and the instructions on the front cover, thus reducing student cortisol levels, allowing them to be clearer thinkers.
An exam is just a performance, no different to any other, so no more would a musician practice for an upcoming gig just by reading the sheet music than would a student revise an exam by just by reading textbooks. They transform information into a skill to be employed on ‘game day’.

Ella Fisher

Doom scrolling might seem harmless at first. You open TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, or another app for a quick break, and suddenly much more time has passed than you planned. The problem is not just that you lost time. The bigger issue is what that constant scrolling can do to your attention, memory, and ability to focus.

Your brain is not designed to take in endless pieces of information without a break. Every few seconds, your attention is pulled somewhere new. One video, one headline, one comment, one notification, then another. Over time, this can train your brain to expect constant stimulation. That makes slower tasks, like reading a textbook, writing an essay, or solving a maths question, feel much harder than they actually are.

Doom scrolling can also make it harder to remember what you are learning. When your brain keeps switching between different topics, it has less time to properly process information. This matters because studying is not just about looking at notes. You need your brain to organise, store, and recall information later.

It can also increase mental fatigue. Even when you are lying in bed doing “nothing”, your brain is still working. It is processing images, words, sounds, arguments, jokes, and news. After a long scroll, you might feel tired but not rested. That makes schoolwork feel heavier and concentration feel weaker.

This does not mean you can never use your phone. It just means you need to notice when scrolling stops being a break and starts becoming mental overload.

Protect your attention. Put your phone away during study. Take proper breaks. Give your brain quiet time. You will think more clearly when your mind is not constantly being pulled in every direction.

Nabil Harrar

Knowing the content thoroughly does not always translate into strong exam results. Many high school students leave exams feeling surprised by how quickly time disappeared, even when they felt well prepared. It is a shame to miss out on key marks simply because you ran out of time. This is where the importance of timed practice comes in.

Untimed practice papers are great to start off your revision. They allow for careful thinking, checking notes, and refining answers. This type of practice is useful when learning new material or building understanding. However, exams operate under strict time conditions, and so it is very important to do at least one (or more!) practice papers under timed conditions to mimic what it will be like in the exam. One approach could be to do a few past papers without time pressure, and when you feel ready, try one in timed, closed book conditions.

Timed practice papers develop the ability to work efficiently under pressure. They help students understand how long to spend on each question and when it is better to move on rather than get stuck. Over time, this builds a sense of pacing that is essential to ensure you finish the exam and hopefully even have time to check over your answers.

Focus is another key difference. Without time constraints, it is easier to lose concentration or spend too long perfecting a single response which is unrealistic for an exam. Also, without time pressure it can be easy to get distracted with your phone, ultimately delaying your study time even more.

Untimed practice still has a place, particularly in the early stages of revision. It supports deeper learning and confidence with the material. However, relying on it alone can leave students unprepared for the demands of an exam. Particularly when students are so busy studying for so many subjects, efficient study is more important than the quantity of studying.

Enya Rose

This evening I had the pleasure of watching Pamela tutor Year 1 phonics – an entertaining session to say the least! Pamela began by making sure Luis was comfortable and ready to learn – the little ones tend to be very restless, but she did a great job of calming Luis down and gently getting him in the zone to work.

As they began moving through different letters, Pamela moved with a wonderful cadence, allowing Luis to enunciate everything for himself with as little intervention as possible. I find it also to be much more rewarding letting our students come to their own answer after a period of silent thought rather than always jumping to their rescue! A great reminder that slight discomfort is usually the precursor to growth, not antagonistic to it.

Luis became increasingly enthused as the session progressed. He began to identify more and more sounds with confidence and was having a ball of a time linking the letters that Pamela was presenting with the starting letters of some of his favourite words – L for Luis, an unforgettably recurring one.

My favourite part of the session was when Pamela put on the alphabet song. It was truly wholesome to watch young Luis sing along (wonderfully in tune, might I add) and correct himself within a split second whenever he realised that he made a mistake.

