Starting a new school year or semester is always exciting. There’s the anticipation of making new friends, learning new things, and growing. But for families, households, and tertiary students, it can be a little hectic. Preparing for the school year and for the new semester can help make the transition less stressful.
We have put together a guide to help you best prepare for the school year and for your studies and ensure you avoid the first-week jitters. Plus, we have some extra tips for helping you get the house or flat in order before studies commence.
In this day and age, fast and reliable internet is everything. It is vital for lots of homework and assignment tasks for our school kids. An internet speed of 40-100 Mbps is great for video streaming and 4k video streaming. Any score over 100 is considered fast and great for multiplayer gaming, 4k video streaming and huge file downloads.
If the internet test has shown a rather slow result, or not the result that will suit your household needs, consider comparing your broadband plan. Broadband Compare is a great tool for comparing different providers and services available to you. It’s a great way to find a plan that suits your needs better. Do you write lots of essays or need a plan that allows for coding? What about gaming or streaming on those nights off from study? Do you have lots of people in the house needing to stream at the same time?
Broadband Compare allows you to find a plan that best fits your internet needs and interests – and often for a better deal! You can also find a cheaper plan as well, helping you and your household save money over the long-term. The best part? Broadband Compare is free to use! And a lot of these providers offer freebies such as free subscriptions to streaming services. Woo!
Internet safety is just as important for tertiary students as it is for school kids. For parents, it’s important to help kids understand how to stay safe online. Make sure they know that they can always go to you if they ever come across something that is potentially unsafe. For students, make sure you understand how to navigate the internet and online relationships (whether with peers, professors or university staff) safely. Keeping safe online will help curate a seamless experience with the school year.
Need a new laptop for study or for the kids’ homework? New phone? Ensure you get the best deal possible by harnessing the power of PriceMe. Compare a wide array of devices across a vast range of retailers through one streamlined platform. PriceMe allows you to compare retailer prices, customer reviews, product descriptions, and similar products, so that you can find the best product to suit your needs and the cheapest deal.
As a student, you are likely to find yourself studying and working on assignments in a range of places. The school library. The public library. Cafes. When we connect to public wifi networks, we are, unfortunately, opening ourselves up to security and device risks. A VPN is an easy tool to protect your privacy and your device during your studies.
Read More About Public Routers
While it is still technically summer, there is nothing like a deep clean and declutter of the house in anticipation of the school year. To avoid overwhelm, start with just one room. Go through the drawers, closets and cabinets and create a pile, or a bag or items that simply no longer serve you. Whether that be items you don’t use anymore, or items that don’t have a purpose in your home. Or if they are simply causing clutter. Organise the items into things to throw out, things to recycle, and things you could donate.
There is nothing like a deep declutter of the house to start the school year with a fresh home space.
A quiet, clean nook where your kids can concentrate, or where you can truly focus and thrive will do wonders for . Assemble a desk in a corner of the living room, in their bedroom, or even in the home office, if you have one. Add some calming wall art, including organised stationery and notebooks. You may even want to include a small bluetooth speaker, depending on how well you or your child can focus with soft background music.
Helping out around the house is a great way for kids to learn new domestic skills, gain confidence, encourage independence and establish a routine that they get used to. It will also help ease the labour load of parents. This would also work for student flats. It’s a great way to ensure the house chores are managed, fairly delegated, and completed. A win-win situation.
Create a chore chart using a whiteboard and whiteboard markers so you can keep track of tasks and who is in charge of what.
Let your kids have some choice in their lunch preparation. You could take them shopping for healthy snacks and lunches that they can pack themselves, or help pack. This will bolster a sense of autonomy over their day-to-day life and help them navigate a healthy relationship with food. For adult students, creating healthy habits, from getting exercise in daily, to eating nutrient-dense meals, to allowing yourself time to rest and recharge are all vital parts of setting yourself up for long-term success in your studies.
Between after-school activities, and homework, dinner prep time is limited. You won’t always have the mental energy to come up with a dinner menu each night. Take the time on Sundays to plan the meals for the school and work week. You could also invest in a meal kit, which takes the planning and shopping off your hands.
NZ Compare is home to multiple comparison websites for all kinds of everyday utility services such as broadband, power, and mobile. The best part? You can compare for free!
Simply, follow these easy steps:
If you’d prefer to speak to a friendly person, then give our customer service team a free call from 0508 22 66 72.
From the team at NZ Compare, we wish you a wonderful and safe return to school.
