FOR MANY years, Wolmer's Boys' School has maintained a reputation of being one of Jamaica's top male institutions, with its students receiving some of the most outstanding passes at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

Principal of the 280-year-old school, Dr Walton Small, recently told The Gleaner that he expects nothing less than a 90 per cent pass in this year's sitting of the external exams.

With more than 200 boys set to sit some 19 subjects at CSEC later this year, Small said preparation has been quite rigorous.

The school had excellent results in the core subjects of mathematics and English last year. With some 224 students sitting English, the school received 206 passes, which included 94 distinctions and 73 credits. In maths, 185 of 224 students received passes, with 156 distinctions and credits.

Secure high marks in sba

The headmaster said one of the main strategies that Wolmer's seeks to employ is to ensure that the students secure high marks in those subjects that carry a school-based assessment (SBA) before they even enter the exam room.

"We believe that if you go into the exam with a good SBA mark, chances are you will pass and do well," he said. "We place great emphasis on the completion of SBAs, so we have them do drafts in time for us to assess them and give them back to them."

Small said the aim was to have the students enter the exams with an almost perfect grade in their SBAs.

"We incorporate rules like, if you don't do your SBAs on time, you can't graduate, so the compliance rate for SBAs is excellent," he said.

Small further said the school ensures that students are given regular internal exams in order to prepare them for their external CSEC papers.

"Once we are getting close to exams, we do a lot of testing, particularly on specific topics and areas that are perceived to be the weakest," he said. "We also encourage a lot of practice on pass papers, which we provide to the students through our school's library."

Parental support

The headmaster further said the school depends heavily on parental support in preparing the students for their exams.

"Our parent-teacher association (PTA) plays a very active role," he said. "We have several seminars and camps that are organised by the PTA, including an Easter workshop.

"The students will come in during their Easter break and are given exam tips in all subject areas, not just maths and English, from past students," informed Small.

In addition, teachers in various departments also conduct their own exam camps and workshops.

Small said one of the main projects organised by the PTA, that he knows goes a far way with the students, is its breakfast programme.

"Whenever we have large exams, the PTA actually comes on campus and makes sure that all students get a good breakfast. They do this at no cost to the school. They come in, set up a big tent and all the students get a proper meal," he said.

Unlike most high schools, Small said Wolmer's does not have a streaming system. This, he pointed out, was done as a strategy to ensure that students who are perceived as 'slow' get an equal chance and are not left behind.

"We also focus a lot on peer tutoring," he added. "Sometimes, the teacher might not be able to get the information across to the student, but when you listen to the peers teaching each other, it's amazing."

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com