Education Matters

Last week I wrote about school admissions and some points for parents to consider when they are choosing a school.

Once the choice has been whittled down and the perfect establishment has been found, it is still not time to breathe easy and start buying uniforms and new pencil cases, quite the contrary because now the work really begins in preparation for the entrance exam that sorts the wheat from the chaff in terms of the expectations of the school of your choice.

But why do schools have entrance exams? In some established schools on the island it comes down to good old fashioned elitism, but in others it is important that students applying will be able to cope with the demands of the curriculum that the school is offering.

For example, if an entrance examination demonstrates that a student is scoring below average in English, then it can be presumed that the student will struggle to meet expectations when term begins and that can lead to two general outcomes:

•The student will lose confidence in themselves leading to a decline in general results.

•The student’s behaviour will decline as a result of low self-esteem.

In both cases, if schools don’t offer learning support then it can be extremely damaging for children to be put in a situation that they can’t cope in at an early age since if they feel like they are not succeeding it can lead to a treacherous downward spiral.

This is where entrance exams are useful because they give parents an insight into their child’s areas for development which can then be focused on and improved in time for the following year’s entrance exam if they still want to apply for the same school.

On the other hand though, if a child doesn’t pass an entrance exam it can be devastating for them and can lead to a continuous worry and stress when it comes to school in general. It is, therefore, down to parents to manage this issue in a way that doesn’t create such drama.

If your child has been unsuccessful, explain it to them in the same manner as above and focus on the positives by demonstrating that the tests have shown where they need to work hard.

In life, not everyone can be successful and often those who succeed are the ones who have put in the time to be so. 

Presenting the situation as a challenge to be met rather than a final outcome can actually help children to learn a very valuable lesson in life and once worked for and achieved demonstrates the rewards that can be achieved through hard work.

Love them or hate them, entrance exams are here to stay in the kingdom and whilst it is stress that we don’t want our children to be exposed to, they can if faced with the right attitude, demonstrate a mindset that can help them enormously for the rest of their lives.