The energy of the session was phenomenal. Luis clearly feels extremely comfortable in Pamela’s care, and it was very obvious that Pamela knows how to tailor the session not only to her students’ current competencies, but also to their energy and mood.

It was clear around the halfway point that young Luis was beginning to lose some steam. Pamela intuitively took notice and went for a walk with Luis for a cup of water and a bathroom break. When they returned, Luis was just itching to get back into it! Full credit to Pamela – I know from experience how tough little kids can be to keep focused, and she really did an unbelievable job.

Great session 😀

Thomas Koutavas

A lot of students think studying has to mean long, exhausting hours; but that’s actually not how learning sticks. One of the most effective ways to learn is through short, focused bursts of work, followed by breaks. It’s simple, but it works because your brain isn’t built for nonstop attention.

Think of it like film editing. Movies aren’t one long unbroken scene; they’re made up of short, intentional cuts that keep your attention and build meaning over time. Learning works in a similar way. When you break study into smaller sections, your brain has time to process and “lock in” information instead of just passively moving through it.

For example, instead of writing an essay draft for an hour straight, try 20–25 minutes of focused writing, then a short break to reset. When you come back, you’ll often notice new ideas or mistakes you didn’t see before. That pause isn’t wasted time; it’s something that becomes part of the learning process.

This also connects to something called active recall: testing yourself instead of just rereading notes. When you force your brain to retrieve information in short bursts, it strengthens memory much more effectively.

The key idea is that learning isn’t about intensity; it’s about structure. Small, consistent effort builds stronger understanding than long sessions that blur together.

So next time studying feels overwhelming, don’t push through for hours. Break it up. Work in focused blocks. Let your brain actually process what it’s learning.

You’ll probably find you remember more, stress less, and actually feel in control of your study.

Jana Panagopoulos

Matisse’s student arrives and she begins the lesson by exchanging pleasantries about their days. He begins telling her about his exam results and brings out his paper for them to go through. They go through the marking criteria of the exam and begin reading each question and the feedback he received from his teacher.

After they have read the feedback from their exam, they start going through his assessment task notification and Matisse breaks down all of the topics that will be in his next exam. Matisse explains that the exam is mostly source analysis and begins asking her student what he feels is his biggest weakness going into the exam. He explains that he struggles with analysing and putting his thoughts into logical and organised paragraphs. Matisse begins searching for sources which might help with practicing historical analysis. Additionally, they refer back to his exam for specific points to improve upon.

Matisse sets him a question to practice working on which she will read later. Once he is finished answering the practice question, she reads over it and starts giving him targetted advice based on the feedback he received in his exam. She makes sure that he references sources more often and links back to the question more explicitly. She continues to set him questions which she marks while he improves following her advice.

The session closes with Matisse giving him final tips for analysing sources.

Shahaf Liraz

Today I had the opportunity to observe Daniella tutor her year 7 student in maths. This was an interesting lesson to observe, especially as Daniella was covering for another tutor. It was great to see how well Daniella knew the content and how she was able to navigate through questions in a style that was understandable. In addition to this, her composure throughout the lesson was unmatched, particularly as it was her first time taking her and was not aware of this student’s strengths, weaknesses, and what they respond to. This was a very promising sign to see and I commend Daniella for this level of maturity and insight.

Further, Daniella has a very hands-on approach to her tutoring lessons and she demonstrated this by directly working through the worksheet with her student. They appeared to be working on area and volume and calculating perimeter as well. Danielle was very effective at making use of the white board to guide her student – this made it very easy for her student to follow along and remain engaged with the lesson. As a tutor Daniella has a very methodical approach to mathematics, and this, coupled with her warm and inviting nature as a tutor, clearly had a positive effect on her student. Her student appeared to be quite shy initially, which can be typical of younger students, but as the lesson progressed Daniella’s confidence and methodical approach to questions allowed her student to open up and ask many more questions, compared to the start of the lesson. This was very useful, particularly during this session as it was a public holiday and students can struggle to focus and remain engaged.

Overall, this was a great lesson to observe and I commend Daniella for her structured and optimistic approach to her lessons. Well done.

James Petrakis