Need help getting started with your study for your Year 6 finals? Don't worry! This article will help you get ready to ace them!
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It’s your final year of Primary School! From being the big fish in the little pond, you are soon going to be the little fish in a big pond. But you need to ace it to start High School on the right foot. In this post, we give you the ultimate Year 6 Final exam study guide.
Year 6 is the year where you get to organise all the events at school- the talent quests, the disco’s, the assemblies, and the sporting competitions. It is the year when you first begin to gain a lot more autonomy and responsibility!
Term 4 of Year 6 is one of the most exciting terms of primary school. This means it is easy to get swayed away and forget about studying.
It is common to note that in term 4 students get so excited about all the fun things that are happening at school and forget to study for their final exams!
Therefore, a good study habit dissolves and when students enter Year 7 they struggle to cope as they are unsure how to study.
Whilst you should enjoy the last term of primary school, you should also study consistently as this will help you strengthen your foundation and make the transition to high school so much easier!
Before going into an exam, you want to be as cool as a cucumber. You want to feel relaxed, comfortable, and at ease. To do this, it is important to start studying early and develop good study habits.
The Year 6 final exams test your foundation for both English and Maths. They are often more challenging than the tests you have been doing. This will help you prepare for High School and ensure your knowledge is solidified.
Matrix students learn techniques to help them study effectively and efficiently for the transition period between Year 6 and Year 7 as they start a term ahead. Applying these methods will help you manage the pressure so you can enjoy the last term whilst still developing a strong foundation.
Unlike other subjects, you cannot get better at Maths by simply reading formulas. To become better at Maths you must practice consistently.
There are many key skills that can be tested in your Year 6 Maths final exam.
Each key skill measures a different concept which Year 6 students need to know before going to high school and for their final term 4 exams.
That’s a lot of skills!
Feeling overwhelmed by the number of skills you are expected to master for your exams?
Don’t worry!
You can ensure you do well through consistent studying.
How?
Break up each skill into small parts and tackle it one by one. Don’t try to do it all at once!
Covering each topic in this manner will help you get used to different types of questions. you’ll learn what mindset is needed for what question.
This will allow you to work your way up and strengthen the basics: a key necessity before doing the Year 6 final exams.
At Matrix+, we provide clear and structured theory video lessons, alongside Q&A boards so your child can ask questions to clarify their understanding!
English is one of those ambiguous subjects where everyone is confused about how to study, what can be tested, and how to improve your skills and results.
Before discussing how to study for English, let’s look at the key skills students are required to master.
Now that we have recapped the key skills that students are required by the end of Year 6, let’s go over how to master them for the upcoming final exam.
Our 5 step guide on mastering the key skills is:
The first thing we recommend students do is read daily and record what they have read in a reading journal. Reading daily can help you improve your vocabulary, develop your creativity, and teach you how to understand texts better.
If you want to know why you should read, and keep a reading journal, read our article about why Year 6 students should keep a reading journal (you can even download a free journal template with instructions).
When you reach Year 6, good grammar is expected. There are many grammar rules that you should know before going into high school.
Learn the grammar rules, understand what they mean, and then practice them as much as possible. If you’re not sure about grammar, or struggle with it, you should read our article on the 7 grammatical mistakes Year 6 students should stop making before High School (you can even download a worksheet to help you get on top of them!). Practising the rules will help you remember them better, spot grammatical errors in your own work and write with increased clarity.
If you want to learn more about Grammar, we’ve also put together a comprehensive English Grammar Toolkit.
In your final Year 6 exam, a major chunk will be answering comprehension questions. Thus, it is important you practice comprehension. Comprehension skills will be needed all the way till the end of high school- so it is key you master them early.
There are many common comprehension mistakes students make that you need to ensure you are conscious about not repeating. Once, you have familiarised yourself with the common comprehension mistakes, pay close attention to your work so that you do not repeat them.
The more you practice, the better you will be at it. If you want help, you should read our year 6 Guide for comprehension skills!
Reading consistently can help you develop your creative thinking skills. It can help you understand what makes a story good and what elements your creative story needs to stand out.
To improve your creative writing skills, write freely for 10 minutes at least 3 days a week. Free-writing will get the creative juices flowing and get you used to writing creatively in a restricted time frame.
Write, read and edit your work!
If you want help developing your skills, read our Year 6 Guide to creative writing.
Extended responses are one of the new things that are introduced in Stage 3. Extended responses require you to critically analyse texts, themes, and ideas, to compose a well-thought-out response.
They can be tricky!
Extended responses cover a large range of the key skills that students learn in Year 6. Writing the perfect extended response is a skill which you will be able to use even in university! Therefore, it is important you get it right.
We have developed this step-by-step guide for writing the perfect extended response.
Practice writing extended responses and PEEL paragraphs on the books you have read in class or read on your own time.
