Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Students helping students lessen the stress of the NCEA exams

Cira Olivier
By Cira Olivier
Multimedia Journalist, Bay of Plenty Times·Bay of Plenty Times·
31 Oct, 2019 09:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Year 13 Kyle-Russell Dunsumuir, 17, is a mentor for younger students and helps with academic mentoring. Photo / Andrew Warner

Year 13 Kyle-Russell Dunsumuir, 17, is a mentor for younger students and helps with academic mentoring. Photo / Andrew Warner

For those who are about to sit their very first exam for the very first time, the 30 minutes before the timer starts is when the nerves really begin to show. Whether it's nervous fidgeting, blankly staring into nothing, or chatting non-stop, the time between lining up outside the door and the clock starting is a time when panic and fear can set in. Cira Olivier finds out what efforts Tauranga schools have gone through to relax these nerves as much as possible.

More than 400 students are preparing to sit the NCEA Level 1 English exam at Otumoetai College alone in a process described as a "well-oiled machine".

Next Wednesday, the same students will sit the exam and the same number will sit their maths exam the week after.

They will join 8771 students across the Bay of Plenty as exams run from next Friday to December 3.

Students will line up outside the hall 30 minutes before the exam, called in as each row is filled in a process described as a "well-oiled machine".

Stress and anxiety during this period depended on each child and principal Russell Gordon said this year was similar to other years and the pressure was constant throughout the year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But this year was different as Year 11 and 12 students were given seminars on how to study after the months of teaching them.

"We've given them actual tools that they can use to make their revision efficient and effective," Gordon said.

Teachers offered tips and the school also had a mentoring programme, in its second year, where Year 13 students were available during lunchtime twice a week to help junior students with questions they might have.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Student Kyle-Russell Dunsumuir, 17, was one of the 12 academic mentors.

Each student was specialised in a different subject and Kyle-Russell, who would do health science at the University of Otago next year, said it was as helpful for the 12 mentors as it was the students they helped.

Discover more

Education

Donation scheme not an easy decision for some schools

03 Nov 07:00 PM

Sitting NCEA despite already being accepted into Harvard

13 Jan 10:21 PM

He would know because he was one of the students last year.

"You're in a position to impart knowledge or help people with insight into what it was like."

He said the pressure others felt was determined by whether or not they needed to gain certain credits externally and he noticed his motivation each year had dropped when he had gained enough credits internally.

Year 13 Kyle-Russell Dunsumuir, 17, is a mentor for younger students and helps with academic mentoring. Photo / Andrew Warner
Year 13 Kyle-Russell Dunsumuir, 17, is a mentor for younger students and helps with academic mentoring. Photo / Andrew Warner

The advice he would offer his younger self would be to maintain motivation throughout the final stretch of the year.

This was a win-win in his eyes because the foundation of knowledge of the older students was strengthened and younger students may learn something in a more comfortable setting.

It will be the third year the school will trial digital exams with about 30 media students but the school did not have the capacity - back-up generators and multiple internet sources - for every exam to be done digitally.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

There are 234 students from nine schools in the Bay of Plenty entered to sit some of their NCEA exams on digital devices. There will be 33 of the exams to be done digitally.

Tauranga Boys College senior school deputy principal Rob Gilbert said the school had spent "enormous" amounts of money on the state-of-the-art WiFi system which managed each of the 2000 students with two devices each.

But although the platform was available, the digital technology exam would be the only one to be done digitally because there was no means for the boys to practice the test online.

Gilbert said the school strived for excellence and wanted to give each boy the opportunity to achieve it, whatever that may be for each student.

"It's an anxious time for students," he said, but mock exams provided feedback, and exam leave gave the time to practice.

Mount Maunganui College is all-go at the moment with study groups, tutorials and countless emails between students and teachers.

Principal Alastair Sinton said the stress, which is non-avoidable, was managed through an open relationship between staff and students.

"Our students are used to asking for help when they feel things are getting a bit much and our staff are really approachable."

Last year, there were 25 breaches relating to NCEA exams in the Bay of Plenty, and 407 across the country.

The majority of these were students failing to follow instructions, such as having a cell phone, notes or other unauthorised material in the exam.

Breaches are generally reported by examination centre managers, markers or schools and each is followed up.

NZQA deputy chief executive assessment Kristine Kilkelly said any potential breaches are handled using a confidential process which follows natural justice.

"By far the majority of students work very hard to prepare for their examinations and comply with all rules," Kilkelly said.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

live
Bay of Plenty Times

Radio distress post was hoax, 50 people evacuated, wild weather clean-up begins

11 Jul 09:42 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Radio distress post was hoax, 50 people evacuated, wild weather clean-up begins
live

Radio distress post was hoax, 50 people evacuated, wild weather clean-up begins

11 Jul 09:42 PM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

'Powerful example': Mum overcomes addiction to build a life helping others

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP