In Semester 1, our Academic Advisory Program has seen some exciting revisions from its launch in 2023.  

This year, we have piloted a lecture program to support students in working through a series of five, three-week modules, focusing on the foundational executive functioning skills for successful learning habits.  

Term 1 lectures and modules focused on organisational strategies, before shifting towards the acquisition of study skills. Drawing on the Science of Learning, students were provided with a repertoire of effective approaches, such as retrieval practice and the construction of notes to build understanding. This was then practised with the support of a workbook and the guidance of their House Tutors.  

However, a crucial step in the success of such initiatives is whether students take ownership over their own learning. This is reflected in our Teaching and Learning Framework, which emphasises the importance of student agency and independence alongside the acquisition of cognitive skills and metacognition. In other words, even with all the scaffolding in place, it is integral for students to use their resources to take independent steps in their study.  

To this end, it was our pleasure to hand the final lecture of the Semester over to three Year 9 students who volunteered to share their study strategies with their peers.  

Sara Dewani opened the session, discussing her process for constructing notes in Science before transferring them to palm cards (a terrific strategy for consolidating learning and retrieval).  

Following this, Aamna Adeel and Angelica Katsambanis shared their weekly planners and exam planners, demonstrating the usefulness of Canva templates as a study resource in addition to how the act of organising helped them stay motivated and accountable.  

The enthusiasm of all three students was palpable and having them role model effective strategies to the younger Year levels was an incredibly powerful way to encourage the adoption of proactive learning behaviours by all students.  

We look forward to more student-led Academic Advisory Program sessions in Semester 2.