Expert tips for parents to help their teen prepare for the Leaving Cert

The countdown is on to Leaving Cert 2022. Nicole Glennon asks the experts how parents can support their teenager in this final week.

“Ask can you make them a cup of tea, or if they’d like to take a break before heading into studying for the evening.. Help your teenager move through it.”

After two years of calculated grades, the Leaving Cert is returning to its traditional format this year, with students up and down the country preparing to sit down for English Paper 1 at 9:30am next Wednesday. But while this year’s cohort don’t have the comfort blanket of accredited grades, like their peers from 2020 and 2021 they did have significant disruptions to their schooling with Covid-19, remote learning and uncertainty being the only form of certainty.

Saoirse Brazil Karney, a Leaving Certificate pupil at Cork Educate Together Secondary School, says she and her peers have heard a million times from both teachers and parents “we’ve all been through it.” 

“But.. realistically they haven’t been through what we have,” she says, "It’s totally different.” So, with just seven days to go, we asked some of the experts what you as a parent can do to support your teenager in these crucial final days.

Refrain from offering advice – unless your child asks 

Luke Saunders, co-founder of Studyclix.ie and a former teacher Leaving Cert advice

Luke Saunders, co-founder of Studyclix.com and a former secondary school teacher, says it can be unhelpful when a parent tries to offer unsolicited advice based on their experience of the Leaving Certificate – particularly if those are negative experiences.

“What parents could do is have a chat with their child about their experience of the mock examinations,” he suggests. “Often students forget about those, but you can really learn from the mistakes you made in the mocks.” Catherine Hallissey, a child psychologist and parenting coach, says a good rule of thumb is to ask your child directly: “Is this a time you just want me to listen, or would you like to problem solve?” “Focus on helping your child brainstorm solutions rather than giving advice,” she advises.

Encourage them to have a life outside the Leaving Cert – especially when it comes to exercise

Leaving Cert student Saoirse says she hasn’t given up camogie and rugby despite pressure to do so - and that’s a plus in principal Aaron Wolfe’s book.

Parents shouldn’t try to curtail the rest of the student's life during the examination period, he says.

“If there's training on, let them go to training,” he says. “Everything shouldn’t stop because of the Leaving Cert.” Luke Saunders suggests parents actively encourage their teenagers to keep active during the exams.

"When they get home [from exams] encourage them to get out for 30 minutes of exercise.

"It will ground them and help take them out of that Leaving Cert anxiety bubble.” 

 Make sure they eat something before their exams

Nutritionist Aveen Bannon says parents should ensure their children have a carbohydrate –rich breakfast on exam day.

“There is some research to suggest an iron-rich breakfast helps with performance, so a breakfast cereal that's fortified with iron or eggs/beans on toast is a good idea. If the student has a nervous tummy, try and encourage them to eat something, even just a bowl of cornflakes or Rice Krispie's.

“Forget about it being the healthiest thing in the world, you just want to get some fuel in to keep them going and not upset the tummy too much.” 

Slip some juice into their water bottle

Nutritionist Aveen Bannon

Another tip from Aveen is to make your student their own isotonic drink by slipping some juice into their water bottle.

"That way you’re getting glucose to the brain while you're doing the exam, which can be really helpful.” 

Make sure your child gets to the exam hall in plenty of time

“It sounds really basic, but just making sure your child gets to the exam hall in plenty of time is really important,” Luke Saunders says.

“If you drive them to school, make sure you're there half an hour earlier than normal. If they get the dart, go for an earlier one. What you really don’t want is any added stress due to travel on the day.” 

Don’t make your child talk if they don’t want to 

Child psychologist Catherine Hallissey

Catherine Hallissey says parents should always follow their children’s lead when it comes to talking - and student Saoirse agrees.

“People say talking about it is always the best way to go… but sometimes I just don’t want to talk about it,” she says laughing.

“I think parents should try to read the room or the mental state in the car. If your child doesn’t want to talk, throw on some music and just wish them luck getting out of the car.” 

 Discourage exam post-mortems

Leaving Cert student Saoirse Brazil Karney of Cork Education Together secondary school.

Saoirse says she is one of those students who goes “straight to the book” after an exam to see what she got right and wrong.

“I talk to my friends and ask what did you put down for that? But I don’t think you should do that,” she says laughing.

Catherine Hallissey says while parents should provide a listening ear, they should be wary of allowing their teenager to ruminate post-exam.

“Ask can you make them a cup of tea, or if they’d like to take a break before heading into studying for the evening.. Help your teenager move through it.” Principal Aaron Wolfe agrees: “It’s fine to ask how’d you get on, but don’t probe too much because if they have done badly, nothing can be done at this point.” 

 Have their favourite food ready and waiting post-exam

“Mums and dads can help by having meals prepped and ready to go when students come in from the exam,” Bannon says, “and the most important thing is that it’s the dinners the teenager enjoys.

“If their favourite food is lasagne and garlic bread or chicken and chips, then that’s the perfect meal – just whatever food is familiar and soothing.” 

 Keep an eye out for abnormally high stress – and let the school know

“There are certain students who suffer from higher anxiety than most,” Luke Saunders says, “but what you want to do is keep an eye out for signs of abnormally high levels of anxiety and any extreme behaviour changes.” “Parents will always know their child best” he says, and it’s important for parents to alert the school if their child is suffering.

“I've seen in the course of my own teaching, the school can actually help by doing simple little things. For example, what I found worked with students before is to actually bring them into the exam hall before the exams begin and just let them kind of get a feel for it.

“Often it’s the unknown part of exams that can lead to anxiety... when you can say to yourself okay, I'm going to sit here, this is my chair, I am going to put my water here, I can see the clock there... just by visualizing the exam itself can actually make it a less stressful experience.” 

 Don’t forget the Junior Certs

Principal Aaron Wolfe at Colaiste Éamann Rís, Cork 

“There’s a lot of families that end up with a Leaving Cert and a Junior Cert,” principal Aaron Wolfe says, and it’s important not to forget that the Junior Certs are also going through a stressful time.

“All attention is on the Leaving Cert, but this year’s Junior Certs have been through so much.

“In first year, the schools closed in March, they didn’t have [in-person] school in second year, and now they’ve been thrown into third year facing into the first state exam they’ve ever done and because it’s the new Junior Cert exams, there’s not many past papers out there, we haven’t had the traditional Junior Cert in two years.

“It’s really, really tough, and it gets no attention because everyone is so focused on the Leaving Cert.” 

 Remember - the Leaving Cert isn’t everything

"The number one thing parents can do is focus on being calm and relaxed themselves,” Catherine Hallissey says.

“You have to make sure that you don't pass on your own fears no matter what's going on. This is an anxiety-provoking time for everybody. We have this idea in our heads that there's so much riding on the Leaving Cert, but really, it's just a stepping stone along the road, it doesn't actually deserve the crazy hype that we give it here in Ireland.” Luke Saunders agrees – and says it's important for parents to let their children know they’ll be proud of them whatever the outcome, and remind them of other options.

“I have a lot of past students who didn’t get what they wanted in their exams, but they still went on to do what they wanted to do.” 

“Parents can remind their child that there are lot of pathways – this exam won’t define them.”