Preparing your child to sit those seventh grade entrance examinations

Wed, Jan 7th 2015, 12:11 PM

Over the course of the next two months, hundreds of school students if not thousands of primary school children will sit entrance examinations with the hopes of passing the examinations and gaining entrance into the private school of their choice to begin the junior phase of their education. But in preparation for the various examinations, a private school principal encourages parents not to stress their children, as the exam basically covers information that students should have done in the upper primary school level -- fourth grade through the first semester of grade six.
Shona Moss-Knowles, principal at Aquinas College said once children have been following a general study schedule leading up to the examination, that they should do well. She said it's just a matter of parents ensuring that their child is organized and have study time at home to review the skills they would have been taught and ensure that their child has mastered the concepts.
"It's just constant daily practice. And if they've done that there is no reason for parents to stress their child out at all, because it's just information that the child should know because we only test up to first semester grade six, so it should have been all the concepts that they would have been taught from fourth grade," said the principal.
Students hoping to be accepted into seventh grade at Aquinas College will sit their examination on January 19. The exam basically focuses on English and math.
The English component includes subject-verb agreement, spelling, comprehension, letter writing and essay writing; and basic math skills -- addition, subtraction, multiplication, word problems and fractions.
Each section is approximately one-and-a-half hours, with a 20-minute break between each section.
The day before the exam, Moss-Knowles said parents should ensure their child goes to bed early the night before, ensure that they eat a proper breakfast on the day of the exam and have their child at the examination site at least 30 minutes to an hour prior to the start of the exam.
The Aquinas College principal said her school is looking to attract into their fold the outstanding students who pass outright and that a seat is usually offered outright to children who on a percentage basis score 70 and above, which is a "C" grade on the school's scale. A child who scores between 60 and 69 is considered a probation student, those who just missed the mark. Those students go onto a wait list to see if there is any seating availability after acceptance letters have been received from students who passed outright.
As students sit the upcoming examinations, Moss-Knowles said parents should really do their research and their homework and to know what it is that they're looking for in terms of what the institution has to offer, and what it is that they are looking at for their children in terms of education.
"I know that the dollar sign is always a factor, but sometimes you have to be careful with that as well, because sometimes you get what you pay for," said Moss-Knowles.
The principal also said she has found that more parents are asking questions and want to know what the school's curriculum is like.
"They want to know what your external examination passes are like. They want to know what kinds of programs you have in place in terms of an accelerated program. They want to know if kids are being introduced to college level classes -- that sort of thing, so I would suggest that parents really do their research, and have a clear idea of what it is that they want for their children in terms of education. Also aside from academics, what the environment has to offer, the discipline structure in the school, as well as extracurricular activities so that the kids become well-rounded."

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