How Do You Set Effective Goals for Students in Years 7–10?

Rob Beattie
Apr 5, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Feb 26

Asked by Sam in our parent webinar series.

As a parent, you can set your child up for success by guiding them through the goal-setting process. Setting clear, achievable goals is key to boosting academic performance. Ideally, your child will set a goal for every assignment and exam they take.

Here's how you can help your child set effective goals:

Step 1: Encourage Writing Goals Down

Help your child write down their goals and keep them visible, like on a planner or their study desk. Writing makes goals feel real and keeps them top of mind.

Step 2: Focus on Specific Goals

Coach your child to avoid vague statements and instead set measurable, specific targets.

Specific goals will give your child clarity and a sense of direction.

Example: “I want to improve my Science score from 65% to 70% by the next test.”

Step 3: Keep Goals Realistic and Incremental

In our Crash Course on Motivation article and our Mindset article, we explore the effects of avoidance goals; those overwhelming, hard-to-reach goals that can trigger a "fight or flight" response in students. To counter this, we recommend setting goals slightly higher than the last achieved result. This approach fosters a sense of achievability and agency, which boosts motivation while still challenging students enough to encourage continuous improvement. Encourage your child to set goals that are slightly higher than their previous result.

Why?

Aiming for small, achievable improvements reduces the fear of failure;
Incremental progress over time leads to substantial improvement.

Example: If your child scored 60% on their last exam, encourage them to aim for 65% next time, then 70% after that.

Step 4: Create a Step-by-Step Plan

Once your child sets their goal, the next step is to create an action plan. This is where you can can break down how your child will achieve this goal.

Here’s how:

Break It Down: Help them divide their goal into smaller, manageable tasks.
- Example: “Revise Chapters 1-3 this week, practice past papers next week.”
Use Tools: Provide resources like study planners or apps to organise their schedule.
- Our Exam Planner and Assignment Planner are great starting points.
Schedule Study Time: Work with your child to create a weekly routine that includes specific times for study and revision.

Step 5: Review, Adjust, and Celebrate

Teach your child to reflect on their progress after every test or assignment.

Review: Look at what worked and what didn’t.
Adjust: Help them modify their goals or strategies if needed.
Celebrate: Recognise their effort and progress, even if they didn’t fully achieve their goal. Celebrating small wins keeps them motivated.

Example: If they aimed for 70% but scored 68%, acknowledge the improvement and encourage them to try again.