What to do in your last holidays before Trials

Not to freak you out or anything, but welcome to your last holidays before trials! 🎉🎉

There are probably some serious mixed feelings going on right now. Because you’re on holidays which is great, but this whole HSC thing is starting to get very, very real. See, next term, you’re still going to be learning new content and finishing up topics in some of your subjects before going straight into trials.

Before you start to stress too much, remember that we have your back! Here is what you need to do to get the most out of these holidays:

1. Revisit your goals for the year

To make some smart choices about what you’re going to do these holidays, the first step is to revisit your big goals for the year. Super conveniently, we just put up a post about how to use those big goals to pinpoint exactly what you need to be doing in the lead up to trials so check that out here. These goals will help you prioritise what you do these holidays!

2. Get enough rest

The next step is classic mum advice: make sure you properly reset the batteries and get some rest. You have 3 terms of year 12 behind you so you really deserve it and yes, it is still too early to burn out. Trust us, when it’s time to go all out, we’ll let you know.

You don’t need to pull any all-nighters studying and you don’t need to be living on 4 hours sleep for the whole two weeks to prepare for Term 3. Save all that nonsense for much, much later (as in never).

3. Get all your content up to date

This is a big one.

So, these holidays you’re going to need to revisit all the topics you’ve studied in all your subjects since Term 4 last year (because Trial exams could test you on anything!).

The best place to start is with your syllabus for each subject. Go through the topics on the syllabus and all the dot points to refresh your memory. You’re going to be needing to do things like:

• Write up to date notes for each dot point
• Condensing your notes to make them as clear and useful as possible
• Banging out the planned structure for essays and long-response answers
• Collecting and perfecting any evidence for the exams you’ll need like case studies, quotes, dates, facts or formulas

4. Make a study timetable

Does that sounds like a lot to do in two (maybe three) weeks? Yep. So, it’s probably a good idea to set yourself up with the perfect, personalised study timetable that 100% suits your life. Sound too good to be true? Well, there is a bit of a catch. You do need to make the timetable yourself for it to really be effective but hey, we’ll show you exactly how to do it.

Study timetables are great for keeping you motivated as long as you give yourself enough fun breaks and a realistic amount of work to get done.

5. Warm yourself up with practice papers

When you’re making that amazing study timetable, don’t forget to leave a good chunk of time to do practice papers and questions for each subject because it is seriously such an effective way to study!

Of course you need to have done a bit of study before you jump in but it’s really not enough to just write notes (sorry!). We’ve got a whole post on the best way to do practice papers to make sure you are 100% ready for Trials!

6. Go out into the world and have fun

Yeah, this is the part where I don’t have so much advice for you… 🤷‍♂️ . Like, I’m sure you know what you find fun, so make sure you spend a bit of time on those things! This is a pretty cool year in your life considering it’s the last one in high school and the holidays are the perfect time to make the most of it. Besides, anything you can look forward to makes great incentive to study efficiently.

7. Prepare for next term

Considering how hectic Term 3 will be, it’s not a bad idea to get a head start on the topics you still have to cover next semester. Jump on to Atomi and spend a lazy 6 minutes watching a video here and there during the holidays to introduce yourself to the new content. You’ll be in a lot more control next semester and won’t have to sit a Trial exam on a topic you still haven’t gotten your head around!

Remember

Holidays are holidays so make sure you get all the rest and fun you need- you’ve seriously earned it by this point! But you should also probably make the most of all the extra time to prepare for what will be a very hectic Term 3. Remember to get all your study and notes up to date from the last three terms and get on top of the topics or skills you still haven’t nailed yet. You’ll really be in the best possible position to nail your Trials. 💯 💯