11-Plus preparation should begin early

 

 

Start your child’s preparation for the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE) when they are in Infants rather than waiting to do so when they reach Class 4.

 

This advice comes from two Class 4 teachers who stressed that preparation for the 11-Plus Exam should not occur one or two years prior to the major test. Rather preparation should be an ongoing process which starts during the child’s early years of primary school.

 

Speaking to The Barbados Advocate at the Christ Church Foundation School on Tuesday during the BSSEE, one female teacher, who asked for anonymity, stated, “The preparation does not start in the year that you enter Class 4. It is ongoing because there are so many concepts involved.”

 

She continued, “You would not advise them [the parent or guardian] to start late especially if you know you have a child who may have challenges in a particular area and you want to cement certain concepts and get them the necessary remediation they would require before that time comes, so it is not a rush or a last-minute process and then the child becomes uncomfortable and the parent is also uncomfortable even more so than the child. So the earlier the better is always advised.”

 

Her male counterpart, who also requested not to be identified, additionally urged parents not to wait until Class 4 to begin the preparation. He stated that small steps such as cultivating good study habits could begin when the child is very young. 

 

“It is a whole curriculum that you have to cover from the whole primary school syllabus. So from day one, in fact, from the time they are in Infants they should be conditioning themselves [and] making sure that they have good study habits. The parents [should] keep involved, making sure that the home environment is conducive for studying and they work in tandem with the teachers. That is very important too, making sure they keep a good relationship with the teachers so that they preach the same thing at school and at home and don’t start from Class 4, just keep it going from day one.”