Supporting Your Performance and Educational Achievement

Personalised Learning Plan

“Supporting your Performance and Educational Achievement”

Year 11

Written and compiled by Christine Fry P Plate State Coordinator North Queensland

Northern Indigenous Schooling Support Unit

PO Box 2268Cairns QLD 4870

I would like to acknowledge the contribution to this document of TNQ TAFE Access Unit

(in particular Douglas Tait), TAFE QLD and DET NSW.

Part A: Self Awareness

PERSONAL DETAILS:

NAME: ______

ADDRESS: ______

______

POSTCODE: ______

PHONE: (H) ______

(MOBILE) ______

DATE OF BIRTH: ______

GENDER: Male / Female

SCHOOL AND ME:

Picture yourself in the future.

What do you imagine your future will look like? (Say in 10 year’s time)

Where will you be living? Will you be working? Will you be studying? Will you have your own car? Will you have a house of your own? Will you have a partner? Will you have children? What will your friends be doing? Will you be having a paid holiday somewhere exotic? Will you be wearing fashionable new clothes?

Write some words to describe:

What will your future look like and how will you feel, if you stay in school, then get a job that you enjoy doing?

______

What will your future look like and how will you feel, if you have a job that you don’t

like doing;that you’re not very interested in?

______

What will your future look like and how will you feel, if you drop out of school and can’t get a job?

What will your future look like and how will you feel, if you’re studying and/or working away from home for at least some time during the year?

______

What could you do now to put yourself on a pathway to a happy working life?

______

What else do you do apart from school?

Volunteer Work:

Work at home: ______

Part-time/Casual Employment: ______

Employer: ______

Position: ______

PLAN YOUR TIME

It’s important that you find out where and how to fit going to school every day and doing your homework, into your life.

We can make a chart to see exactly how you are spending your time at the moment.

Most of us would spend the bulk of our time in the following activities:

All of these activities are important in your life. Going to school and doing your homework are the most important parts.

TIP

It’s important to find a balance between all the things you have to do and all the things you want to do.

TIME SELF-ANALYSIS

Where does your time go?

Compare yourself to the ‘typical’ student below. Of course there is no such thing as a true ‘typical’ student, but it will give you a guide to start with.

On an average day:

Times / Typical student / Times / You
3:30 - 4 / Travel home after school / 3:30 - 4
4 - 4:30 / Get something to eat / 4 - 4:30
4:30 – 5 / See what’s on TV / 4:30 – 5
5 – 5:30 / Watch a bit of TV / 5 – 5:30
5:30 – 6 / Start homework / 5:30 – 6
6 – 6:30 / Do homework/talk to friends / 6 – 6:30
6:30 – 7 / Dinner / 6:30 – 7
7 – 7:30 / Watch TV / 7 – 7:30
7:30 – 8 / Need to go finish assignment / 7:30 – 8
8 – 8:30 / Work on assignment / 8 – 8:30
8:30 – 9 / Realise assignment will take ages / 8:30 – 9
9 – 9:30 / Have a shower / 9 – 9:30
9:30 – 10 / Get tired so go to bed / 9:30 – 10
10 – 10:30 / Sleep! / 10 – 10:30

The ‘typical’ student is also different from the ‘ideal’ student. The ideal student would

probably start their work earlier in the afternoon and also have scheduled the work for the

assignment so they didn’t have to do so much in one night. They might also be involved in

sport or some sort of healthy physical activity.

Why do you need to worry about how you spend your time?

When looking at time management techniques, students often find it difficult to really know

where all of their time goes. It is amazing the clever and innovative ways students can come

up with to waste time. Not to mention the old favourites like: TV, Internet, Facebook, chat,

sms, computer games, phone ….. An essential first step before becoming immersed in time

management techniques is to have a realistic picture of where your time goes.

Now look more closely at your distribution of time on the table above.

The sample graph below this time shows the mythical ‘ideal’ student not the mythical ‘typical’

student.

Not many students would have the same sort of graph as this one. Indeed, schoolwork

may not necessarily be the most time-consuming activity every evening.

Think about how you spend your time and use your first table where you recorded what you

do in the afternoons and evenings to complete the graph below.

Start in the middle with how you spend most of your time and then go out from there on both

sides, down to where you spend the least amounts of time.

Answer the questions below about your use of your time:

1. Are there things you know you should spend LESS time on? Yes/No

Comment ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2. Are there things you know you should spend MORE time on? Yes/No

Comment ……………………………………………………………………………………………….

3. Do you think you have a balanced approach to life? Yes/No

Comment ……………………………………………………………………………………………….

