Without fear in heart nor doubt in mind

I was looking at the calender reflecting on the year gone by when I realised that in a week or so, matriculants across South Africa will be sitting down for their final exams that will determine their careers and lifelong opportunities.

We all know its been a long and difficult year for education in South Africa, with the world cup and the never- ending public servant's strike, Matriculants were more than crippled and preparation time shortened.

Now the countdown to final exams begins, Vuvuzelas are finding their silence and the strikes have calmed but this is when the heat is turned on for the matriculants.

It is when the heat is on that we boil over!!! On behalf of all the matriculants I'm saying BRING ON THE HEAT!!!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."-Coach Carter

Big screen education

Gauteng Education invites grade 12 learners to revise at cinemas

The Gauteng Department of Education in partnership with Ster Kinekor cinemas has organised free audiovisual screenings of learning material for grade 12 learners. The screenings will assist learners with revision and preparation for the final matric examinations and will take place from 18 October 2010 to 22 October 2010. This is part of the support to the Matric Class of 2010.

Tickets are free and available on a first come first served basis at the cinemas listed below. Learners are invited to take advantage of this programme. Topics that will be screened have been carefully selected to address those areas that learners usually struggle with during exams.

These topics include organic chemistry, popular theories of mass extinction, financial maths, essay writing, transactional writing, and calculus. Subjects that will be screened are Maths, Maths Literacy, English First Additional Language, Accounting, Life Sciences and Physical Science.

The screenings (click here for the schedule) will take place at the following Ster Kinekor cinemas and admission is free to all Grade 12 Learners:

• Brooklyn Mall
• Carnival City
• East Rand Mall
• Eastgate Mall
• Fourways Mall
• Greenstone Mall
• Key West
• Maponya Mall
• Randburg Cresta
• Sandton City
• Westgate
• Wonder Park

The GDE encourages learners to take advantage of this programme and visit cinemas closest to them. We urge parents, educators and communities to continue supporting all learners and especially the matric class of 2010.

Tackle matric successfully

Hello Bloggers

So after a request from our follower, I thought to go out there and find out if anyone has any helpfull hints on how to combat the tension of matric final exams. I found an article wont give you the answers to the exams but should certainly help with preparing for the exams.


Tackle matric successfully


With just a few weeks to go before the 2010 matric examinations, learners should be hard at work preparing for the challenge.

Shereen Dindar, Demartini life coach for the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Skills Training, who is a former English matric teacher, advises matriculants to "keep calm, eat healthily and exercise during this time to keep stress levels down".

"The key is to work consistently and constantly, pacing yourself with a scheduled timetable according to papers," she said.

The Western Cape education department has compiled a booklet, Tips for Success, which provides advice on how to prepare for the final exams. The booklet advises learners to start studying as early as possible on a daily basis so as to manage time effectively; attend school regularly; practise reading and writing skills, which will improve with time; ensure that you have all your textbooks and work systematically through them; eat healthily and exercise throughout the year; surround yourself with positive, happy people who will support you throughout this time; plan and work hard; make sure you have handed in all your practical assessment tasks or you will receive a "999" rating, which means incomplete. Such a mark will prevent you from matriculating.

The Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy, an NGO that helps people improve their literacy skills, advises learners to make use of the five top preparation tips for exam success: read, review, revise, relax and plan. According to the chief executive of Molteno, Masennya Dikotla, learners should keep the following in mind. First, read carefully through your work. The key is to summarise the content in your own words so that, when the time for revision comes, you should be steering away from textbooks and revising your own notes.

Use helpful study techniques such as mind-mapping. This entails using diagrams to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. These symbols can help with memory recall by remembering picture cues. Whatever you're drawing, the key is to use pictures and words to help you recall concepts easily.

Work with study partners. Team up with someone who has different strengths from your own so that you're able to help each other. Before the exam, take time to relax. Spend no more than an hour reviewing key concepts as taxing the brain at this late stage can cause you to panic.

Time management is crucial to exam success. Spend the first 10 minutes simply reading through the paper and allotting time to answering each section of the paper according to how many marks have been allocated.

Tips for Success advises learners that, on the day of the exam, they should arrive early; take time to read and understand the instructions; preview the question paper and allocate writing time appropriately; tackle each question systematically; write down something for each question; and set out your answers clearly. If you feel you are unable to answer a question, don't panic; and stay in the exam until the end.

Source: theTeacher
September 2010
Page 2