1. INDEPENDENT LEARNING: There are two types of work in secondary school. The compulsory work that your teacher tells you to do, and independent learning that you are expected to do when you have no homework.

2. WORK SMART: If you still want a social life, but need to get your home learning done (for most students this will be 1-2 hours per night) then you need to work smart. Keep your personal life and schoolwork separate. Don’t work in front of the TV, and disconnect from social media and your phone. Work in 30 minute blocks and focus only on your schoolwork during that time. If you are involved with many activities then a great idea is to create a timetable for the week, allocating time for schoolwork over the week.

3. BE ORGANISED AND PLAN: Being organised makes your life easier! Have an organised space to work in, record homework in your diary, keep track of completed work and reschedule work not done. When you are told about a test or an assignment, plan the work out to be done over the available time. Make the most of your class time, being organised and focused in class means you will find it easier to complete your work and work on big things like assessments at home. 

4. ASK FOR HELP EARLY: If you don’t understand something, ask for help. The sooner the better. If there isn’t time in class, see your teacher before or after class or during break times. No-one expects you to do things on your own. One of the most important factors to being successful academically is to ask for help often and early. And don’t forget family and friends, they might know more than you think!

5. LEARN HOW TO STUDY PROPERLY: If you still think that to study for a test is just reading your book over and over, time to learn how smart people study!  The main things to remember about studying for a test are: Make study notes or summaries first (write down in point form what you need to learn), learn these notes not just by reading but by testing yourself on them and do as many practice questions as possible. 

Remember the library is open from 7.30-4.00 each day and library staff are here to support you. We have a wide range of resources to assist with your study and/or assessment tasks.

The College Library