Hiiii HHD kiddos!
I know you must all be excited about tomorrow's exam (I hope!
) and in case you were wondering how to use your reading and writing time effectively, here's a few tips that helped me out last year and might help you out too!
Reading time Reading time in HHD (and any subject really) is crucial to giving you an upper hand in the exam - for the simple reason that it gives you time to sort of 'mentally prepare' yourself for the Q's
For HHD, I just spent my reading time actually mentally planning what I'd write for each answer - not detailed mental planning though - just like "okay this Q asks for 2 action areas so maybe I'll mention this and that" and I would try to think about how I would structure the higher mark Q's and what I might include in those answers. Also, reading time is great for reading up and understanding those information blurbs for the health programs vcaa puts in the exam
Use your reading time wisely because it really does give you an upper hand if you don't waste it!
If you come across any Q's during reading time that confuse you try to think about the content relating to that Q and how you could answer it. Also in the last 1-2 mins of reading time, go to the first Q and look at it and plan an actual mental answer in your head so when the vcaa supervisor says "you may start writing", you can straight away get that answer onto paper without doing any further thinking or wasting any further time
Also, reading time is essential because you can become more clear about what you're going to write and this will prevent you from blindly rambling on in your answers or digressing and deviating from what the Q is actually asking
15 mins is A LOT of reading time, trust me, so you should be able to skim through everything and become well acquainted with all the Q's before writing time begins
Writing time 2 hours of writing time!
Yes, your hand will be dead by the end of it but you must begin writing as soon as it's 3:15 - there's no time to waste!
I'd suggest against having wishes of "finishing half an hour early" or anything like that - tbh it's not WHEN you finish, but HOW you finish that counts and I hope all of you finish knowing that you gave every Q in there all that you had
Mind you, I didn't finish my health exam early at all haha and I was still trying to get my last few words of an answer onto paper even after the lady said "pens down" hahah talk about rebelling against instructions but she wasn't looking so oh well!
Don't waste too much time on a Q that confuses you - just skip to the next one and keep going. As a word of advice,
don't skip the 6-8 mark questions in the hope of "coming back to them later" because if you don't get the time to do them later then valuable marks can be lost. I skipped 1 question (or part a or b of that question, can't remember now) on the exam because of this "coming back to it later" idea haha but it was that data analysis one worth 1-2 marks about school enrolment so I wasn't too devastated by it haha
Remember, you've got a full 2 hours to do the exam - so use the time wisely
If your answers get too long, don't try to fit them in the tiny bit of space at the side or bottom of the page - just write "continued in extra space at the back" or something like that and clearly number and continue your answer in the extra space at the back of the booklet
Also, don't write things blindly in your answers and make sure you keep asking yourself "is what I'm writing relevant?" - keep looking back or referring back to the Q to see if your answer is on the right track and not digressing what is being asked
Finally, make sure in data analysis Q's you write the right number or figure in the data..e.g. if the graph says "DALY's ('000's)" and you count 55 DALYS on the graph, you MUST write 55,000 DALYs in your answer - don't forget to convert the figures as your answer could be wrong if you don't!
Also, don't feel worried if you don't have enough time to proofread (I certainly didnt!) because usually you can just go through and quickly proofread your paper while the vcaa assessors are collecting everyone else's papers or getting ready to collect them (they take a while haha). Even if you don't get the chance to proofread, you should still be fine seeing as it's a hhd exam, not an english exam so minor spelling mistakes shouldn't cost you big marks
Finally, make sure you remain calm and don't stress! You've worked hard and you know your stuff and tbh I don't think HHD assessors are that tight with the marking scheme
Always be specific in your answers and adhere to what the Q is asking and you will all do amazingly!
Remember an A+ on the health exam corresponds to about 75% so often even if you feel uncertain and doubtful after the exam (like I did), chances are, you won't do as bad as you think!
Wish you guys all the very best for HHD and hope you all show the exam who's boss! Have faith in yourself because I sure have faith in you guys!
*corny moment* hahaha
<3