# Matric exams are upon us, how is your household preparing??

An episode of [Anele and the Club on 947](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1439319789), 12 Oct 2026, 30 min.

Audio: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/5dcefa8e-00a9-4595-8ce1-a4ab0080f142/e6e4ff4b-15b6-4bd0-b9c5-a9c900ba268a/78ca3bcd-3d46-4ded-b288-b4e10076be22/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=544eb15b-dd33-407d-99ef-a9c900ba8193

Monday is the last day before the 2026 matric final exams officially begin. From Tuesday, 13 October, thousands of learners will be sitting down to write papers that they have spent years working towards. And if you're a matriculant, you probably don't need anyone to tell you that the pressure is real. You're trying to remember everything you've studied, you're worried about whether you've done enough, you're thinking about what happens after matric, and perhaps you're also carrying the expectations of your family. But here's the thing: studying harder isn't always the answer. You also need to know how to manage the pressure, look after yourself and make the most of the preparation you've already done. So today, we're looking at matric from three different angles: the academic side, the mental and emotional side, and the physical side. How do you prepare effectively? Hang out with Anele and The Club on 947 every weekday morning. Popular radio hosts Anele Mdoda, Frankie du Toit, Thembekile Mrototo, and Cindy Poluta take fun to the next level with the biggest guests, hottest conversations, feel-good vibes, and the best music to get you going! Kick-start your day with the most enjoyable way to wake up in Joburg. Connect with Anele and The Club on 947 via WhatsApp at 084 000 0947 or call the studio on 011 88 38 947 Thank you for listening to the Anele and the Club podcast. Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 06:00 to 09:00 to Anele and the Club broadcast on 947 https://buff.ly/y34dh8Y For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/gyWKIkl or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/K59GRzu Subscribe to the 947s Weekly Newsletter https://buff.ly/hf9IuR9 Follow us on social media: 947 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/947Joburg/ 947 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@947joburg 947 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/947joburg 947 on X: www.x.com/947 947 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@947Joburg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Wake up with a bang.
[0:02] Speaker 2: Hey, wake up!
[0:03] Speaker 3: Anele and the club on 947.
[0:06] Speaker 2: Class of 2026 tomorrow at 9am. Exams start and then
[0:11] Speaker 2: for the next six weeks, sometimes writing.
[0:13] Speaker 1: Two papers a day. That would stress me out. Do
[0:17] Speaker 1: they still do that?
[0:19] Speaker 3: I can't think of the top of my head, but
[0:20] Speaker 3: I don't think so. Maybe life science, but I'm not sure.
[0:23] Speaker 1: Okay, let's speak to an expert, Cindy. Cindy was like,
[0:25] Speaker 1: I don't know.
[0:26] Speaker 2: He know here, he know here, he know here. We've
[0:28] Speaker 2: got Zakira Muhammad. She's an education psychologist and therapist, qualified
[0:32] Speaker 2: educator with more than 10 years of experience.
[0:35] Speaker 1: Zakira, welcome to Unalien The Club.
[0:38] Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
[0:40] Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time.
[0:41] Speaker 2: I mean, there are many methods, right, to making sure
[0:44] Speaker 2: that you are successful in your exams. 12 years of
[0:48] Speaker 2: work all culminates tomorrow when those matrics open that paper
[0:52] Speaker 2: and they put pen to paper and hopefully do well
[0:55] Speaker 2: for the.
[0:55] Speaker 1: Next six weeks.
[0:56] Speaker 2: Immediately now, what do you want to say to a
[0:59] Speaker 2: matriculant who is preparing for this journey?
[1:03] Speaker 5: The first thing I want to say is honestly what
[1:05] Speaker 5: every psychologist would probably say, breathe.
[1:07] Speaker 4: And I know that makes somebody go, oh, how's that
[1:10] Speaker 4: going to help, right? But the fact is there's this
[1:14] Speaker 4: logic behind it.
[1:15] Speaker 5: Remember now the cortisol levels are very high.