4. How would you rate your current time management skills?

POOR OK GOOD EXCELLENT

TIME MANAGEMENT OUTCOME CHECKLIST

All students across all year levels share common problems in managing their time, even though these problems may change from one year to the next. When people go out to work, they face similar challenges. In completing the list, don’t feel discouraged if you tick lots of ‘None’s’. Instead congratulate yourself for the things you’re doing well. Everyone has areas they can improve on.

For each of the following statements, tick either:

ALL of the time, MOST of the time, SOME of the time, A BIT of the time or NONE of the time.

All / Most / Some / A Bit / None
1. I keep up-to-date with my school work without many problems
2. I start working on assignments well before they are due
3. I don’t end up leaving work till the last minute
4. I finish assignments on time
5. I hand in all school work on time
6. I don’t ask for extensions
7. I don’t feel stressed about the work I need to do for school
8. I plan when I am going to do work
9. I use my time in the classroom efficiently
10. I use my time at home efficiently
11. I can estimate pretty well how long something will take
12. I have time to do all the things I WANT to do
13. When I sit down to do work I get lots done
14. I am easily distracted
15. I am self-disciplined and can make myself do what I need to do
16. I know at the start of the day what I want to get done that day
17. I feel in control of my time
18. I am able to juggle commitments to family and friends
19. I can find extra time to do things if I need to
20. I am able to reschedule activities if necessary
21. I have ways to make myself do things I have been putting off
22. I am able to priorities things to do by their level of importance
23. I am aware when I am wasting time and can stop myself doing it
24 I use self rewards to help motivate myself to do things
25. I am able to set goals as to what I want to do and work to them

Now look back through the list at some of the statements for which you ticked ‘none of the

time’.

Which of these bothers you the most? ………………………………………………………………..

Which causes you the most stress? …………………………………………………………………..

Which do you most want to do something about? ………………………………………………….

Which ones do you know you really should try and improve? …………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

In the space below, describe the areas of time management that you think you most need to

work on.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

YOUR GOALS

Aptitudes and Aspirations

Identify goals for yourself

Do you remember the goals you set for yourself last year?

Are they still the same?

Have your priorities changed? Or maybe you’ve already achieved some of those goals.

It’s ok for your goals to change.

If you don’t have a focus, a goal to move towards you will find that you are moving in all directions and going around in circles. If you don’t set goals such as, by the end of this year I will complete this traineeship, or, by halfway through this year I will be better at maths, you will find that you are not focused or moving in the direction you need to.

We need to write these goals down so that you will be reminded of them. Write them down and keep them where you can see them. This will help you to keep on track.

Think about your goals as:

Long Term: Close your eyes and think about your future.

What can you imagine for yourself when you finish school/grow up?

Short term: What would you like to achieve in the next 4-6 weeks?

Medium term: What do you hope to achieve this year?

In school: What do you hope to achieve before you leave school?

Now it’s time for you to redo your plan

When you’ve finished, print it out (or photocopy it) and put it somewhere either at school or at home where you can see it and remind yourself of what you want to achieve.

Now think about these goals that you’ve said you have:

Name: ______

Date: ______

What is your Main Goal Before You FinishSchool:

______

How will I work on this goal? (My strategies)

Read through the short and medium term goals below. Write beside each one, the date for when you plan to have reached that goal.

If you’re already there, write the date when you started doing this.

All of these will help you to reach your long term goals.

Date

Make a set time to do my homework
Put effort into my school work and my homework
Be determined to do well and improve
Know the best ways for me to learn
Ask family members to support me
Ask friends to support me
Ask people at school to help me
Ask people from my community to support me
Think about how much I know already
Know what’s important for me to learn
Have a special place to study
Make sure I get to school every day and be on time
Make sure I have all my school books with me
Make sure I’ve done my homework
Get very good at English and Maths
Listen and pay attention in class
Work out what I want to do when I finish school
Get my learner’s licence
Do work experience that’s linked to my interests
Do up my resume
Get a casual or part-time job
Start a school-based traineeship or apprenticeship linked to my identified interests and skills
Do all the work (theory and practical) for my VET certificates
Get a tax file number

In what other ways will I work towards this goal? (My strategies)

What other strategies will help me to reach this goal?

______

What kinds of barriers - things or people - might get in my way in achieving this goal?

______

What will I do to stop these barriers from becoming problems for me?

______

Who can help me with this?

______

Student Learning Log

Name ______

Why do I come to school? ______

How can going to school every day help me to achieve my goals? ______

How can not going to school every day stop me from achieving my goals?

