If you walk into the study area at your local bookstore (we usually shop at Dymocks because of their wide selection), you will find many study resources, guides and other materials to help you overcome what seems like an endless amount of study needed to conquer your next assessment.
There are many different options to choose from and you want to make sure that you are making the best selection as some of the texts are costly.
We have road tested the majority of them both amongst our tutors and students and have found, what we believe, to be the most effective.
For Maths, we love the Understanding Year 7 Maths (Accelerated Maths Learning) range. They have a text book for each year group and here are our reasons why it is our go to:
-Each topic is nicely organised which makes it really easy to pinpoint exactly what page you are after.
– The mathematical rules are clearly outlined at the top of the page which is then followed by worked examples.
-Rather than swamp each topic with questions, the questions are saved for the end of the chapter and are then divided into different levels of difficulty.
-Along the margin of the pages of the topic tests, it shows which page the rule is explained.
We also like the Maths in Focus range because:
-This publisher tends to include difficult questions and exam style questions which makes study effective as you are taught to work mathematically during your study time rather than for the first time in your exam.
-There are online counterparts which also expose you to further questions. Remember when it comes to maths study, practice makes (almost) perfect!
For English, we have a few different choices depending on the material being studied. For Year 12 modules, we love the Top Notes Range as:
-They have an individual study guide for each module. This is really effective because it means that everything you need is covered such as context, analysis and deep explanations.
-There are sample exam and comprehension questions which are useful during your study as they allow you to interact with the text in a variety of different ways.
– Individual quotes are analysed which helps with the preparation for your assessments.
– Sample related texts are also listed – whilst we don’t always recommend using a text listed, it is a good starting point and often helps in the brainstorming process.
We also use the Excel Study Guides because we find it useful for the following:
– The texts are discussed holistically. That is, rather than look at the quotes, ideas, themes and characters separately, the text includes this analysis in mini paragraphs. This is useful because it provides a framework to base your response.
For our Advanced English students who study Shakespeare, we always suggest starting with the No Fear Shakespeare range as:
– It includes a direct translation into the modern English equivalent.
– It often has contextual explanations for certain terms and phrases that were commonly used during the Elizabethan era.
We also have recommendations for each Year 11 & 12 Subject and we would love to help you out so if you have a specific question please get in touch.