11-plus students urged to improve writing skills ahead of exam

With weeks to go before the common entrance examination, principals at two leading Christ Church primary schools warned that weak composition skills could undermine otherwise solid student performance, after a mock exam exposed persistent problems with writing and comprehension.

Tyrone Marshall, principal of Milton Lynch Primary on Water Street, noted that while many students are prepared, external factors often play a role in their academic performance.

Principal Milton Lynch Primary Tyrone Marshall. (SB)

“The majority of them have put in the work. We know the struggles that many parents face — sometimes holding down two and three jobs — and they’re not always able to be there for the children at night to look after the business,” Marshall said. “But for the most part, these boys have followed the instructions of their teacher… and we expect them to do reasonably well.”

Fonda Boyce Small, principal of Christ Church Girls’, also on Water Street, agreed that the assessment reinforced what teachers have been seeing in the classroom.

Principal Christ Church Girls Fonda Boyce Small. (SB)

“The teachers have been working diligently… reinforcing some of the same things that were brought up in relation to composition and comprehension,” Small said. “Comprehension has always been a challenge, especially in Section B for students. We hope that when they go out, they take the advice to heart and do their best.”

The assessment was facilitated by Quincy Jones, founder and director of Trident Charity, who conducted the mock exams across 12 schools in the St Michael and Christ Church zones. Delivering “11-Plus Kits” to the Water Street schools on Monday, Jones, a Democratic Labour Party candidate for the area in the February 11 general election, warned that “WhatsApp-style” language is increasingly undermining formal performance.

Founder Trident Charity Quincy Jones addresses students at Milton Lynch Primary ahead of next week’s Common Entrance Exams. (SB)

“Composition in this little mock exam has proved to be the most challenging area,” Jones told the students. “Students are putting ‘me and John’ instead of ‘John and I.’ You have to avoid using informal language; stop using the WhatsApp language—spelling ‘you’ as ‘U’ and ‘because’ as ‘BC’—in your essays.”

Jones encouraged the students to focus on using descriptive adjectives and correct subject-verb agreement in the coming days. He reminded the Class 4 pupils that leadership and hard work are more important than which secondary school they ultimately attend, noting that every institution in Barbados has produced great leaders.

As the exam date nears, both principals and the charity head emphasised that the focus remains on building confidence and eliminating the technical errors identified in the mock results.

(SB)