Aitken Innovates

Each week, our senior students are invited to attend V.I.B.E.S. (Valuable Insights for Better Exam Success) lunchtime sessions, where they can sharpen their study and exam strategies. The sessions cover a breadth of essential techniques, ensuring our students are well-equipped to tackle their assessments with confidence.

Key highlights include:

• Overcoming Procrastination: Students started with short, timed study sessions, learning to appreciate the sense of accomplishment that comes from dedicated study time.
• Spaced Repetition: By distributing study sessions throughout the year, students understood the benefits of regular study habits over cramming, which reduces overall study time.
• Effective Memorization: Techniques like retrieval practice and regular quizzes were discussed to enhance memory retention.
• Interleaving Study Topics: Mixing different subjects during study sessions has shown to improve learning efficiency.
• Chunking Information: Breaking down information into manageable chunks helps in retaining complex data.
• Active Learning: Students were encouraged to study in various environments, summarize notes, engage in practice questions, and even teach the material to peers for deeper understanding.

As for exam preparation and strategy:

• Before the Exam: Emphasis was placed on the importance of a good night’s sleep, a nutritious breakfast, and arriving on time.
• During the Exam: Strategies such as reading through the entire exam first to plan the approach, and mixing hard and easy questions to effectively manage time were advised.
• After the Exam: Students were encouraged not to discuss the exam immediately to avoid stress and to focus instead on preparing for the next one.
• Utilising Exam Time Efficiently: Using reading time wisely to plan answers and decide on the order of tackling questions can make a significant difference.

Additionally, students learn the importance of preparing summary books and reference notes progressively and practicing answering questions regularly. These skills are crucial not just for exams but for lifelong learning.

Here’s to our students achieving their best!