FergHSC eBook

Ferg’s Guide to HSC Success

http://www.ferghsc.com.au/

Ferg’s Guide to HSC Success 2010

2/10 www.ferghsc.com.au

Contents A Message from Ferg................................................................................................................................ 3

Your HSC Vision Statement ...................................................................................................................... 4

Setting Goals............................................................................................................................................ 4

Studying Effectively.................................................................................................................................. 5 How much study is enough..................................................................................................................................5 Develop a Study plan every time you sit down to study.......................................................................................5 The HSC is about writing, not highlighting ...........................................................................................................5 Revision ..............................................................................................................................................................6

Getting Prepared for Exams ..................................................................................................................... 6 Preparing for the HSC Trial Exams and HSC Exams ...............................................................................................6 Time management ..............................................................................................................................................7 Remembering key content ..................................................................................................................................7 Why making mistakes is good .............................................................................................................................7 Procrastination....................................................................................................................................................7 Potential – Interference = Performance...............................................................................................................7 Persistence..........................................................................................................................................................8

Creating an Environment of Support ........................................................................................................ 8 To exercise or not to exercise ..............................................................................................................................8 Friends ................................................................................................................................................................8 Parents................................................................................................................................................................9

Final Word ............................................................................................................................................... 9

Ferg HSC Success Services ........................................................................................................................ 9 Face-‐to-‐Face tuition ............................................................................................................................................9 HSC seminars ......................................................................................................................................................9 Online HSC tutoring and essay marking ...............................................................................................................9

Channel “Ferg HSC” Free Video Tutorials................................................................................................ 10



A Message from Ferg Unless you are a professional athlete or an actor on Home and Away it is likely that as a 17 or 18 year old, the HSC will be your first major challenge. While the HSC is not the sole determinant of a successful and happy life, a strong ATAR will open lots of doors and increase the number of opportunities that are presented to you. In this eBook I will share with you what I feel are the crucial determinants for HSC success. At FergHSC, I have had the opportunity to work with thousands of students since 1996 and over this time I have had the opportunity to gain a unique insight into what is required to stage a successful HSC campaign (talent is not one of them by the way). A successful HSC campaign and a great ATAR will be built around having purpose through your HSC year (“Your HSC Vision Statement” & “Setting goals”), using your study time effectively (“Studying Effectively”), being willing to make mistakes (“The importance of making mistakes”) and having a balanced life (“To exercise or not to exercise” & “creating an environment of support”). While there are probably 100 different headings that I could write on I wanted to share with you the ones that I feel are the most important. Enjoy reading this guide and all the best with your HSC campaign. Yours sincerely, Fergus Gardiner Founder & Director Ferg HSC




Your HSC Vision Statement All successful people have a clear vision as to where they want to go and what they want to achieve. Your vision statement will act as a guiding path as you move through your HSC journey and experience the inevitable highs and lows. Having a clear vision statement about what you want to achieve in your HSC year will greatly assist you in overcoming obstacles and dealing with disappointments.

An example of a vision statement for an HSC student

“In 2011 I want to be traveling through Europe with the knowledge that I achieved my very best in my HSC year. The ATAR that I have achieved has allowed me to get into the course of my dreams”.

“I want to achieve an ATAR which will provide the opportunity to get into the university degree of my choice, allowing me to have an exciting career doing something I love. I realise that I will have to work hard to make this happen but I know the hard work now will benefit me for years to come”.

A clear personal vision opens your mind’s eye to the possibilities of the future. It is the first step towards creating the future that you want.

• Spend time considering what you want your life to be like in 1 year, 5 years and 10 years from now.

• Allow yourself to dream big. Don’t shoot down a dream you have, just because you think it’s too far outside your reach. Anything is possible if you choose to make it a reality.

• Close your eyes. Picture yourself at some point in the future. Imagine yourself having achieved the ATAR you desire. Imagine yourself fully content with your achievement. What are you doing? Where are you?

Once you have determined a vision statement for yourself you then need to set some goals to help you make this vision a reality.

Setting Goals “Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like

a ship that has set sail with no destination.”

Having goals for your HSC year will allow you to channel your energies and be most effective. Having clear aspirations will keep you motivated when the going gets tough, and keep you studying when you really don’t want to be. A study was done in 1953 at Yale University where they interviewed the graduating class just before they left school. They were asked amongst other things, how many of them had a clearly defined set of goals with a written plan for it's attainment. Only 3% had a clear plan for their lives with a specific set of goals. In 1973, 20 years later, they went back to interview the surviving class members of 1953 and they found that the 3% that had a set of written down goals seemed more happy, more well adjusted and more excited about their lives. The one very measurable thing was that the 3% were worth more financially than the other 97% combined.

