It's that time of year again when students across the country are preparing for the national exams. And although it is Easter break and most students couldn't wait to be relaxing their days away teachers are advising that students, particularly those preparing for nationals exams use their time wisely, because the most important examinations of their academic life -- the Grade Level Assessment Test (GLAT), Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) and Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) are just around the corner.

Grade Level Assessment Test (GLAT)
The key to adequately preparing students for the national examinations is committed parental involvement, according to Kristan Burrows, a second grade teacher at Claridge Primary School. The teacher, with nine years of experience under her belt, who has taught grades one and two throughout her career, said it is important to help a child build the right foundation if they are to succeed in their Grade Level Assessment Tests (GLAT), which are taken in grades three and six.
"I may not have taught any of the exam level classes, but I do know that if you don't help students to build a good academic background in both grade one and grade two, hoping they can keep up in grade three and do well on the assessment exam is fruitless," she said. "Real preparation starts from the time students enter primary school straight up until the point of the examinations. By grade three or six they should be cementing the facts they already know and perfecting the skills they should already have. Trying to get a child to be on grade level and excel in these tests at this point, while not impossible is extremely difficult. But if your child is an average student or above average this is a time to let them practice, study and reread as much as possible."
The GLAT examinations are scheduled to begin in the first week of May, which is why students should now be in high gear, brushing up on what they have learnt. Being ready will allow students to perform at a level that truly reflects their capabilities. As a result, Burrows says primary school students should be using their Easter break to not just relax, but to keep up with their school work.
"Key to ensuring students at this age succeed is the parent's responsibility to step up and do their part in their child's education. Do not expect a teacher to give the student everything. Teachers can only supply them with so much and then it is up to the parents to ensure homework is done and any concepts the child doesn't know well enough they learn be it by calling the teacher or getting a tutor," she says. "It would be hoped that during the break students go through their old tests and the school work they did in detail. They should be spending at least an hour a day to review their work."
The educator said parents should also pay attention to helping students study Mathematics and Language Arts. Some topics to look over in Math include number concepts like Roman numerals, fractions, time and solid shapes. Computation problems like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, as well as mathematical applications like word problems are also important.
The Language Arts section of the GLAT is broken down into written composition, reading comprehension, listening comprehension and language arts skills like grammar and spelling. Ensuring students practice their writing skills and reading would be essential to keeping them on their toes.

Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) preparation
When it comes to preparing for the Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) examinations, which are usually taken in the ninth grade and will be sat at the end of April, Claudine Rolle, a Language Arts teacher at T.A. Thompson Junior School, said students need to be on their toes even during their Easter break, because slacking off at this point in the school year can be detrimental to their academic career.
The educator of 16 years said students need to be focused more than ever and use this golden opportunity to polish up on the topics and concepts they are still a little unclear about.
"This is time to study, study, study. Relaxation is good, but it can wait until summer when all is said and done. Students need to be on top of their work, especially those who have course work to finish. Students in technical areas like Family and Consumer Science will need to practice their sewing and complete course work before the deadline, which is coming fast," she said. "Parents need to make sure students aren't slacking off because they need to be doing their best now. If they don't finish course work it often doesn't make sense doing the national exam for the subject. Course work can be as much as 40 percent of the entire grade, so it is important not to miss out on doing your best.

This break is a good time to be doing the finishing touches."
She said students taking the BJC science subjects also need to be studying the in-depth topics the subjects cover, adding the break is a good time to be reading over work, practice labeling, definitions and refreshing one's memory on these topics.
For critical subjects like Mathematics she said it is important to practice everything, and that simply studying concepts are not enough. Doing practice questions from the schools or from examinations from the testing and evaluation section of the Ministry of Education, she said, is key in preparing for this examination.
Language Arts is just as important to pay close attention to. The three papers of the examination cover topics from essay writing, letter writing, comprehension and literary devices like poems and cloze passages.
"Students shouldn't be allowed to just relax this whole time. They should be practicing, reading and writing throughout the break, especially for the Language Arts examination. Paper one alone carries 40 percent of the exam, and students have to show they can write an intriguing and captivating story that is grammatically correct, as well one which reveals the finer points of letter writing. They will also need to improve on their comprehension abilities, and using the newspaper for a reading comprehension quiz is a good thing to do during the break. Going over notes for terminology used with poems and refreshing the memory about cloze or other literary advices is important to do. Passing these examinations can be so easy if students just take the time to study."
Rolle said students should have a good idea about what they need to improve on for their upcoming examinations, since they would've gotten the results of their mock BJC exam back and teachers would have reviewed their weaknesses. She said parents can take up the mantle as well, and ensure students get help in the areas they are weakest in. The teacher said there are many opportunities for parents to find help for their students, like the free after school classes many teachers offer, conferences with teachers and the many advertised tutoring programs floating around.

Preparing for the Bahamas General Certificate of
Secondary Education
examination
There should be a balance between studying and relaxation when it comes to this last long break before national examinations, said Jeneva Robinson, a teacher at Preston Albury High School in Eleuthera. The Religious Studies teacher said she would advise students to use the Easter break to study like crazy for their Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE), but at the same time she said they should also try to breathe before they take on the academic sprints.
"The BGCSEs are right around the corner [beginning at the end of April], and students should use this Easter break to study like never before, but at the same time I think they also need to relax a bit. With that said, it is important for students to spend two-to-four hours studying daily. This is not a major sacrifice and it all adds up in the end."
The educator said it is important for parents to pitch in and help their children study and understand concepts clearly. If course work is not completed by now, she said it is important to ensure students attack it, since most work is due as soon as school reopens. Ensuring they are studying everything they learnt is also important to do at this point as well.
"It's a bit late to just be studying for an exam like the BGCSE," said Robinson. "This should have been in progress since last year in grade 11 or even grade 10, because at this point, if you are attempting to start studying you will be cramming, and students will only stress themselves out and most likely not do well. But if you have started to study then you are in a good position to just be reviewing your work. At this time you should be reflecting and practicing. This is not the time to just relax. I t's about getting ready."
Ensuring things like course work is complete is also essential. She said most if it should have already been sent in to the Ministry of Education, but for those few subjects that are not as yet, doing it now is essential. Once the course work is in, she said students should prepare a good study schedule and stick to it straight through the national examinations.
Robinson said that for many students it is hard to get in the groove of studying, which is why parents need to be on top of them, even during their high school years.
"High school students should be more accountable, but often the sheer gravity of the examinations can be discouraging, so it may do many parents good to find a good tutor for their student so they make worthwhile use of these last few days," said Robinson.

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