Do not try to do it all in one go! Instead, break up each skill into a small task and do it one by one. This will make for efficient and effective study.
By studying methodically, you will strengthen your foundation and retain all the skills even in high school.
Studying for Year 6 exams shouldn’t be hard and stressful if you start early. Remember; you want to be able to enjoy the process of learning as it will make retaining information easier.
To study for the exams we recommend that you:
Let’s look at these skills in a bit more depth.
Starting your study early is the first step to doing well. Whether it be Year 6 or Year 12, you want to make sure you plan ahead and start early.
Why?
Emergencies happen, we get sick and usually most of our exams happen to be in the same week. The pressure increases, we get stressed and ultimately don’t perform to the best of our ability. Starting your study early can avoid this.
Starting early means you are prepared in advance in case things don’t go to plan and you are not stressing the night before- instead you are well rested and getting a good night’s sleep!
One of the most annoying things is sitting down to study and then spending the next 15 minutes trying to figure out what to study. This can exhaust you and take away your motivation.
However, do not fear! This is one of the easiest things to fix.
How?
Before starting preparation for your exams, spend 20 minutes per subject figuring out what you need to do to excel, what is being tested, and how much time each task will take you. Plan this out in a study timetable.
This will give you an estimation of what needs to be done and how much time you will approximately need to spend on each task. Study planners are a great way to measure progress and stay on top of everything!
It’s the night before the exam and there is a lot to do! What do you do? Try to cram everything in a few hours and hope for the best? All this method of studying does is stress you out.
Studying in random spurs is not beneficial because it crowds your brain with information which can actually reduce the amount of knowledge that is stored.
Study consistently and in short intervals of 15 minutes. By doing this you will develop a good routine, retain information better, and most importantly avoid procrastination.
Short intervals are extremely effective because they ensure your energy is high throughout the course of your study.
It is important that you study regularly in Year 6 because it helps you retain information better as well as provide structure to your learning.
Whilst studying, you want to be able to track the things you are confident with and the things which need extra focus. This makes for efficient studying as you will not be wasting time going over content which you are already, perhaps, confident with.
Measure your progress by setting learning goals. Once you have gone over a piece of content related to a learning goal, test yourself. Get a teacher, parent or tutor to mark this test so you can see where you did well and where you didn’t do so well.
The next time you study the same or a similar learning goal, you can pay close attention to the part which needs improvement.
Learning goals are a great way of measuring progress and seeing where you need to improve.
Ticking a learning goal is also very rewarding as it shows you are improving and the hard work is paying off!
Whether it be coming first in a race, being the first one to answer a question or finishing a task- we like to receive rewards for when we do well!
Do the same whilst studying- reward yourself!
This will keep your motivation high and make learning more enjoyable.
A sneaky chocolate bar when you stay on top of your tasks will only motivate you to keep pushing on!
Whilst revising and studying for your final exams, many questions will arise. It is important you don’t keep these questions to yourself!
A lot of time students think that questions means they were not paying attention in class and hence the teacher will be mad. That is not the case! Questions illustrate that you are actively engaging with the content and taking ownership over your learning.
So, do not be afraid to ask questions!
Instead:
Get a piece of paper and write down all the questions which arise. This will assist you in not forgetting any of the questions. Ask a teacher, tutor or parent these questions so that you can strengthen and solidify your foundation.
Ideally, you should be studying 60-90 minutes every day in Year 6. 90 minutes of productive studying, free of distractions, will help you excel in your upcoming exams and ensure you have a strong foundation.
Space out your 90 minutes of daily studying into 6 blocks of 15 minutes with a five-minute break between each block. Dedicate each block to one subject and one task. It is crucial you do this.
Why?
Trying to do multiple tasks at one time can confuse your brain and it results in you forgetting more than you can actually remember.
In each block, choose one subject and one small task to do. This will help you focus and reduce the pressure.
We recommend planning a week ahead for what task needs to be done and using that as a checklist.
For example:
Having a checklist, with separate tasks, that you can tick off will allow you to measure progress, and not get stressed whilst being able to finish everything!
Use the checklist to fill in your study planner every week. Place this planner at a central location – on your bedroom wall or on the fridge – so you can be reminded of what needs to be done when.
Remember: You don’t have to study 90 minutes everyday. You can study 90 minutes for 3 days and 60 minutes for 4 days. But make sure each minute is productive and you do not procrastinate!
Try to make your own study timetable and see how you go!
Remember to study consistently and in short periods so that you can retain as much as possible. Whilst doing that, don’t forget to enjoy your final term of Year 6!
Written by Matrix Education
Matrix is Sydney's No.1 High School Tuition provider. Come read our blog regularly for study hacks, subject breakdowns, and all the other academic insights you need.
© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
