DP

A huge congratulations to the Class of 2023 for completing their mock exams!  These ran the week before Spring Break, and were a great opportunity for Seniors to know what it looks, feels, and sounds like to be in a DP Exam.  To help the Seniors let off steam, the Senior Spirit Committee organized an amazing Holi celebration.  Students received a white t-shirt, and then had a massive paint/water fight that lasted an hour - and was only made more fun by a torrential downpour!

We’re always looking to evaluate and improve our programme, so students were surveyed about their mock exam experiences. Results included the following:

Successes

• Mocks are “definitely worthwhile, since (at least in my case) I now feel much more confident about my final exams, and I know what to expect going into my final exams.”
  
• “Now I have a better grasp of what the final exams are going to look like and I’m less stressed about them.  I also know which subjects I need to review more of/better.”
  
• The vast majority (about 80%) of respondents thought that having cumulative exams in Grades 9 and 10 was worthwhile, with the average rating on a scale from 1-10 being 7.7 where 10 was “extremely helpful”.
  
• Students pointed to the scheduling, timing, and general organization of mocks as positives.
  

Areas for growth

• Over the past 1-2 years, AISL has introduced students to the study techniques of “active recall” and “spaced repetition”.  Studies have repeatedly shown that these techniques are powerful revision strategies.  On a scale of 1-10 where 10 was “I used these techniques a lot”, the average response was just 5.5.  We’d like to see more consistent and widespread use of these techniques by students, with teachers continuing to reinforce these skills in class.
  
• Students thought it would be helpful to see the cover sheet before mocks started, to have a quieter examination hall, and to allow Seniors to leave campus early without having to get parental approval every day.
  

With only six weeks to go before the real exams, our Seniors are finally in the home stretch.  Good luck to all students, parents, and teachers as we work towards graduation!