It's your child's first major State exam and the pressure of that should not be underestimated, writes Brian Mooney.
The Junior Certificate, which replaced the Intermediate Certificate taken by previous generations of 15-year-olds, is only weeks away, with the written examinations starting on Wednesday, June 8th. Students who decided to take the optional oral tests in Irish, French, German, Spanish and Italian have already completed this aspect of the examination. Those students taking art, craft, design, technology, civic social and political education, and religious education have already submitted project work, a growing part of both Junior and Leaving Certificate examinations.
The aims of the Junior Cert programme are educationally sound, setting out to reinforce and further extend the knowledge, understanding, attitudes, skills and competencies acquired at primary level. It will develop the young person's personal and social confidence, initiative and competence and prepare him or her for the requirements of further programmes of study, of employment or of life outside full-time education. The programme will also contribute to the moral and spiritual development of the young person and develop a tolerance and respect for the values and beliefs of others. Finally the Junior Cert aims to prepare the young person for the responsibilities of citizenship in the national context and in the context of the wider European and global communities.
The Junior Cert programme is based on the curricular principles of breadth and balance, relevance, quality, continuity and progression and coherence. Students who have just completed their three-year programme will, in accordance with their abilities and aptitudes, have achieved competence in literacy, numeracy, in practical skills - including computer literacy, information technology - and spoken-language skills which will allow them to participate as young adults in society. They will have been exposed to a range of experiences in various domains of activity - artistic, intellectual, scientific, physical and practical as well as moral, religious and spiritual. Through a range of subjects, they will have acquired knowledge and received supportive guidance in matters of personal health, sexual awareness and relationships, and developed an appreciation of their social, cultural and physical heritage and environment and an understanding of the central concepts of citizenship.
The programme is built around the core themes of language, literature and communication, mathematical studies and applications, science and technology, social, political and environmental education, arts, physical, religious and moral education and guidance, counselling and pastoral care.
All students will sit a range of subjects from among the following: Irish, English, mathematics, history, geography, Latin, Greek, classical studies, Hebrew studies, French, German, Spanish, Italian, science, technology, home economics, music, art, craft, design, materials technology (wood), metalwork, technical graphics, business studies, typewriting, environmental and social studies, civic social and political education, and religious education.
Parents and teachers may underestimate the level of stress and anxiety the students taking the Junior Cert experience, given their own perception of the exam's relative unimportance in the long term given that the vast majority of students will go on to take the Leaving Certificate programme.
For the average 15-year-old it is the first State examination that they will sit and the task of taking six written examinations in Irish, English, maths and civic, social and political education, between 9.30am on Wednesday, June 8th and 3.30pm on Friday, June 10th is a daunting one. Most students will also have two examinations on each day of the following week.
So, what can students taking the examination over the coming month do now to prepare for the task ahead and what can parents do to help?
Students will, by now, have selected their subjects and the level at which they are taking each one - higher, ordinary or foundation. Unlike in the Leaving Cert, a student will not be allowed to change his or her mind on the day of the examination, regarding the level of paper they wish to take. Some parents or students see this as unfair. I believe it is a correct policy. Fifteen-year-old children should not have to deal with the stress of last-minute panic attacks as the invigilator approaches them with the examination paper. If, however, a parent wishes to support a change of level for their son or daughter in any subject now, it is essential that this is communicated immediately to the school principal.
In these last few weeks before the examination, students should focus exclusively on preparing answers from past examination papers. They should practise answering a full paper to improve their time-management skills. Parents should examine this work to ensure that their child gave appropriate weight to each question and section, based on the marks allocated to each. They should also check that the student is answering the question asked as many candidates taking formal examinations for the first time tend to drift away from the actual question asked and write everything they know about the matter in question.
As in all examinations, parents should ensure that children preparing for the Junior Cert maintain a balanced lifestyle, eat a good diet, take exercise and establish a healthy sleeping pattern - they should resist the temptation to allow their child to study late into the night. It is usually counterproductive. Given their child's inexperience in taking formal exams, parents should ensure that they are aware of the times of each examination. They should ascertain from the school what their child will require for various subjects, as well as the usual pens, rulers, erasers, sharpeners, highlighters.
Given the intensity of taking two papers each day the student should take a nutritious lunch with them, and parents should discuss with their child how they plan to spend the hour-and-a-half between each examination. Having postmortems with fellow students on the morning's paper is a useless exercise to be avoided. Students should find a quiet place to eat lunch and look over their revision notes or cards for the afternoon examination.
Finally, parents should be very much in the listening mode over the period of the exams. The exam student should be allowed to tell the story of each day's papers before moving on to the next. A non-extravagant, inexpensive treat now and again over the coming weeks can be just what students need to settle them down as they confront the task ahead of them.
