Planning against the pressure
Being prepared and not needing to cram at the last minute has been the secret for some Manawatu¯ high school students staring down NCEA exams and the stress that comes with them.
Three Awatapu College year 13 students, Owen Keenan, Grace Berge and Mosiah Igatia, will be among the 140,000 children across the country who start NCEA exams tomorrow.
There are 6784 students entered for NCEA exams in Manawatu¯ -Whanganui, including 262 for New Zealand scholarship, and many of those have had their heads buried in books and highlighter pens in preparation.
The three from Awatapu seem well prepared for the three weeks of examinations, and were confident of doing well without much of a hint of nerves.
Igatia, 17, has external exams for chemistry, physics, Ma¯ ori and statistics and he likes to do most of his study at home.
‘‘There’s a little bit of anxiety,’’ he said.
‘‘There is pressure that comes with it being our last year [at school].
‘‘The reality for students is it can be a struggle, but if you organise yourself and you have habits, that can really help you out.’’
Igatia won’t go to university next year because he has a Mormon mission planned.
Keenan, 18, has exams for physics, calculus, chemistry and home economics, and he plans on studying a bachelor of science at Massey University next year.
He said some teachers offered tutorials, but he printed off old exams and did a little bit of revision for each subject every night, which he felt helped him remember things better.
‘‘It’s good in class, the teachers plan ahead so we’ve got this time, so we can go over any last-minute work and practise for the exams we’ve got coming up.’’
But the 18-year-old was calm heading into exams.
‘‘I think that if I’m stressed I don’t work as well. I just don’t stress and do what I can and it works for me.’’
Berge, 18, has exams for physics, calculus, biology and statistics, and she said she has had time to do her revision and fix anything that needed it.
She is well prepared, but gets encouragement at home too.
‘‘It’s good having my parents pushing me the times I don’t need to study, and I’m watching Netflix, and they come and say: ‘You need to do this’.’’
Berge had been looking at working in a trade, and was taking woodwork, metalwork and graphics, but changed her subjects during the year when she decided she wanted to get into teaching or genetics.
NCEA exams, for level one, two and three, and scholarship, run from tomorrow until November 30.