So you are one of around 50,000 students starting VCE … congratulations!

The first week of VCE can be exciting. You’ll meet new teachers and get access to new parts of the school but mostly it may feel like information overload and an endless “tell the class one interesting thing about you” activity. So in the whirlwind that is the first week of VCE, what is important? What is not? What is useful and what could be a waste of time?

Here are the 3 steps you need to get ahead in the first week of VCE:

Get a course schedule, unit guide or whatever it is your school calls it that tells you when all your tests, assignment due dates and outcomes will be! You want to know in advance when all your assessments will be so you can plan well and not fall into the same “do it the night before” habit that has gotten you through the first 4 years of high school. VCE is different, it requires planning, organisation and *shocker* a little bit of effort! One you know what is coming you can create a study plan that allows you to get all your notes and practice questions done in advance and allow more time to ask questions and clarify content you need help with.
Buy a whole year wall calendar. Now you know when all your assessments are, choose a colour for each subject and write them all down in your calendar. You may have already been warned about “SAC Attack” weeks that obviously all your teachers coordinate just to make your life more difficult. Of course that is not true! Based on how the curriculum is designed each area of study takes roughly the same amount of time to cover so the SACs tend to come around on the same cycle every 3-4 weeks. With a yearly calendar you should now easily be able to see which weeks you will have 3 SACs, so will need to study a little more and which weeks you have no SACs and can take some time to be more social or watch your favourite TV show. Knowing about the waves of assignments you will have in advance will help you put together your study schedule better and mentally prepare, which leads us to the next point…
Mentally Prepare! Half the battle of VCE is getting into the right mindset. By completing step 1 and 2 you now know exactly what is coming this semester! You’ve eliminated the scariest thing about VCE… the unknown. You now know exactly when you will be tested on what topic, how long you have between assessments to prepare and what weeks you can expect to feel a little more stress than others, which takes away half the stress! Remember that you aren’t the first, nor will you be the last VCE student. You are more than capable of getting through the year and achieving the result you want. It starts with planning ahead and believing in yourself!
If you can do these three simple things in the first week of VCE, then you know you are putting yourself ahead of the other 50,000 students who are still trying to figure out if they will be able to go to the canteen between their period 2 class and period 3 class on opposite sides of the school.

Did you find this post helpful? Why not book in a complementary 30 minute study strategy session to get you ready for VCE! Click here to book it today!