* Rhys Gleeson is an eighteen-year-old year 12 student from Macksville, who attends Bishop Druitt College in Coffs Harbour.

Rhys has joined Nambucca Valley News Of The Area as a Junior Reporter, and over the next few months will be writing stories about issues affecting young people in the Nambucca Valley.

If you have a story idea for Rhys, please email media@newsofthearea.com.au.

ON October 12, in just under five months, year 12 students around the Nambucca Valley will be sitting the first of their HSC exams over a period of three weeks, ending at the beginning of November.

Students have received their exam timetables in recent weeks, so they now know when each of their exams are on. “Overall I think my timetable is pretty good upon my first inspection,” said Nambucca Valley student Max Englert.
“They’re sort of bunched together and there’s usually a day difference between each exam, which is pretty good.”

The HSC serves as a completion to secondary learning, and is an achievement for year 12 students to finish their exams and high school years.

When it comes to a major exam period like this, preparation is key.

“I look at my notes, check the syllabus points to see what the exam’s actually highlighting so I can build upon those points and get information out of them, then keep practicing once I get that by revising the information,” Max added on how he aims to prepare for the exams.

While completing the HSC is a milestone achievement for many high school students, the pressure of the exams can bring high levels of stress.

A survey conducted by the University of New South Wales showed that sixteen percent of students suffered extreme levels of anxiety, while thirty-seven percent suffered above-average levels of stress.

“I deal with stress by working,” said Max.

“If I do some work each night, and I’m stressing about an exam and how I prepare for it, I just work and it actually relieves some of that stress.”

Headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, have prepared some tips to help young people manage their stress during exam times.

Visit https://headspace.org.au/young-people/how-to-reduce-stress-and-prepare-for-exams/ for more information.

 

By Rhys GLEESON, Junior Reporter