Year 7 set goals and routines for success

This week Year 7 Students organised their weekly schedules for revision and planned their assessments for this term. The teachers worked with the students to stress the importance of regular revision and study to achieve goals. The start of the semester is also an ideal opportunity for parents and carers to work with their child and set routines for homework and revision.

Year 7 have access to a wealth of information when it comes to revision and study for each subject. It is worth sitting with them and looking through their Canvas pages for each class. They should be able to show you where the coursework is and where to find their assignments and results. If your child is struggling to do this, please reach out to their Pastoral Leader and/or teacher who will take the time to remind your child how to access each area of the College’s learning portal. The children should be looking beyond just completing assignments as their homework. They should be reading, completing maths and revising science, language skills and key concepts for their elective subjects on a regular basis. A student will always have some revision available to them via Canvas or class worksheets.

Our Resource Centre can support your children if they need a routine and space to do their revision. Monday to Thursday, from 3–4 pm our Classroom Support Assistants (CSAs) run Homework Heroes. This is a fabulous opportunity for a student to work in a small group setting with a staff member to build solid revision routines. Our CSA’s have a broad knowledge of most assignments and are happy to guide a student to achieve greater success.

The beginning of the semester can also be a window to reset technology use and sleep patterns. Phone use and sleep are issues that young people struggle with. In a straw poll of students, a third of the group had gone to sleep after 10pm and some of those students had then skipped breakfast that morning. We discuss the importance of keeping devices away from bedtime and out of bedrooms. It is beneficial to avoid using electronic devices immediately before bed to ensure they are relaxed and ready to sleep. We stress the importance of sticking to a reasonable sleep time and having an alarm for the morning. Teenagers need much more sleep than they are prepared to admit! Young teens should be aiming for 9-10 hours of sleep a night. Teens continue to need support and structure to help resist the behaviours that steal sleep.

We stress the need to set routines to reduce our reliance on motivation to get difficult tasks done. Routines remove the blockers and distractions that get in the way of homework, study and assignments, or good sleep routines. Teachers use routines in the classroom to remove some of the mental load for students and to give them a better opportunity to learn new material. At home a regular routine for study, sport, sleep, and relaxation can provide children with a framework that makes space for all of their interests while reducing the mental load they are under.  

For Year 7 students we hope that these lessons and tools will help them to make mature decisions about their learning and personal lives. We see this in their attention in class and their interactions with their peers and teachers.

Eaton, C. (2020). Hello High School: Goodbye Drama and Stress, 85 tips for high school teens that boost friendships, mindset, productivity and success. Claire Eaton.

Turgeon, H., & Wright, J. (2022). Generation Sleepless Why tweens and teens aren’t sleeping enough and how we can help them. Penguin Random House.