Education experts provided tips for the matric final exams, which represents the ultimate test of endurance, fortitude and resilience.
Johannesburg - With the 2022 final matric examinations looming, it is normal for Grade 12 pupils, parents and educators to be filled with stress and anxiety.
As matriculants prepare for the final examination of their schooling career next week, education experts have provided the following tips and advice to help them through the exam which represents the ultimate test of endurance, fortitude and resilience.
Joseph Gerassi - Executive Head of Redhill School
Gerassi believes that it is completely normal for all those involved to experience mixed emotions about the final matric exams.
“I know this may be of little comfort when faced with an angry teenager who suddenly finds it to be of the utmost importance that they tidy their room, and who reacts angrily at any suggestion that they should go and study, but please know that this season shall pass,” he explained.
He added that it was important to understand the impact that stress and anxiety have on a youngster’s brain, and performance.
“Say, for example, that your child went for a walk in your suburb, and was suddenly chased by an aggressive dog. The more primitive part of their hindbrain (the amygdala) would immediately kick in and flood their body with adrenaline, so they could run faster than usual and perhaps even scale a wall to escape,” he said.
“Much like animals in the wild, your child would react instinctively and become focused solely on survival so now imagine that while they were trying to escape this aggressive dog, you asked them to remember a physics formula or quadratic equation.”
“It would be virtually impossible for them to think rationally or logically while in this fight-or-flight mode and this is one of the key reasons why stress and anxiety can lead to poor performance, because students aren’t activating the pre-frontal cortex of their brain where reasoning, objectivity and problem solving takes place, and are instead living in survival/fight-or-flight mode.”
Here are some of Gerassi’s practical tips to help lessen families’ stress levels during the Matric examinations:
- Go right back to basics. Create as much calm and stability at home – regular healthy meals and snacks, outdoor activity where possible (to burn off any excess adrenaline) and regular sleep habits.
- Your child should ideally go to sleep no later than 11pm at night, as a sleep-deprived child cannot perform at their best in an exam. Scientists have also found that processes specifically related to learning help a student consolidate during sleep what they learned while awake, which makes getting enough sleep vital during the writing of exams. Should your child not have an exam the next day, it is wise to let them sleep until around 9am before beginning that day’s study schedule.
- Cell phones should ideally charge in another room overnight to prevent your child from being overstimulated and internalising the anxiety of others on whatsapp groups deep into the night. Expect some backlash on this point – perhaps compromise and only enforce this rule the night before exams, if needs be.
- Encourage your child to learn from their mistakes in previous exams and assessments – at Redhill, we often speak about failing forward and using mistakes to grow and learn. The same applies to revision – students should ideally go through past assessments and tests and redo sections where they fell down, instead of just going through their notes over and over again. Additional practice papers are always of value.
- Understand that procrastination does not equal laziness. It’s amazing how many matrics suddenly feel inspired to clean their room or alphabetize your spice cupboard close to exam time. Some of the latest thinking is that procrastination is actually a form of stress release – moving away from something that causes anxiety (like studying for Finals) and instead doing something that makes you feel productive (like cleaning your room). Let it happen – let them do something that allows them to destress, with a gentle reminder that they move back to their studies in an hour or two’s time.
- Remind your child WHY they should read through the entire exam paper before beginning. That way, they can play to their strengths and plan their strategy. If they feel their stress and anxiety levels rising, they can move to a section of the paper they are more comfortable with and work on that. In that way, they save time, build their confidence in sections they’re more comfortable in, and then return to more challenging questions when they’re ready.
- If they are open to hearing about it – you can explain how not all stress is bad. There’s negative stress (referred to as distress), and positive stress (known as eustress) that actually helps drive you forward and achieve your goals. Think of Olympic swimmers on the starting block before the race – you can see the excess adrenaline and energy that they are mentally channelling to help them achieve their goals. Feeling completely calm before an exam is highly unlikely – so it’s wise for students to mentally channel that extra energy and stress for good, and to visualise how they are going to achieve their goals in each paper.
- Don’t take it personally. As your child’s safe space, you are the likely recipient of their anger and outbursts. As someone once put it, you are the rock against which your child’s waves will crash! Where you reasonably can, try not to take it personally and aim to weather the storm for the next few weeks.
