Aiming For Success in Term 2: What To Expect and Prepare

Before you know it, it’s already the end of Term 1 – which means, Term 2 is just around the corner! While the one week school break is not long, it is just enough time to take a breather and do a stock check of how you have been faring at school. This is especially important if you are gearing up for a major exam this year!

If you think you can breeze through Term 2 like you did with Term 1, you may want to think again – Term 2 is usually more intensive than Term 1, with our tutor highlighting some differences as follows:

1. A quicker pace of learning

Unlike in Term 1 where there are spaces in the curriculum for orientation, introductions, and Chinese New Year festivities, in Term 2, it is time to get straight down to work, with teachers increasing their pace of teaching.

How to overcome this:

Ensure you do not have any lingering doubts or misconceptions from Term 1 – and if so, this March break is for you to catch up! Consult your tutor if you need, and make use of resources such as worksheets given by your tutor or Future Academy’s secondary math assessment book to get in some additional practice and gain total confidence in the topics you lacked confidence in.

An added advantage of being a Future Academy student is that our tutors provide personalised guidance and resources, meaning that you won’t be left behind even if you find yourself lagging in school. We offer plenty of opportunities for individualised consultations and for tutors to provide extra help for topics you are weaker at.

2. More extra commitments

CCA and other school commitments would also be ramping up their intensity, with competition season meaning that many CCAs may add extra training days and result in less time for studies.

How to overcome this:

Learning to prioritise and manage one’s time is key here. Keep track of all important dates including CCA trainings, competitions, assignment deadlines, and quizzes. During busy periods, learn to say ‘no’ to less urgent events or cut down on activities like gaming or watching dramas.

Use small chunks of time wisely, including breaks in school or even during the commute to or from school. For younger students, parents may want to help them plan out their schedule, including time for homework, revision, leisure, and rest.

3. More assignments and assessments

While there are no longer mid-year exams, these are replaced with graded assessments and assignments which tend to be concentrated in Term 2 and Term 3.

How to overcome this:

Being consistent with your learning is important as assessments and assignments can be issued any time – not just at the end of the term like with mid-year exams. For this, we strongly advise students to review their topics regularly, for example, weekly or after every topic.

Our students find that attending tuition helps them with reviewing their learning consistently, and minimizes the time they need to study from scratch to do their assignments or prepare for assessments.

4. More difficult topics

Term 2 usually contains more difficult topics compared to Term 1, as some of them may build on the foundation of what was taught earlier.

How to overcome this:

Attending a tuition class is helpful for overcoming difficult topics, as you will essentially learn the topic twice – once in school and once in tuition class. Being experienced educators, Future Academy’s tutors are familiar with the ways students learn and can help you understand the topic in a way that works for you.

There will also be plenty of curated resources to guide you from familiarisation to mastery of the difficult topics, including in-house designed worksheets, past year papers, trusted textbooks and workbooks, and more.

Conclusion

It sounds like Term 2 will be a step up from Term 1, and it will take some adjustment if you want to push through with confidence. How will you be preparing yourself to handle Term 2 like a champ?

If you find yourself feeling lost or tired in this marathon of academics, our tutors can be your coaches to help you pace yourself, establish an effective training regime, and impart valuable techniques to help you realise your potential. Get in touch to get matched with a secondary tuition teacher today!

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