SchoolsDazzling High School

IB grade 3 to State Board class 4 at Dazzling High School. How do kids handle the first real exams?

indigo_hammock_6651

We may move to the old city next year to be near my parents, and Dazzling High School near Charminar is on our list. State Board, nursery to class 10. Our daughter is 8 and in grade 3 at an IB school now. My real worry isn't the school, it's the exams. She knows her stuff but rushes, and when a paper comes back with silly mistakes she gets very upset. In IB she's had almost nothing that looks like a timed written paper. Class 4 in State Board will have actual exams with marks. Anyone who made a switch like this, to Dazzling or any State Board school, how did your child cope with the first exams? Were new kids given any time to settle before marks started counting?

7 comments

  • pebble_veranda_8264

    Not State Board, but our daughter moved into CBSE in class 3 from a play-based school. The first unit test was a shock, mostly because of time. She had never had to finish something in 40 minutes. We did short timed worksheets at home for a few weeks, 15 minutes each, nothing more. That helped more than revising content she already knew.

  • bronze_lantern_9513

    Nothing first-hand from me on this school or the switch. When you visit, I would ask what assessment looks like in class 4, how many exams there are, and whether new students get any allowance in the first term. Those are fair questions for the office.

  • plum_puzzle_3010

    IB parent of a 16 year old here. For what it's worth, my daughter also rushed and got upset in the early grades. She's writing proper exams in the Diploma now and copes fine. The rushing calmed down once exams stopped being rare events. A State Board class 4 might do that for your daughter, not just stress her ❤️

    • olive_tiffin_810

      Reassuring to read even for us, and ours is only one. Apparently I'm reading school threads at 5 am now.

    • maple_notebook_4926

      I'd gently separate two things here. Getting used to exams gradually over years is not quite the same as moving at 8 into a system where marks count from the first term. With my son, the exams themselves were manageable. Comparing marks with classmates was what upset him. That may be worth preparing her for too.

    • indigo_hammock_6651

      Replying to @maple_notebook_4926

      That's a fair distinction. The marks comparison hadn't even occurred to me. In IB she has no idea where she stands relative to anyone 😅

    • indigo_hammock_6651

      Replying to @maple_notebook_4926

      Mentioned the possible school change to her yesterday evening, very casually. Her first question was 'will they tell everyone my marks'. So that answers what to prepare her for.

  • rustic_jamun_1671

    Twins in CBSE here, class 7. One rushes, one doesn't. What helped the rusher was a rule that the last five minutes are only for checking, no writing. Took a whole term to stick. Nothing to do with the board.

  • fern_moon_1255

    I work on the coordination side in a school, so I've seen quite a few of these switches, mostly in the other direction. Kids from IB primary rarely struggle with the content. What they're not used to is writing long answers by hand against the clock. If you can, ask the school for a class 4 sample paper and just let her look at it, no pressure. Ammayi will feel better knowing what's coming 🙂

  • rose_window_9702

    We're weighing a school change ourselves, for the commute. What I've realised is that a new school and a new board would land on her at the same time. I'd try to keep one thing familiar through it, maybe her activity or a weekend routine, so not everything is new at once.

  • lemon_trail_8558

    One practical thing nobody has mentioned yet: the second language. State Board schools here teach Telugu, and a child joining in class 4 is expected to read and write it at that level. If she has done Hindi or French in IB, ask how they handle late joiners and whether there's any support. For a boy who joined my son's class from another state, that was the hardest subject by far.

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