[1:19] Speaker 4: Anxiety says it's.
[1:20] Speaker 1: Peak, right?
[1:21] Speaker 5: It's the breeding ground for doubts, for insecurity, for anxiety.
[1:28] Speaker 5: So we got to look at ways of managing that.
[1:31] Speaker 5: And how do we look at ways of managing that?
[1:33] Speaker 5: We look at first, first, very, very, very, very important
[1:37] Speaker 5: is taking care of oneself before anything else. So, I mean,
[1:40] Speaker 5: I know you've got experts that are going to come
[1:42] Speaker 5: on later talking about diet.
[1:44] Speaker 4: Yes, important. Sleep, important.
[1:48] Speaker 5: And also being kind to yourself. And what I'm meaning
[1:52] Speaker 5: by this is The biggest part is if you're using
[1:55] Speaker 5: harsh language, I'm not going to make it, I'm going
[1:58] Speaker 5: to fail, right? That immediately puts you on a negative mindset.
[2:03] Speaker 5: So positive talk is very, very, very important.
[2:07] Speaker 2: Let's say I haven't been performing well this year in
[2:10] Speaker 2: my trick and tomorrow the exams start and we're on
[2:13] Speaker 2: a course of writing for six weeks.
[2:16] Speaker 1: Is it possible to change things now?
[2:19] Speaker 4: Definitely. I mean, if you haven't been.
[2:21] Speaker 5: performing well but you've put in the effort towards this
[2:24] Speaker 5: exams right so first thing is ask yourself what have
[2:27] Speaker 5: I done you can't control the outcome you can control
[2:30] Speaker 5: what you are doing right now your thoughts your reactions
[2:34] Speaker 5: your behavior so if you are thinking you know I've
[2:37] Speaker 5: put in enough effort I've studied I've done the most
[2:40] Speaker 5: I could I've um I've done enough past papers All
[2:45] Speaker 5: of those is what you're going to say. I've done
[2:48] Speaker 5: the best that I can and I'm going to give
[2:51] Speaker 5: it my best and let it be.
[2:53] Speaker 4: Whatever the outcome is, we'll deal with it then.
[2:56] Speaker 3: So, Zakira, what happens exactly that when a child goes, well,
[2:59] Speaker 3: it's been 12 years and I'm just going to let
[3:01] Speaker 3: it be and I'm over it and I want to study.
[3:05] Speaker 3: I'll be fine. I got through prelims. I don't need
[3:08] Speaker 3: to study. So you've got the complete answer. opposite child
[3:11] Speaker 3: because there's generally two types of children going into these exams.
[3:14] Speaker 3: Those that are working themselves into the ground and are
[3:18] Speaker 3: literally like freaking out and those that are like, well,
[3:20] Speaker 3: throw their hands up in the air. Whatever happens, happens.
[3:23] Speaker 3: So if you're one of those parents who feels like
[3:25] Speaker 3: their child is just not, you know, stepping up, what
[3:28] Speaker 3: do you do?
[3:29] Speaker 6: Oh gosh, I was one of those parents.
[3:32] Speaker 1: Right.
[3:33] Speaker 2: Right.
[3:33] Speaker 5: So as much as I'm a psychologist, I'm a mother.
[3:35] Speaker 5: And you do get that. You know, the thing is,
[3:37] Speaker 5: you know, you've got to trust the process. So nagging them,
[3:41] Speaker 5: hovering over them is not going to help. They shut
[3:43] Speaker 5: down or they withdraw even more.
[3:45] Speaker 7: Right.
[3:46] Speaker 2: It's.
[3:46] Speaker 4: Being there for them, reminding them.
[3:49] Speaker 5: That, yes, these exams are important, but as long as
[3:54] Speaker 5: they try, that's what's important. The effort is what counts.
