How to use class time effectively in high school

Most students spend hundreds of hours in class each year—but how much of that time is actually productive? Lots of students treat slacking off or mucking around in class as a matter of pride! But treating class like a learning environment rather than an Internet cafe (or worse, not showing up at all!) means less stress, less homework, and better results outside of school without adding extra study hours. Here’s how to make the most of every lesson in a time-precious HSC environment.

1. Show Up (Physically & Mentally!)

It sounds simple, but just being present—on time and ready to learn—makes a huge difference. Don’t underestimate how much class time helps with understanding, especially for difficult subjects.

• Arrive on time—being late means missing key explanations or lesson details (and that awkward glare from your teacher as you make your way to the worst seat in the room!)
• Be prepared—bring all the materials you need so you’re not scrambling (or rummaging through a bag that looks like a bomb went off inside it!)
• Don’t fall asleep—tuning out or daydreaming means more work later (or worse still, no work at all because you missed the homework, and then a detention tomorrow afternoon!)

If you’re already in class, make it count! You can work more efficiently in a learning environment (and game more effectively at home or at lunch!)

2. Pay Attention (Minimise Distractions)

Not every lesson is exciting, but focusing during class saves you hours of extra study. It’s tempting to zone out, scroll your phone, or gossip with your friends when the teacher is on their own laptop or yapping about boring stuff (which is a lot of the time in certain subjects!), but stay focused when key concepts are being explained.

💡 When to focus: During teacher explanations, when key concepts or difficult content are being covered.
💬 When it’s okay to chat: Group work, research tasks, and open-ended discussions (collaborating with others can actually help!).

And yes, don’t play too many games. A little break here and there is fine, but if you’re spending half the class WASDing away, you’re only making it harder for yourself later when you open up the assessment notification and don’t know anything…

3. Take Notes (The Right Way!)

Writing things down helps you remember and understand content better. But illegible notes scrawled in a book and left to rot won’t help—good notes will.

• Use your own words—copying from the board mindlessly won’t stick! To learn something for the first time, you need to be actively interpreting, summarising, and deciding what info to keep.
• Summarise key points—don’t write down every word, focus on big ideas (and stuff in the assessment criteria!)
• Keep them organised—use a system (folders, OneNote, Notion, etc.)

Want to improve your note-taking? Check out our guide on how to take good notes.

4. Collect & Organise Resources

Every teacher has different ways of delivering content—some give great summaries, others provide worksheets, and some explain things in a way that just makes sense. Make sure you:

• Keep handouts and worksheets—they often come in handy later, especially context sheets for English and challenge questions for Maths.
• Save PowerPoints and online resources—especially if your teacher is kind enough to share them directly so you don’t have to work with that scrappy photo of the projector!
• Write down sample or exemplar responses—whether they come from your teacher or another student, these are gold for assessments and help you understand what everyone’s looking for.

5. The Reality: You Can’t Catch Everything (So Fill the Gaps)

Even if you do all of the above, let’s face it; it’s flat-out impossible, even for the most determined student, to:

• Show up every single day
• Catch every important detai
• Have every resource
• Have the best teacher for every subject

That’s why Notes2u exists.

By buying high-quality notes, you can get access to the best explanations, top-scoring responses, and well-organised resources—not just from your teachers, but from some of the best students across the state.

Work smart, not just hard. Use class time well, and fill the gaps with Notes2u. 🚀

🔗 Check out Notes2u today!