If your child’s Term 2 results fell short of what you hoped for, feeling a little frustration is perfectly valid — it’s just that time of year when a lot of parents start to worry and feel the pressure build even more.
You’ve supported your child through assessments, projects, and endless revision — but the report card doesn’t seem to reflect any of it. And now, you’re wondering: Where did it go wrong? And how do we fix it before it’s too late?
If that sounds like you, then you’re on the right track. We’re not in the final quarter yet — it’s only half-time, and there’s still so much left to play for.
Just like any good game, the second semester is where real magic happens — but only if you act now. Because when poor results become a pattern, they don’t just affect school marks. They can drain motivation, erode self-belief, and impact your child’s success in uni and their future career .
If you want your child to come back stronger and more confident in Term 3, now is the time to restrategise. And it starts with a smarter strategy, not just more effort.
The Motivation Myth: It’s Not Just About Trying Harder
One of the biggest myths in education is that better results simply come from “trying harder.”
But after 15+ years working directly with high school students as a coach and strategist, I can tell you for sure: poor performance is rarely due to laziness. In fact, many students are trying. They’re just up against hidden barriers that make progress feel impossible.
To effectively support your child, we first need to get to the root of what’s limiting their results —beyond just effort.
Understanding the Multifaceted Nature of Poor Performance
Behind every poor result is usually a complex set of factors—many of which have little to do with intelligence or willpower. Here are the three factors often overlooked by parents that could be holding your child back:
Home Environment – For many students, a space filled with distractions, noise, or tension can make it hard to focus or stay motivated. Teens often take behavioural cues from their environment. If stress or disorganisation surrounds them, it can largely shape their study habits, too.
Personal Challenges – Anxiety, depression, and even overreliance on devices (as a coping mechanism to stress) can slowly chip away at their motivation and proactiveness. Your teen may not be able to articulate what they’re feeling, but it will show in their academic performance, consistency, and energy. Recognising signs of stress and mental health issues is key to providing the right kind of support.
Neurodiversity – ADHD, dyslexia, or auditory processing challenges often go undiagnosed or misunderstood. Students dealing with these challenges may look disengaged, but the learning system just isn’t set up for how their brains learn best.
However, it’s crucial to remember that these factors do NOT reflect your child’s lack of potential. It only shows their need for a smarter strategy—one that works with your child’s unique learning profile and personal situation, not against it. With the right support, strategy, and study plan, these students have every potential to excel.
The Transformative Path to Excellent Results
The gap between a student’s academic goals and excellent results has always been a tailored strategy.
Problem is, most students don’t have a strategic approach and personalised plan to learning. Worse, they’re reactive instead of proactive — cramming the night before, bouncing between subjects, and playing constant catch-up.
When students learn how to leverage their strengths, manage their environment, and optimise key improvement areas, they learn best and better results follow.
With the right tools, strategies, and support, we’ve seen hundreds of students go from struggling and overwhelmed to proactive and confident —in just a matter of weeks.
Just ask Alana.
Alana’s Story: From Anxiety to Academic Turnaround
Alana was a bright, dedicated Year 10 student but her grades didn’t reflect her intelligence or her effort. Despite hours of study, the results just weren’t there—and her confidence was crumbling.
We dug deeper and uncovered a few key truths:
✔️ She was struggling with academic overwhelm and anxiety.
✔️ She had no structured plan—she was buried in guesswork and late-night cramming.
✔️ She was a visual and kinesthetic learner, but her study methods didn’t have the capacity to cater to her learning profile.
To support her learning, she paired up with one of our education coaches and built a study routine aligned to her learning style. Alana took advantage of data-backed methods to target her key performance gaps.
With a tailored strategy and the right tools, Alana’s marks skyrocketed and she even scored the top mark in English and Commerce in a few weeks! But more importantly—she started believing in herself again.
The Tools That Transformed Alana’s Study Habits and Results
If your child resembles any of Alana’s previous challenges, getting them out of their academic slump will require similar tools and strategies Alana used. Read on to discover three evidence-backed tools that can completely shift your child studies — and help them walk into Term 3 with confidence and clarity.
🔍 Study Effectiveness Amplifier
This strategy maps out exactly where your child is spending their time on versus where it counts. We use the 80/20 principle—pinpointing the 20% of actions that drive 80% of their results. With such clarity, your child can exert less effort but still achieve more—because every minute becomes deliberate and strategic.
🧠 Exam Mastery
Instead of leaving exams to chance, this technique allows your child to have an insight of what examiners actually want to see, how to answer questions with precision, and how to replicate for success across all subjects. As a result, exam blocks stop feeling like a threat—and start feeling like an opportunity to do better.
🧩 Cognitive Adaptor
Every student learns differently. By tailoring study strategies to their unique cognitive profile and/or learning challenges, your child can make the most out of their strengths and preferences. This tool helps your child overcome barriers, like attention difficulties or working memory challenges, and replaces them with strategies that stick for the long haul.
Smash Term 3 — No Matter What You’re Struggling With
If you’re not sure which factors are affecting your child’s marks yet want to improve their study habits and results fast, we got you sorted out. The 2025 Term 3 Improvement Plan is built to do one thing: lift your child’s marks before their next exams no matter what they’re struggling with. Based from 2025 actual student results and feedback from 85 NSW Secondary Schools, it pinpoints your child’s key improvement areas and recommends the smartest starting point to action immediately.
Let Term 2 results be you and your child’s wake-up call and make Term 3 be their academic breakthrough! With the right strategy and personalised study plan, your child can start strong, stay focused, and take control of their results.