[3:58] Speaker 5: The outcome will manage together. When you're saying that, sorry,
[4:03] Speaker 5: when you're saying that, yes, they're going, you know, you
[4:05] Speaker 5: can encourage them, you can support them, you can do
[4:08] Speaker 5: things like, for example, making them a snack. asking them
[4:12] Speaker 5: if they need anything, asking them if you can help
[4:15] Speaker 5: them in certain things. All of these things are showing
[4:19] Speaker 5: that you are interested. Asking them if they would like
[4:22] Speaker 5: to talk, don't force talking. But the more you nag,
[4:25] Speaker 5: the more you hover. I know the teenagers always say,
[4:27] Speaker 5: my parents nagging, right?
[4:30] Speaker 1: The more they shut down.
[4:32] Speaker 2: So as a parent in the household of a child
[4:36] Speaker 2: who is writing metric exams, What should we be doing
[4:38] Speaker 2: differently as well? Because I find that if I work
[4:42] Speaker 2: in the dining room and I'm doing now my work,
[4:46] Speaker 2: it kind of encourages the kids in the house to
[4:49] Speaker 2: also just sit around and lock.
[4:50] Speaker 3: In, right?
[4:52] Speaker 1: So should you be working.
[4:54] Speaker 2: In front of your kids more so that they can
[4:55] Speaker 2: see that, okay, in this environment now, we're upping our game,
[4:59] Speaker 2: we're working. What kind of atmosphere should we be setting
[5:03] Speaker 2: as parents inside the home?
[5:04] Speaker 4: So I'm glad you asked that.
[5:05] Speaker 5: The very first thing is creating a secure, stable, safe, quiet,
[5:10] Speaker 5: calm atmosphere, right? And part of that is no distractions,
[5:16] Speaker 5: making sure that they have water on hand, making sure
[5:19] Speaker 5: that they have a clean, tidy space, right?
[5:22] Speaker 4: And yes, as parents, we should model.
[5:25] Speaker 5: One of the biggest things, Anneli, is you're saying that, yes,
[5:27] Speaker 5: we should be working more to encourage them to work more.
[5:30] Speaker 5: But I think the biggest thing for us as parents
[5:33] Speaker 5: is to regulate our emotions, right? A dysregulated parent is
[5:37] Speaker 5: never going to help a child, right?
[5:39] Speaker 4: They pick up on it, even if you don't say anything.
[5:42] Speaker 4: They sense your emotions.
[5:44] Speaker 5: So I think one of the biggest thing is for
[5:46] Speaker 5: us to role model calming strategies, right? So when we're
[5:50] Speaker 5: working and we're getting over or we're finding that we
[5:53] Speaker 5: need little breaks, encourage those breaks. Stand up, take a
[5:56] Speaker 5: walk yourself. Your child can see what you're doing. You know,
[5:59] Speaker 5: do calming down strategies and then come back.
[6:03] Speaker 3: Think it's very important and I and I remember um
[6:05] Speaker 3: one of the guests my podcast saying exactly this it's
[6:09] Speaker 3: six weeks of your child's life but it's also your
[6:11] Speaker 3: life you have to step up and parent now is
[6:13] Speaker 3: not the time for you to be hosting dinner parties
[6:15] Speaker 3: at your house all of that the whole family has
[6:18] Speaker 3: to go into a six-week exam period you are all
[6:23] Speaker 3: writing exams you cannot be out and about and then
[6:26] Speaker 3: your child's got FOMO and missing out you are all
[6:29] Speaker 3: in it and just Be a parent, be an adult.
[6:32] Speaker 3: It's six weeks of your life.
[6:33] Speaker 6: You won't die.
[6:34] Speaker 1: If you expect them to lock in for six weeks,
[6:35] Speaker 1: so should you.
[6:36] Speaker 8: Just off the back of what Sinuji said, how important
[6:39] Speaker 8: is not breaking the routine completely? Because if I go
[6:43] Speaker 8: back to when I was in matric, like on Saturdays,
[6:45] Speaker 8: we do something specific with the family, like religiously. And
[6:48] Speaker 8: then when it was exam season, it was like, we're
[6:50] Speaker 8: stopping everything. And just that pressure of saying, that pressure,
[6:53] Speaker 8: I felt the pressure of breaking routines.