We would suggest setting some goals for the Trial and Final HSC Exams, as well as determining your dream ATAR and tertiary course. Don’t forget to aim high as even if you don’t reach your target you will stretch yourself.

Write all your goals down on a piece of paper and put them somewhere you will see them often. Put them on your bathroom mirror, next to your desk or next to your bed. Refer to them daily and make a commitment to doing your very best to achieve them.

An example for some goals would be:

In the upcoming Trial Exams I want to achieve the following marks:

• 85% for English • 85% for Economics • 75% for 3 Unit Maths • 90% for 2 Unit Maths • 80% for Modern History




In the final HSC Exams I want to achieve the following marks:

• 90% for English • 90% for Economics • 85% for 3 Unit Maths • 90% for 2 Unit Maths • 85% for Modern History

My Dream university course is Commerce at UNSW.

• My target ATAR is 93.

Remember that it is never too late to set goals for your HSC year. If you haven’t made any goals yet, do it now. You won’t regret it!

Studying Effectively How much study is enough

In the first two terms of the HSC (Term 4 and Term 1) a consistent 3 hours per night will have you well prepared and in a good routine for when you are studying for your Final Exams. Developing excellent study habits as early as possible will make life much easier when you do need to sit at your desk for extended periods.

It is never too late to try to develop strong study skills so if you haven’t been making sacrifices towards a great result or haven’t committed yourself to a set study schedule then now is the time to start.

In the lead up to the Trial Exams and the Final HSC exams a successful student should be studying effectively for 5-‐6 hours per day.

Develop a Study plan every time you sit down to study

Each time you sit at your desk or workspace to get some work done you should have a clear plan for what you intend to achieve in that session. As you complete the tasks cross them off to acknowledge both the completion of the task and progress towards your end goal.

As you get closer to the HSC Trial Exams and the Final HSC Exams you will need to become more self directed in your study habits. In the lead up to these exams you will need to be completing exam style questions or past papers. It is crucial that all tasks you are completing are an exam style task.

A typical study day in the lead up to the Trial Exams and Final HSC Exams should look something like this:

Monday 4th of July – Study timetable

• 8am – Get up/Breakfast/Walk dog around the block

• 9am – 10am – Economics Multiple choice HSC 2005 & HSC 2006

• 10am to 11am – Complete Belonging Essay under exam conditions

• 11am to 11:30am – Break • 11:30am to 12:30pm – 2 Unit Maths HSC

2007 Q’s 1 – 6. • 12:30 to 1:30pm – Economics short answer

Q’s HSC 2005 & 2006. • 1:30pm to 2:30pm Break/Lunch • 2:30pm to 3:30pm – HSC 2003 Weimar

Republic Exam • 3:30pm to 4:30pm – Walk to park and

memorize English quotes and Modern History Quotes.

• 4:30 to ? – Enjoy yourself, guilt free!

The above timetable has 6 hours of study. By always being focused on a particular task you are working much more effectively. It is always better to work 6 hours effectively rather than 10 hours ineffectively. The student who follows this schedule would have the evening free to relax knowing they have completed a good days work and they will be refreshed and ready to go for tomorrow.

The HSC is about writing, not highlighting

Most students think that the HSC is simply about the retention of content, however the truth is that what separates the most successful students is the ability to present this information in exam style responses.

You could be sitting in an exam room and know 10 times more about a particular text or topic than the student sitting next to you but if that student understands how to perform in the exam room they will get a much better mark.

When preparing for exams, the key is to extract the information that will be necessary to answer the question,




rather than drowning in a sea of superfluous information. While highlighting can be good to isolate ideas, it is also very lazy and a well known form of procrastination. How effective is lying on the couch with your mobile phone next to you while you’re highlighting notes? It is likely that you will never use the highlighted information again and that your retention of the material will be very low. A much better strategy is to make concise notes in the form of a mind map or Essay Building Template. Identify the key ideas of a topic, take note of the key points, and move on. If you come to attempting an exam style response and your knowledge of a topic is lacking, then revisit the syllabus and determine what you missed.

A successful student will know what to study because they have attempted exam style questions, and understand what information will be required of them. A lazy student will highlight notes in the hope that they will remember something they highlighted 2 days ago (they won’t!)

Revision

We know the way the human mind works is that if you keep loading new information in and don’t re-‐visit what you have already learned, that knowledge will appear to disappear. The HSC requires you not only to constantly be learning new information, but also to retain this information for an entire year. This makes frequent revision paramount. How many quotes can you remember from the text you did last term? Could you write an essay on the text you studied last term? If you leave your work unrevised, then when it comes time for exams it will be as if you are re-‐learning an entire topic. Assemble a concise page of notes for past topics and re-‐visit it weekly. This will keep the information fresh in your mind for when you need it.

