Helping your child prepare for exams

Helping your child prepare for exams

Exam time has always been nerve-wracking for children, but more so for their parents!  Covid-19 has notched the level of nervousness into overdrive.  Extended periods of school closure, uncertainty around school holidays, the rotational system for school attendance and on-line lessons… the pressure and subsequent stress on our children has been unlike anything families have had to face before.

As a parent I am constantly mindful of the support my sons need at this time.  Thinking on ways to help my youngest, in his first year of high school and my older in grade 12 has consumed much of my thoughts over the past months.  Creating an environment at home that is stress free, during a pandemic, has been no easy task.  Under normal circumstances matric is a year characterised by pressure, and angst.  So, you can just imagine that having a matriculant at home this year has left my family feeling somewhat frazzled!

Having worked for many years with children at our centre, I am fortunate to have picked up some useful tips along the way. Younger children for instance benefit from structure and practical assistance, while older children need encouragement and support.

These are some suggestions on how to help your child prepare for his/her exams:

  1. Encourage them to draw up a study timetable. Children need this structure and a clear routine. When they know what needs to be done, they are less likely to feel overwhelmed and tend to be more focused.
  2. Stress can trigger a range of other emotions. Children, irrespective of age, need emotional support. At times just listening and acknowledging their emotions shows support and understanding of what they are going through. This will encourage them.
  3. Preparing for exams should not mean studying 24/7. Adequate rest and healthy snack breaks are essential if they are to keep focused and less stressed. Its easier to learn, understand and memorise work in sections rather than trying to cram for long hours before the exam.
  4. Working through old exam papers and revision exercises have proved to be effective. Children are then prepared for how the exam paper is set out and the way in which questions are asked. They need to stop and look at the mark allocation per question and decide how much time should be spent on each question. Whist this is helpful to children in higher grades, children in senior primary can also benefit.
  5. When children begin to panic because they are struggling to understand the work, it is helpful to reassure them that they can call on assistance. Many schools provide extra lessons, there are subject tutors for hire, a study buddy is helpful as is joining a study group.  Drawing on these resources can help build confidence and develop a better understanding in the subjects he/she needs assistance in.
  6. Finally – This may be easier said than done because many of us have full time jobs but testing your child on sections learnt is helpful. It allows for encouraging words and helps assess those areas that need additional focus.  Helping your child break things down makes concepts easier to grasped and understand.

Good luck – Keep your eye on the end goal and breath😊

Thanks to you, our children are on the way up!

Thanks to you, our children are on the way up!

Weeks without being able to go to school during 2020 – and then the rotational system for school attendance that was introduced when schools finally opened again – have highlighted the learning challenges of our children.

Although these challenges existed before the pandemic, reduced face-to-face teaching has compounded the problem. At DCYCC, we introduced an academic support programme last year, and this identified reading and writing as the main areas where most of our children struggle.

Thanks to HSBC Bank, and many other donors who responded so positively to our appeal, we received the necessary funding to provide educational and emotional assessment and treatment for the most critical cases.

German Embassy steps in to aid with our Covid-19 Risk Reduction

German Embassy steps in to aid with our Covid-19 Risk Reduction

Exciting times, as old tiles and sanitaryware are removed from our bathrooms, and new spaces created to create beautiful modern ablutions facilities for the kids!

We are so grateful to the German Embassy for their incredible donation towards our Covid-19 risk reduction need, which has enabled us to make a start on upgrading ablution facilities and isolation rooms.

With the basic guidelines and preventative measures necessary to protect children and staff against Covid-19, came the realisation that our isolation rooms and old ablution facilities simply weren’t good enough.  A risk assessment was done and a number of areas were identified as risk areas. With finances already stretched to the limit, we were not able to plan the necessary upgrades, until the German Embassy stepped in. Thank you for your caring and generous support.

 

Level 5 Leadership Qualification

Level 5 Leadership Qualification

Back in 2019 we received notice that the HWSETA was offering our child and youth care workers an opportunity to improve their qualification. In addition, we were able to extend the training for the practical section of the qualification to another 13 unemployed learners.

Then along came Covid-19 … wreaking havoc with the timeline for this training. However, our trainees persevered and will complete the Level 5 Qualification in Child Care by the end of this year.

As we worked with the HWSETA to provide both employed and unemployed learners with the best possible learning environment, a relationship developed that has resulted in the HWSETA entrusting the coordination of another Level 5 qualification training programme to us. This programme will be available to 50 employed child and youth care workers from other Child Care Centres in and around Durban.

We are very excited by this partnership and are grateful for the opportunity to contribute towards the professional development of child and youth care workers.

Message from the Director

Message from the Director

In reflecting on this past year, I am saddened by the pain so many people have had to experience. The loss of loved ones, livelihoods, and life as it was pre Covid-19. The looting and unrest here in KZN was another moment in time that will forever remain etched in our memories. The intense emotions linked to these experiences seem to swirl around us with unrelenting force, leaving us spent.

The beautiful thing about working with children though is how they remind us, every day in so many ways, why we cannot lose hope. Hope for our future, for our families and for our country. This little four-letter word, H O P E is so much bigger than what it looks like on paper.

Hope is not pretending that there is no hardship or sorrow. It is rather the quiet still voice that whispers that our troubles are for a season. It is the inner strength we can draw on to sustain us now and tomorrow. Hope is an amazing feeling.

It is hope that has kept so many of us going this year. As lockdown levels eased, we saw how hope rose in our children. Hope for more meaningful contact with family and community, hope for regular school attendance and hope for a future.

The generous support of so many of our donors kept hope alive as we struggled to raise funds in an environment that has become progressively more hostile and barren – as the after effects of the pandemic and, more recently, the looting took effect. As we draw close to wrapping up this year, let us hold tightly onto the light and promise that hope fosters in our hearts.