[6:55] Speaker 1: Like, guys, can we at least still maintain the one
[6:57] Speaker 1: thing that we do? How do you keep....
[7:00] Speaker 8: Yeah, the routine without breaking it, but still maintaining just
[7:03] Speaker 8: calm heads.
[7:04] Speaker 4: So I think why that's so important. We cannot go
[7:06] Speaker 4: total isolation. You're going to let your child burn out.
[7:10] Speaker 4: Before they get to the last paper, they're going to
[7:12] Speaker 4: be burnt out, right?
[7:13] Speaker 5: So when I'm saying with this, there's some parts that
[7:16] Speaker 5: you have to keep. So same way how we plan
[7:18] Speaker 5: for study, we need to plan for breaks, right? Planning
[7:22] Speaker 5: for breaks is just as important. So if something is
[7:24] Speaker 5: important to the family, schedule that in the break. Schedule
[7:28] Speaker 5: that as part of your planning, right? A child can't
[7:31] Speaker 5: be totally excluded. They need to also have that element
[7:34] Speaker 5: of connectivity, whether it's with friends, with family, doesn't matter.
[7:38] Speaker 4: Yes, there's balance.
[7:39] Speaker 5: It cannot be going out every weekend kind of thing
[7:42] Speaker 5: during exams. But it can't be like you cannot talk
[7:45] Speaker 5: to friends. You cannot go out.
[7:47] Speaker 4: You need to schedule a little bit of break times.
[7:50] Speaker 4: It's as important as scheduling our studying time.
[7:53] Speaker 1: And just to wrap it up, Zakira, yeah.
[7:56] Speaker 2: What are students, pupils, learners entitled to mental wise in
[8:03] Speaker 2: an exam? Let's say I sit down and I'm having
[8:08] Speaker 2: a breakdown.
[8:08] Speaker 1: I'm having an attack. I've gone blank. I'm stressed. I'm
[8:13] Speaker 1: breaking down. I'm falling apart.
[8:15] Speaker 2: What am I entitled to? How is the school supposed
[8:19] Speaker 2: to come to my aid? And for how long am
[8:21] Speaker 2: I allowed breaks? What help am I allowed?
[8:24] Speaker 5: You know, this is very difficult because, I mean, there's
[8:26] Speaker 5: something called concessions assessments and basically every board you can
[8:31] Speaker 5: apply to it for. And if a child has some
[8:34] Speaker 5: sort of difficulty, they can't, but that would have had
[8:38] Speaker 5: to apply.
[8:39] Speaker 4: Well before grade 12, right?
[8:41] Speaker 5: Right now, I mean, if you haven't gotten rest breaks,
[8:43] Speaker 5: all of that, which has been granted.
[8:46] Speaker 4: To you by those boards, there will be.
[8:48] Speaker 5: Probably an informal thing that you can pick up your
[8:50] Speaker 5: hand and they'll and ask the teacher. But I mean, obviously,
[8:53] Speaker 5: they could bring you a glass of water, whatever it is.
[8:56] Speaker 5: I think the most important is learning self-regulation. So I'm
[8:59] Speaker 5: going to give you a few quick techniques, right? So
[9:02] Speaker 5: one of it, like as I mentioned, I didn't mention
[9:04] Speaker 5: how to breathe.
[9:06] Speaker 4: You breathe in through the.
[9:07] Speaker 5: Nose, you hold it, and you take a deep breath
[9:11] Speaker 5: out through your mouth. If you are breathing in for two,
[9:13] Speaker 5: you need to breathe out for four, right?
[9:16] Speaker 4: So those are regulated breaths.
[9:18] Speaker 5: You breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth,
[9:21] Speaker 5: double that of breathing in. You start with your stomach
[9:25] Speaker 5: and you imagine you have a balloon in your stomach
[9:27] Speaker 5: and it's contracting and expanding, right? And you're aware of
[9:32] Speaker 5: that movement. So that's what we need to do. Another
[9:35] Speaker 5: thing is a quick grounding technique. It's five senses.