Getting Prepared for Exams

“When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will

win” Ed Macauley

Preparing for the HSC Trial Exams and HSC Exams

There is really only one way to prepare for the HSC Trial Exams and Final HSC exams, and that is to put yourself under pressure and test yourself. This might take the form of giving yourself 8 minutes to complete your introduction, learning your quotes back to front or if you’re serious about doing well in the exam room, practicing your essay on an unseen question and giving yourself 40 minutes to complete a response.

The key is to not be discouraged if you don’t have much success when you start practicing completing exam style responses. The aim is to discover what you don’t know, so you will know what to revise for your next attempt.

If you haven’t put yourself under pressure prior to sitting in the school hall opening the Trial Exam paper or the Final HSC exam paper how can you possibly expect to be able to be relaxed, think clearly and perform at your best.

Putting yourself under the pump prior to the exam situations is crucial to HSC success.

In the lead up to the Trial Exams and the final HSC exams we run Mock Trial Exams across a range of subjects where students attempt an unseen exam under exam conditions. The exam is returned with a mark within 7 days.

The great thing about completing a Mock Trial Exam prior to sitting your HSC Trial Exam and Final HSC Exam is that if you get a crap result you will have a good idea of where you went wrong and what you need to do fix it for the real thing.




Time management

Successful time management is nowhere more important than in the exam room. Failure to manage your time can have disastrous result.

In an exam, if you get 18,18 and 7 this will always be less than a student who gets 16,16,16. Organise yourself to be prepared for writing in 40 minute lots. Practice at home is crucial and putting yourself under pressure prior to the exam will give you a clear idea of whether or not you can complete the task in the time required. If you can complete a task in the time frame outside the exam room you can complete the same task in the exam room. If you haven’t tested yourself before the exam you are playing a very risky HSC campaign. Unfortunately you won’t be able to re-‐sit the exam if you stuffed up your time management. And remember that there isn’t a Year 13, Year 12 is it!

Remembering key content

Identify content for each subject that you should be able to recall without thinking about it (main ideas, quotes, formulas, and statistics). These points should be the basis of your understanding in each topic, with ideas flowing from them. This way they can serve to jog your memory if you get lost in an exam. Being confident around this content will allow you to be more relaxed and focus on answering the question effectively rather than trying to remember a quote.

The best way to remember this content is to create a master sheet for each topic and continually test yourself until you know the master sheet back to front. This is particularly useful when you don’t feel like doing any study/work but know you should be doing something.

Why making mistakes is good

“I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed”.

Michael Jordan

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one”

Elbert Hubbard

We all know that if you want to learn to surf you don’t watch endless surf DVD’s, you have to pick up a surfboard and go surfing! Unless you are prepared to put yourself in a situation where you might make mistakes you will not put yourself in a position to learn.

We know that students are often very fearful of criticism and are embarrassed about their performance however identifying where you went wrong is a crucial step in improving your performance. Mistakes are an essential part of learning. At our tuition centre in Bondi Junction our experience tells us that it is the students who are not willing to make mistakes and do not attempt exam style responses that are left behind and perform poorly in the Trial Exams and the Final HSC Exams.

Those students who make the realization that the only way to improve their performance is through making mistakes, and then to continue to work on correcting these mistakes, are the students who perform the best. We know that when a student is willing to let go and make mistakes we are in a position to support them and rectify mistakes.

"Mistakes are stepping stones to success.”

Procrastination

“Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.” Wayne Gretzky

“You can have results and you can have excuses but you can’t have both”.

We like this formula:

Potential – Interference = Performance.

Facebook, YouTube and other temptations are often a lot more exciting than the prospect of writing an essay, however your ability to limit your time on these websites and any other form of procrastination will have a large impact on your HSC performance.

The more you put things off the worse the situation gets and the worse you feel. Be strong, show some self discipline and think of the bigger picture. Facebook (and your 500 friends) will still be there after you have done your days work.

I would suggest making some rules around Facebook (and




general internet usage). Something like, “I can only use facebook in my breaks or after I have finished work for the day. My status is always “offline” during the day”.

Persistence

‘It’s not how many times you get knocked down. It’s how many times you get up”

“When life knocks you down you have two choices-‐ stay

down or get up.”

Very rarely do we see a successful HSC campaign run its course without a series of ups and downs across the year. Often what will separate a successful campaign and a not so successful campaign is how a student deals with setbacks. There will be times when you don’t get the marks you had hoped. A poor result in one assessment task should not be seen as an indication that you didn’t perform well in that particular task.

