STUDENTS CONFIDENT

There was a high level of confidence among the students who sat the Common Entrance Examination yesterday.

This is according to their parents, who took the time out to speak with The Barbados Advocate while waiting for their children to come out of the exam centre at The St. Michael School.

One of these parents was James Arthur, who said his son James Arthur Jr., a student at the George Lamming Primary School, was “confident”. His mother, Allison Boyce-Arthur, added that her son was also “quite excited and very focused”.

She stated that her son wants to go to Queen’s College (QC) and this was an aim that he had since he was in Infants B. This dream might become a reality as the young man has performed consistently well since he was in that particular form, always placing in the top two in his classes, said his father. He added that this was in addition to playing football and participating in karate.

His preparations included lessons at the school on Thursdays from 3 p.m. to sometimes as late as 6 p.m. and on Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Boyce-Arthur said that her advice to her son prior to going into the exam was to take time to be accurate, read the questions carefully, follow the instructions and check over your work.

Ricardo Franklyn’s daughter, Shariya Franklyn, 10, also a student at George Lamming, said that she was “quite confident” heading into the exam room yesterday morning. English has always been easy for her while Maths can be a bit challenging.

She had lessons three days a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Ifill Academy.

She would like to go to the Foundation School because her cousin goes there. Ricardo’s advice to her before she headed into the exam room was to put her best foot forward and do her best.

Makeba Burgess noted that her ten-year-old daughter, Makaylah Haynes of the George Lamming Primary School, was “not nervous, not anxious” as she went into the exam room that morning. She had extra lessons in both Maths and English on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Burgess said that her daughter wants to go to the Foundation School, although she never gave her a reason why. She said that she advised her daughter to do her best, take it one question at a time, and if you get stuck on one question, leave it and finish the rest of the questions and come back to it. She also told Makaylah that she would be praying for her.

George Lamming student, Malakai Cadogan, 11, told his mother, Maria Cadogan, that the day (yesterday) was the biggest day of his life. He had lessons four days a week, two days at the school and two days at the St. Leonard’s Boys’ School.

He said that he wants to go to St. Leonard’s because he is familiar with the school, having done lessons there. Maria said that she told her son not to leave out any questions and if you do not know an answer, leave it and come back to it later. (PJT)