[9:38] Speaker 4: So look around the room.
[9:40] Speaker 5: Five things you can see. Touch four things around you.
[9:44] Speaker 5: What three things can you hear? What two things can
[9:47] Speaker 5: you smell? Take your tongue, put it around your mouth,
[9:51] Speaker 5: and what one thing can you taste, even if it's
[9:54] Speaker 5: just saliva. These are grounding techniques, which means what is grounding?
[9:58] Speaker 5: We are not sitting on ore. I'm going to fail
[10:01] Speaker 5: or I don't know if I know my work. It
[10:03] Speaker 5: just pauses you for that moment. And when you pause,
[10:07] Speaker 5: you are able to think clearly. What happens after you're grounded?
[10:11] Speaker 5: You then say, okay, what am I stressing about? I
[10:13] Speaker 5: don't know this question. Let's leave it and let's go
[10:17] Speaker 5: to the next one and come back to it. Please,
[10:20] Speaker 5: after the paper's finished, the worst thing you could.
[10:22] Speaker 1: Do is do a post-mortem.
[10:24] Speaker 8: Right.
[10:24] Speaker 6: Let it be. I'm so relaxed now.
[10:27] Speaker 3: My kids always, whenever they get into the car and
[10:29] Speaker 3: I say to them, how did it go? My daughter
[10:31] Speaker 3: always says to me, we'll only know when I get
[10:32] Speaker 3: the exam.
[10:33] Speaker 6: And it's so right. I'm like, well, was it good
[10:35] Speaker 6: or bad?
[10:36] Speaker 3: She'll answer and she'll say, but we'll only truly know
[10:38] Speaker 3: once I get the mark.
[10:39] Speaker 2: Okay.
[10:40] Speaker 6: And you're right.
[10:40] Speaker 4: You're right.
[10:41] Speaker 5: I think the worst thing to do is to dissect
[10:44] Speaker 5: an exam as a parent or even with your friends.
[10:47] Speaker 5: It's the worst thing to do. Even before you go
[10:50] Speaker 5: into an exam, please don't go, do you know your work?
[10:52] Speaker 1: Do you know your work?
[10:53] Speaker 4: How much have you learned? Are you prepared?
[10:55] Speaker 5: No, by then it's finished. Just encourage, you've got this.
[11:00] Speaker 5: I know you're going to try your best. That's all
[11:02] Speaker 5: that can be said.
[11:03] Speaker 2: Her name is Zakira Muhammad, education psychologist and therapist. We've
[11:06] Speaker 2: attacked the mental side of how to attack this. On
[11:09] Speaker 2: the way, we've got Mbali Mapoli who is a registered
[11:12] Speaker 2: dietitian because believe it or not, there are foods that
[11:14] Speaker 2: you should be avoiding when you are in exam time.
[11:18] Speaker 2: And I think this is very important because as parents,
[11:20] Speaker 2: you want to make them a snack.
[11:21] Speaker 1: And, you know, you want to be supportive and you
[11:24] Speaker 1: want to be in the room all the time. Like,
[11:25] Speaker 1: here's a toast to Chisami. Because you just want to
[11:28] Speaker 1: reward the work that they're doing.
[11:31] Speaker 2: But sometimes it's quite detrimental. Like, even going into the exam.
[11:35] Speaker 2: Do I go in with a full English breakfast? You
[11:37] Speaker 2: know what I'm saying? Should I just have cereal? Should
[11:39] Speaker 2: I be drinking anything specific? So this is why it's
[11:42] Speaker 2: so important. This is going to be interesting as well.
[11:45] Speaker 2: Thank you, Zahira Muhammad. On the way, we've got a dietitian.
[11:47] Speaker 2: Your metrics are writing tomorrow, people.
[11:49] Speaker 1: Let's get behind them.