You must never, never, never give up in the race that is the HSC. Those who give up are left behind as the pack moves forward. The HSC is simply one of life’s challenges and how you deal with this challenge will set the stage for how you deal with other challenges later in life. If you run from this challenge it is likely that you will run from challenges that are further down the road.

Whenever you get knocked down, pick yourself and move forward.

Creating an Environment of Support To exercise or not to exercise

Exercise has been touted to do everything from treat depression to improve memory, with the power to cure a host of problems while preventing even more. In particular, exercise leads to the release of certain neurotransmitters in the brain that alleviate pain, both physical and mental. Additionally, it is one of the few

ways scientists have found to generate new neurons. Much of the research done in this area has focused on running, but all types of aerobic exercise provides benefits.

Putting some kind of exercise in your study plan is especially important in the lead up to, and during, the Trial and Final HSC exams. It is important that during this period you give your brain rest and time away from the books. Exercise helps to clear your mind so that when you are studying you are much more effective. Exercise doesn’t have to be a 30km run or a hard weights session. It could be a simple walk around the block, walking around Centennial Park with a girlfriend, kicking the football around with some mates, or a game of tennis.

Friends

Friends are very important and socializing through your study periods will ensure that you don’t feel isolated. There is no reason why during the lead up to the exam periods that you can’t socialize and spend time with friends if you are doing your 5-‐6 hours of study a day. If you do something with your friends one evening make sure you are home and in bed at a reasonable hour so it doesn’t interrupt your study plan for the following day. Beware of friends who are feeling guilty about not doing any work. Somehow these friends become determined to make sure that no one else is doing any work to make themselves feel better. Be courageous and turn your mobile phone off. Turn Facebook Instant Messaging off. Even better, don’t log onto Facebook in your study time at all. While it takes strength and courage to say no to friends who want to “hang out” you need to realize that the HSC is about you, and while your friends are very important, it is your life and you need to run your own race. Friends that want to “hang out” and call you to say “what’s happening” are very likely to be the students who are doing not much. These are the type of people who will be feeling bad if you say you’re doing work and they are not. It takes guts to say “I can’t do anything until I’ve finished my day’s work” but just remember that you don’t want to be crying with your mates when you get a crap ATAR all together. You want to be celebrating your great ATAR together. Be strong and focus on what really matters.




Parents

Parents may come across as nagging during your HSC year but this is only because they want the best for you and believe it or not, they actually do know quite a bit about life and what it takes to have a good one. Remember that parents of HSC students are often in a no win situation. If they try to get involved in helping you World War 3 breaks out. Alternatively, if they leave you to your own devices, they can’t provide the loving kick in the backside that everyone needs from time to time. Your family is there to support you. They are not the enemy.

Final Word In your HSC year you have two choices. You can stand up to the challenge that is the HSC, or you can run away and hide. Students who confront the HSC will be much better prepared for the next set of challenges that are presented to them.

So what are you waiting for, go out there and give it your best shot. What have you got to lose?

The only students who remember their HSC results are the ones that are full of regret. They are the people that say “I only got 61, so I couldn’t get into the course I wanted to do, and now I’ve got this crap job.”

For most of you sitting the HSC is a non-‐negotiable. Like so many things in this life it is going to happen, even if you don’t like it. The only thing that you do have power over is the attitude that you bring to the table. This will directly determine how you experience the rest of the year, and how you will remember the HSC in years to come. Don’t be full of regret. Be a part of a world of challenge and excitement.

Ferg

Ferg HSC Success Services Face-to-Face tuition We run weekly classes by qualified and experienced teachers in the following subjects at our Bondi Junction office:

• Advanced English • Standard English • Business Studies • Economics • General Maths • Mathematics • Physics • Chemistry • Ancient History • Modern History

HSC seminars

HSC Seminars every Sunday during term and school holidays at our Bondi Junction office, covering the subjects above. Leave your hi-‐lighter at home, we do not rehash what you have learnt at school, the objective is to practise.

Online HSC tutoring and essay marking

Video lessons, practise essays and 72 hour essay marking service, 24/7 opportunity to perfect your essay writing skills.

Call us on 1300 967 890





Channel “Ferg HSC” Free Video Tutorials

Need Help with HSC Belonging?

Ferg Talks HSC Hamlet

Advice on How to Study for the HSC Trial

HSC Modern History

Frankenstein + Bladerunner

And many more…


http://www.youtube.com/user/FERGHSC

http://www.youtube.com/user/FERGHSC#p/u/6/74VH3IbbT_k

http://www.youtube.com/user/FERGHSC#p/u/7/4DP11bEHBQw

http://www.youtube.com/user/FERGHSC#p/u/5/1unIHu36plM

http://www.youtube.com/user/FERGHSC#p/u/4/SFpMCRnqmdk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmIy7Rf5eJQ

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