At the time of writing, our junior students have just under three weeks to go until they sit their first formal school examinations for the year. These include the four core subjects and one or two option subjects.

In a few days, parents/caregivers will be provided with detailed information regarding the examination period. Students will also be given this information electronically and in hard copy. We will be emailing an outline of the content and skills that will be covered in the four core examinations so that your son can more accurately focus his revision effort.

Preparing for examinations is about reviewing and, yes, remembering (memorizing) a certain amount of content. Knowledge is critical for high level thinking and applying skills in his subjects. Unfortunately, a fair amount of current educational thinking is based on the view that learning and teaching knowledge is no longer important, because you can just “Google it”. Instead, it is believed that the teaching of certain skills or competencies is what is critical. Briar Lipson, author of the book, “New Zealand’s Education Delusion”, uses research data to challenge this current thinking – particularly the focus on child-centred learning and prioritising skills or competencies over knowledge. At Palmerston North Boys’ High School, we believe, as does the author of this book, that the appropriate skills and competencies can only be effectively taught and developed through the learning of subject knowledge. “Both empirical research and cognitive science show that for school children, direct teaching of knowledge is the best route to “competencies”. (Lipson, 2020).

Students who do well at Palmerston North Boys’ High School are those who study their notes/content and therefore have a thorough subject knowledge. This allows them to then apply that knowledge and think critically in the subject. It is obvious to teachers at this school, that those students who do not have a thorough content knowledge are the ones who struggle in examinations and internal assessments. It is difficult to put together a series of well -constructed arguments if you do not know anything! So, for those year nine students who attended the Study Skills sessions, now is the time to apply those skills you were taught on how to study effectively and retain important information.

The examinations will serve two main purposes. Firstly, they force students to revise the content of their courses. For many of us, it is only when we review the coursework again in a focused (and often urgent) way, that we fully understand much of the work we have been doing throughout the year. Secondly, the examinations serve to provide feedback to your son about “where he is at”. We all face “tests” at various points in our lives and for your son, this will not change when he leaves school. For many students, these examinations will confirm to them that they are on track for achieving their goals. At the end of the examination week, they will feel reassured. These young men simply need to keep working diligently for the remainder of the year.

For others, these examinations are equally important as they will confirm to them that a significant amount of work is required prior to the end of year examinations. For these young men, their response to the outcome of these examinations is vitally important. Hopefully, the experience will serve as an impetus to put in a more diligent work effort in class and prepare more thoroughly for the examinations at the end of the year.

I encourage your son to speak with his teachers about the up-coming examinations so that he knows what to expect and where to access the appropriate resources and exemplars.

Many senior students have been busy completing internal assessments. When these have been marked and returned to your son, the grade is entered on our Student Management System, along with a comment from the teacher. Each subject department will tend to have their own standardised comments. These provide important feedback to your son, and to you as parents/caregivers, and I encourage you to look at his results and the comments on the Parent Portal.

As an example, the comment relating to an internal assessment may indicate that your son has worked diligently on the assessment and has achieved an outstanding grade because of this. Or, the comment may indicate that despite gaining an “average” grade, your son worked incredibly hard and should be proud of his effort and the result he achieved. Alternatively, the comment may be more along the lines of... “While your son gained an Achieved grade, he has let himself down as he was capable of a much better result with an appropriate work effort.”

These comments are aimed at giving you regular feedback on your son’s internal assessment results, which form a significant part of his academic results in the senior school.

I wish the junior school well for the upcoming examination period. I also encourage the senior school to continue to plan wisely for their internal assessments so that they achieve to their potential.

G Sinclair

Senior Master