[11:51] Speaker 2: Now, let's tackle what they should be eating. And to
[11:54] Speaker 2: come and help us with that, she's called the Urban
[11:56] Speaker 2: Dietitian on Instagram. Her name is Mbali Mapoli. Mbali, thank
[12:00] Speaker 2: you so much for your time.
[12:01] Speaker 6: Thank you for having me this morning.
[12:03] Speaker 1: Pretty dress, by the way. I'm like so obsessed with
[12:06] Speaker 1: her dress. I'm just like, girl, you look so good.
[12:09] Speaker 1: I had to dress up for you this morning. Oh
[12:10] Speaker 1: my word, I am so jealous of your dress. Mbali,
[12:13] Speaker 1: 15 years in the game. Yes. You've seen them come,
[12:16] Speaker 1: you've seen them go. Yes.
[12:17] Speaker 2: Matrix are writing exams tomorrow.
[12:19] Speaker 1: Diet-wise, what should we be focusing on?
[12:23] Speaker 9: The main focus, firstly, I think is to remember we
[12:25] Speaker 9: are feeding the actual organ, the brain of this child.
[12:28] Speaker 6: Right.
[12:28] Speaker 9: But also we are feeding what we can see, the
[12:30] Speaker 9: cognitive function, concentration, focus, emotions, and all of that. So
[12:34] Speaker 9: in terms of the actual brain, the brain needs energy
[12:37] Speaker 9: and the preferred source of energy or fuel is carbohydrates,
[12:41] Speaker 9: but complex carbohydrates or the ones that are higher fiber.
[12:44] Speaker 9: so that they can sustain or like the glucose sort
[12:47] Speaker 9: of production can be slower and that keeps that energy,
[12:51] Speaker 9: you know, it's sustained longer in a way. The second
[12:54] Speaker 9: thing is protein and protein sources like your eggs have
[12:58] Speaker 9: nutrients like choline, which is a direct source sort of
[13:01] Speaker 9: like focused nutrient that they need. So eating enough protein, eggs, dairy, chicken, fish,
[13:08] Speaker 9: all of those. Speaking of fish, we need omega-3s. So
[13:11] Speaker 9: your sardines and your pilchards and your salmon, if we
[13:15] Speaker 9: can afford it in the household. I mean, as you're saying,
[13:17] Speaker 9: we are locking in. So if there's money to spare
[13:19] Speaker 9: to make sure that there is those omega-3 sources, those
[13:22] Speaker 9: then feed the actual brain matter, but also they feed
[13:25] Speaker 9: what we can see, the focus and the concentration as well.
[13:28] Speaker 2: You gave us examples of proteins, but you just said
[13:30] Speaker 2: complex carbs and then you didn't.
[13:31] Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
[13:32] Speaker 9: So complex carbohydrates will be a higher fiber bread. So
[13:35] Speaker 9: a seeded bread or just a whole wheat bread. It
[13:38] Speaker 9: would be your oats. It would be your sorghum. It
[13:40] Speaker 9: would be corn or mealy. Those are complex carbohydrates because
[13:44] Speaker 9: the absorption of the glucose is not as quick as
[13:46] Speaker 9: your refined carbohydrates.
[13:48] Speaker 2: If I'm writing at nine, what time should I be
[13:51] Speaker 2: eating to maximize my body reacting to what I ate today?
[13:55] Speaker 2: and peaking at the right time to help me in
[13:57] Speaker 2: an exam.
[13:57] Speaker 9: So if you're writing at nine by half past six,
[13:59] Speaker 9: seven in the morning, we should be having breakfast. That
[14:02] Speaker 9: gives you enough time for your body to start packing
[14:04] Speaker 9: those nutrients where they need to go. So that by
[14:06] Speaker 9: the time you sit down for that exam, you are
[14:09] Speaker 9: energized and you're ready to go. But at the same time,
[14:11] Speaker 9: you're not too sluggish, you know, having that feeling of like,
[14:14] Speaker 9: you just want to fall asleep. So the portions are important,
[14:16] Speaker 9: but also the timing, at least an hour and a
[14:19] Speaker 9: half to two hours, you should be feeding, yeah, to
[14:22] Speaker 9: allow enough time by the time you sit for that exam.