______

Something I learned this ……. ______

Something I liked doing this ……. ______

Something I didn’t like this …….. ______

What I want to do next ……… ______

Something I learned this ……. ______

Something I liked doing this ……______

Something I didn’t like this ……..______

What I want to do next ……… ______

Something I learned this ……. ______

Something I liked doing this …….______

Something I didn’t like this …….. ______

What I want to do next ……… ______

Making a Plan B

Often lots of things happen that can stop you from getting where you’d like to be.

It’s a good idea to have a “Plan B”

Part of preparing a “Plan B” is thinking about how you will deal with thoughts of,

“I’m not going to bother going to school because ….”

I can’t do the work; it’s too hard
I work so hard but I still can’t spell properly
I still don’t know how to write properly
My friends and family always make fun of me because I want to go to school
No one at home is interested in what I’m doing so why should I bother
All my friends keep asking me to do things with them and I have to keep saying no
I just want to get a job and have my own money

What are you going to do when these thoughts come into your head?

______

What support do I have?

Staying in school and planning for your future is a challenge.

You may enjoy greater success if you find someone to talk to sometimes, both in school and outside school.

Support people and programs:

Who can support you throughout your schooling? This might be teachers, other students,

mentors, community people, family, family friends.

People: ______

______

Are there programs based at school or in the community to support you throughout your schooling?

Program: ______

Offered by: ______

Program: ______

Offered by: ______

SUPPORT RECORD

In the table below, write about any support talks or meetings you’ve had:

WHAT SUPPORT WAS OFFERED / WHO BY? / IF YOU NEED TO TALK TO THEM AGAIN: PHONE NUMBER/EMAIL ADDRESS / WHEN?WHAT DAYS/HOURS ARE THEYAVAILABLE

Parent/Carer Review

Your expectations of your child / Your expectations of the school / What can you do to help your child?

Teacher/school has conducted parent/carer meeting to discuss identified concerns

Date of meeting: ______

Outcome of meeting: ______

Review comment from School Ambassador / Review comment from Student / Review comment from parent/carer

Action is required to support your performance and achievement in school

Action / Person(s) responsible / Time Frame / Review
School Ambassador signature
Date:
Date for next review: / Student signature
Date:
Date for next review: / Parent/Carer signature
Date:
Date for next review:

Part B: Identify my skills and interests

Student Self-assessment

LIFE/WORK SKILLS

Listed below are a number of Life/Work Skills which we believe you will need to demonstrate in order to maximise your chances of succeeding in the workplace and

in society in general.

Tick in the appropriate column; write what evidence you have for each life/work skill

LIFE/WORK SKILL / Sometimes / Always / How can I show someone that I have this skill / Never
PLANNING AND ORGANISING
I understand that appointments need to be made outside of work time
I understand that family/friends should not come to the workplace to disrupt me
FINANCIAL LITERACY
I understand what a budget is
I understand the difference between discretionary and non-discretionary spending
I understand why tax is deducted from my pay
I can demonstrate knowledge of some of the things I should save money for
I understand how saving money can make money
LIFE/WORK SKILLS / Sometimes / Always / How can I show someone that I have this skill / Never
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
I understand the importance of keeping a sense of humour
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
I can use appropriate language for different audiences
I am able to give clear instructions and express observations
USING TRANSPORT
I have obtained my learner’s permit
PROBLEM SOLVING
I can work out solutions to unusual situations that may arise

Reflection:

Now have a closer look at those skills that you have highlighted, circled or ticked.

What/who could help you to build the life/work skills that you have identified as not having right now, but need,to support your aspirations and goals?

School Subjects(this could be in subjects like: SOSE, English,Maths, Health and

Physical Education, Careers, Life Skills, Access, Social and Emotional Learning, Care

or Pathways)

______

Teachers in your school

______

Activities/programs in your school

______

Community organisations/activities/programs

______

Talk to your P PlateSchool Ambassador about this

Future Employment Goals

Who do you know who has a job that you think you’d like to have?

Person’s Name: / Job Name: / I’d like it? – Why?

Write down one job that appeals to you the most: ______

Think about your goals for the future and the advantages of having a job.

Read the list below and tick the ones you want for yourself.

Do I want to have a job?

Do I want to earn lots of money?

Do I want to do something I’m good at?

Do I want to learn new skills/knowledge?

Do I want to be with people at work?

Do I want to buy a car?

Do I want to travel?

Do I want to look after my family financially?

Do I want to feel proud of my work achievements?

Brainstorm and create a mind map of the advantages of getting the job you want.

Use your ideas from your mind map to write a paragraph saying why it would be good for you to have this job.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Choose a job you would like to consider.

I would like to be a/an ….………………………………………………

because ………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………….

Think about you and the factors that influence decisions about jobs.

Work Experience

Family

Culture/ReligionMedia Images