On the day of the exam:
Please leave home at least half an hour or more earlier. With load-shedding and unpredictable traffic patterns, the worst thing you can do is put your child in a position where they are scared they will be late, while also witnessing you speeding and shouting and swerving in traffic. This will put them straight into the fight-or-flight part of their brain and will certainly impact their performance in that day’s exam. Leave early, drive quietly and calmly, and do whatever you can to give your child a gentle and confident start to the day.
- After each exam, let your child talk (or not talk) about their paper and their experience of it. Then move on. If they had a bad experience and feel they didn’t achieve what they wanted to, let them vent and decompress without trying to fix it. Sometimes, as parents, we try so hard to fix any difficult emotions our children are facing, when actually the best thing we can do is just empathise. A simple – “I’m so sorry, that sounds awful. I’m sorry it wasn’t a good paper,” is enough to let them feel heard and decompress. Then change the mood by suggesting you stop for coffee on the way home.
Peter Kriel, General Manager at The Independent Institute of Education, explains below some of the things that parents can do – as well as a few they should not do – to make the matric exam season easier.
Keep a close eye
One of the most important ways a parent can support a child without being overbearing and too much in their space is to keep a close eye on the student, Kriel believes.
“Leave them to get on with their studies, but look out for behaviours that could be cause for concern,” he said.
“For instance, get insight into their study schedule and, if procrastination is getting out of hand and can’t be reconciled with what the parent knows the student had planned for revision, gently suggest that you look at the schedule again together to see how the student can get back on track before falling too far behind.”
He added that empowerment trumps chastisement in these circumstances.
“Keeping ahead of the game is key, as it is almost always possible to get back on track if things are not left too late.”
Meanwhile, on the physical wellness side, parents can help remind their child to get some sleep if they have been hitting the books for too long, too late at night.
“They can also ensure that students eat as healthy as possible while drinking plenty of water and getting exercise so that fatigue doesn’t impact their ability to study,” Kriel said.
Get help timeously if warning signs arise
Kriel said that unfortunately, some matrics – even top performers – struggle during this time to such a degree that they may need additional or even professional support.
“If parents suspect that their child is struggling emotionally to deal with the increased pressure and stress, seek guidance from a mental health professional or a counsellor at school.”
And he added that while matric exam results are undoubtedly very important, it is just as important to keep a sense of perspective, which sometimes becomes hard to do for students in the thick of it, who could potentially start catastrophising about results and their future.
“Matric exams are only one part of one’s life – which will soon pass – and there will always be options available, even if those options follow a different path from the initial vision,” Kriel said.
Stay calm and keep perspective
Just as it is important for pupils to try their best while keeping a sense of perspective, parents can do their part by keeping calm as well, Kriel said.
“Be a pillar of support when needed, but don’t pass your own anxiety on to your child.”
He believes that fear about the future and concerns about how well prepared a child is, are all factors that impact on the emotional state of parents.
“‘They should therefore also take good care of themselves during this time so that they can regulate their own emotions and not contribute to heightened tensions and anxiety in the house.”
Kriel also believes that anxiety around final exams arises as a result of the belief that it is the final watershed assessment opportunity for young people.
“This fallacy arises because too many parents don’t understand the options available to learners should things not go as well as expected, and many don’t even know that there are options at all.
“Speaking to education professionals either at school or at a good institution of higher education about the myriad of options out there will provide a sense of perspective in terms of outcomes, and will allow parents to calibrate their own emotions.”
Have a plan (and Plan B) for next year
Kriel said that once exams are over, allow students to take some time off to just enjoy themselves and blow off steam.
“However, don’t wait for Matric results before deciding about further study – by then it will likely be too late to gain entry into one’s choice of institution and qualification.”
He suggested sitting down and having a brainstorm reflecting on the student’s expectations about how they performed during their final exams.
“If there is a possibility that they performed better than they initially thought they would, and that they may possibly qualify for further study or even a more specialised degree, start investigating options as soon as possible.”
He suggested that parents and Grade 12s approach reputable higher education institutions, private or public, directly to speak to a student advisor about the student’s options.
“Equally, if there is a possibility that a student may not have performed well enough to gain access to the institution or qualification of choice, student advisors will be able to assist with information about alternative routes to success.”
Kriel also believes that having a Plan A as well as a Plan B in place even before results day means that regardless of what happens, pupils and parents will know that they have a clear path ahead - irrespective of their performance or in the case of them performing better than expected - and that they won’t suddenly be confronted with a wasted year ahead.