[SMC Magazine ‘নোঙর’] Holistic approach to PSLE- Few tips : Saiyara Makhnoon

PSLE is around the corner. That means that this year’s batch of Primary 6 is grueling hard to attain a score good enough to get them into their dream schools.

The Primary School Leaving Examinations, widely abbreviated as the PSLE, is one of the many national exams in Singapore that cause stress among many of our youths today.

Self-expectations, expectations from parents, relatives, uncles and aunties, all add up to their stress level. However, this stress isn’t necessarily bad. It helps to motivate the pupil.

Having taken the PSLE last year, I can very well say that PSLE isn’t as difficult as you may imagine it to be. Reason being, MOE has to think of all the average/below average pupils in Singapore. If the paper ends up being too difficult, they will barely pass. Hence, the papers, I would say are fairly moderate.

However, MOE can’t set a paper so easy that even below average pupils can ace. Therefore, among all the easy questions, there will be a certain few, that will make you think deep that certain pupils of a higher ability will be able ace.

Therefore in this article, I’ll give my fellow PSLE juniors or even the others who are going to take the same exam in the next few years a few tips 🙂

1. Don’t burn the midnight oil.
It is always important never to stay up until midnight studying. Reason being, the next morning you will probably find yourself too lethargic to even go to school, or doze off in between classes. Attention during classes is necessary as you are learning new things every single day. Make sure you are energetic for the next day. Going to sleep at around 10:00-10:30 pm is advisable.

2. Don’t over study.
Yes, of course, we say it’s good to be hardworking, because hard work is the key to success. However, over studying isn’t good either. Studying too much at once can cause you to forget more easily. So therefore, study slowly and digest what you are learning slowly. Slow and steady wins the race.

3. Always revise what you have learnt.
After coming back from school everyday, take an hour or so to look through everything that you have learnt for the day. This helps to refresh your memory and it also helps to remember things better. There are many ways you can remember your notes
For Example:

• Highlighting the notes in yellow/bright colors
• Drawing out the notes
• Making it vibrant
• Writing notes/mind maps

Revision for the PSLEs should never be left for the last minute as it won’t help much, except merely adding on to the stress before PSLE nights. Always revise early and daily so that the pressure on the night before the PSLEs is minimum.

4. Reflect back on your mistakes and summarize them.
During my PSLE year, what I used to do was to create a list of all the spelling/grammatical/common mistakes I made. Creating a list makes it easier to reflect back on mistakes so that won’t be repeated in future. Summarizing your mistakes makes sure you don’t have to go through the trouble of finding them all over again when revising and it’s also easy to bring along on the day of the PSLE other than bringing along a whole file of worksheets.

5. Spend some of your time with your hobbies/interests
This is very important. As the saying goes “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”

Always remember to spend at least an hour everyday on once a week engaging in your hobby, as it helps you to refresh and cleanse your mind. Studying continuously will make your brain go haywire that is why it is always good to have a 10 minutes break after 1.5 to 2 hours of studying. It might be reading a book, gazing out of the window or even listening to music.

6. Exercise and keep healthy
This brings me back to my 5th point. Studying without any physical activity affects you adversely. Exercise and eat healthily for a healthy outcome of mind and body. At this stage, it is not appropriate for anyone to go on a diet to lose weight as this is our growing period. Make sure you eat moderately and also exercise regularly. Spend 30 minutes of your evenings exercising at least twice a week or so. Keeping healthy will ensure your well-being so that you do not miss classes and also you can keep a fresh and open mind for digesting notes. Drink lots of water and keep fit as at this point of life, falling sick will be the last thing that you would wish for.

Everyone has their expectations. Make sure that your expectations are realistic. If you are someone who always scores a ‘B’, then don’t expect yourself to reach an A* overnight. Work towards an ‘A’ first and gradually work towards an A*. Remember ‘Slow and steady wins the race’

On the other hand, if you are consistently scoring an A or A*, remember to never become complacent. Always try to keep up to your level or even so, do better.

Everyone wants to go to the dream school of their choice. For me it has always been a dream to go to one of the top few schools in Singapore. National Junior College is one of the finest schools in Singapore.

Our very own prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong was from NJC.Along with him are many of our other ministers for example Vivian Balakrishnan (Minister of Environment) , Ng Eng Hen (Minister of Manpower), Gan Kim Yong (Minister of State of Education) and the list could go on.

NJC always had a very good reputation of producing fine scholars and amazing A’level results. It is one of the top 5 junior colleges in Singapore.NJC offers a holistic education and needs a minimum of 255(2013 cut-off point) to get into the school, for O’ levels an outstanding score of 5 points.

NJC has a very fun-filled environment with top notch facilities. The NJC environment is very friendly and conducive. The school is huge and amazing. NJC focuses a lot on not only academics but also so much more on the building of one’s character. Being one of the top 5 secondary schools in Singapore-it has produced many President Scholars and talented young people.

I would like to end this article by saying that PSLE isn’t the only exam in your life. There are so many others to come. Infact, its just the beginning of this learning journey.It doesn’t matter where you study ,which school you study in, because at the end of the day it all depends on you as an individual and the sweet fruit of your hard work.

• PDF Version [Published at SMC Magazine “নোঙর” May 2014]

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Saiyara Makhnoon is a student of Junior High 1, National Junior College. She is the daughter of Ataul Majid Ujjal (26)