BlogStudyHow to Use Term 4 and the Summer Holidays to Ace 2024

How to Use Term 4 and the Summer Holidays to Ace 2024

Now that we’re getting to the end of Term 4 and Summer Holidays is coming up, are you thinking of taking a break?

A study by the University of Missouri has found that over summer, students lose over 1 MONTH of learning. The problem is, I’m sure you don’t want to be spending all of the holidays studying, this is supposed to be your break!

So how can you make sure you get to use this valuable time, while also having fun and taking a break this summer?

In this video, we’re going to show you 3 SIMPLE THINGS you can do to minimise the learning you lose over summer while still making the most of the coming months.

Let’s dive in!

Step #1: Consolidate Your Learning Gaps During Term 4
Step #2: Familiarise Yourself with Next Year’s Content Over the Summer Holidays
Step #3: Balance Your Study with Fun by Using a Simple Plan

Step #1: Consolidate Your Learning Gaps During Term 4

The final month of Term 4 is usually pretty chill — end of year exams are over, and not a lot is happening at school. You’re likely receiving little homework as well, so you’ve basically got a lot more time to get some revision done while still hanging out with friends!

The first thing here is to get out your assessment results for every subject you’ll be continuing in some form into Year 11 — subjects like English, Maths, and Science. If you’ve already received your end of year results, use these as well.

Any mistakes you’ve made in these assessments and exams are a clear indication of the gaps and weak areas you currently have. Unless you try to fix them, they’re only going to get a lot worse and cause you difficulty in Year 11 and Year 12.  

Allocate one afternoon per week after school for one subject. For example:

  • Monday = Maths
  • Tuesday = English
  • Wednesday = Science

Spend 1 hour working on reviewing these mistakes and finding similar questions you can work on until you’re confident you’re getting them correct consistently. This will build your confidence in remembering the content!

Find out why it’s important to use the first term of Year 12 for Year 11 content consolidation here!

Step #2: Familiarise Yourself with Next Year’s Content Over the Summer Holidays

While summer is a great time to relax and have fun, if you’re strategic about things, doing a small, targeted amount of work in your holidays can make a huge difference. It’ll help you hit the ground running ready and confident for Year 11, as this will reduce any summer learning loss you experience compared to your peers!

One of the best things you can do during your summer is begin crafting your study notes for some of your subjects.

Why and how?

Study notes help you create a strong foundation in your knowledge! From all our interviews with students over the last decade it’s also the number one thing that students fall behind on and get overwhelmed with during the term.

So, by getting these started, you build your knowledge and avoid summer learning loss and reduce the stress during term!

How do you create you study notes?

  1. Get out the syllabus for your subject — it’s freely available on the NESA website. Find the Prelim HSC course section.
  2. Get access to a textbook for the course — Gumtree, FB Marketplace (lots of Year 12 students sell these in December and January), or from your local Dymocks, or specialty education bookstore.
  3. Start going through the first topic and the first 5 to 7 dot points and begin taking some notes.

With Holiday Workshops run at our Hornsby Tutoring and Castle Hill Tutoring campuses, you can also come in and get help consolidating the key content from Term 4, while also learning content you’ll be exposed to in Term 1 ahead of your peers!

Step #3: Balance Your Study with Fun By Using A Simple Plan

You’re probably wondering, okay, this all sounds like a lot of work — you said I’d still be able to have fun! But how?

All this comes down to the plan you put in place to get your work done while creating lots of time for fun. We recommend the simplest way to achieve these is to use either one of the following two methods:

  1. Allocate 1 day per week during your holidays in January (4 week period) where you’ll work on 3-4 of your subjects for the next school year OR
  2. Devote 1-2 hours per morning (Monday to Friday) where you do the work.

In both cases, you still create lots of time for having fun and catching up with mates:

  • If you spend 1 day per week during your holidays working on getting ahead, you’ll have 6 days left for fun!
  • Doing work 1-2 hours per day from Monday to Friday, let’s say from 9 to 11am, you’ve got the rest of the day to have fun as well as Saturday and Sunday.

You can pick whichever option works best for you!

Get a head start on acing your English studies in Years 9 and 10 by checking out our ultimate guide!

Feeling a little overwhelmed about the entire process? 

One of the things that can make a HUGE difference is working with an Art of Smart tutor to guide you through.

We’ve got an incredible team of tutors working for Art of Smart who can work with you to identify you gaps from Year 10, and help you to solve these. They can also help during your summer holidays to get you familiar with the key concepts you’ll encounter in Term 1, Year 11, while also keeping you accountable for your learning.

Get in touch with us for more info on how we can help. Best of luck with your transition from Year 10 to Year 11! 

Looking for some extra help with your studies?

We pride ourselves on our inspirational coaches and mentors!

We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!

Our tutors in Hoxton Park are here to help you achieve the results you desire, so get in touch.

To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today!

Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on TikTok!


Grace Mitchell hopes to one day stand in front of a Year 12 Modern History class teaching the history of the Soviet Union, or have an insightful discussion with a Year 10 English class on race relations in To Kill a Mockingbird. Either way, Grace is beginning her teaching journey studying a Bachelor of Education (Secondary: Humanities and Social Sciences)/Bachelor of Arts at Sydney University. Grace loves to learn new things, write short stories and opinion pieces, read, and play contemporary Australian compositions on the clarinet. When she is not learning – if that is possible – Grace loves to sit and watch the sun set.

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