[14:24] Speaker 2: And I don't know, Ndabe, if this was your experience
[14:27] Speaker 2: when you were writing, but I remember when I wrote
[14:29] Speaker 2: Matric in 2001, the Matrics were big on energy drinks, eh? Yeah.
[14:35] Speaker 1: They were huge on energy.
[14:36] Speaker 2: It almost felt like it's going to help you lock in.
[14:38] Speaker 1: It's going to help you zone in.
[14:40] Speaker 2: Liquids-wise, what should we be upping intake-wise when you're studying
[14:45] Speaker 2: and when you're about to write?
[14:46] Speaker 9: The best liquid is water. I know I'm going to
[14:48] Speaker 9: sound like a cliche. And this is from the hydration
[14:50] Speaker 9: point of view. As you can imagine, the brain is
[14:52] Speaker 9: made out of 80% water. And just by even a 1%
[14:57] Speaker 9: to 2% drop in hydration, it affects concentration. It affects
[15:01] Speaker 9: the sharpness of the brain. It affects that you find
[15:03] Speaker 9: that even the reaction, a child reads an exam paper
[15:07] Speaker 9: and they don't just understand fully, but there's something they
[15:10] Speaker 9: know it's because of dehydration. So the first thing is
[15:12] Speaker 9: to make sure that you are well hydrated, at least
[15:15] Speaker 9: two liters of water. So wherever we're going for the
[15:18] Speaker 9: next six weeks matriculant, you have.
[15:20] Speaker 6: That big bottle of water. And at home.
[15:22] Speaker 1: This is.
[15:22] Speaker 6: Where support comes in.
[15:23] Speaker 1: Make sure there's ice.
[15:24] Speaker 9: If your child likes their water with ice or herbs
[15:28] Speaker 9: like your mint or even fresh fruit into the water
[15:30] Speaker 9: to make the water quite nice. You were speaking about
[15:33] Speaker 9: energy drinks, Anele. And this is a thing because they
[15:36] Speaker 9: contain actives like guarana and caffeine. Those are not tested
[15:40] Speaker 9: for children under the age of 18. So we don't
[15:43] Speaker 9: know what's a safe limit. Another child can drink energy
[15:46] Speaker 9: drinks and they're fine.
[15:47] Speaker 6: As you're saying, we're fine.
[15:48] Speaker 9: But another child can actually die from complications of high
[15:53] Speaker 9: consumption of those actives like caffeine and guarana. So I
[15:56] Speaker 9: think that's something we must be mindful of, that parents
[15:58] Speaker 9: must monitor. There are sort of like acceptable limits to
[16:02] Speaker 9: say for caffeine, one regular cup of coffee can be
[16:06] Speaker 9: OK for children between the ages of 16 and 18.
[16:09] Speaker 1: But again, there's no limit.
[16:11] Speaker 9: Like actual to say we can confidently say this is
[16:14] Speaker 9: how much a child can safely consume of the energy
[16:16] Speaker 9: drinks or of caffeine or coffee products like that.
[16:19] Speaker 2: If you just joined us, we're chatting to Mbali Mapoli,
[16:22] Speaker 2: who's the urban dietitian on Instagram. We're speaking the diets
[16:26] Speaker 2: that you should be following and should be helping your
[16:28] Speaker 2: kids follow when they're writing exams.
[16:29] Speaker 1: Tomorrow, Matrix start writing exams.
[16:31] Speaker 2: And we just want to hit every single corner to
[16:33] Speaker 2: make sure that they.
[16:34] Speaker 1: Are as best prepared as possible.
[16:36] Speaker 2: If my family is tight on a budget, the economy
[16:39] Speaker 2: is not treating us well, what are the easiest things
[16:43] Speaker 2: and low-cost things that I should have in the house
[16:46] Speaker 2: to make sure that my child can perform properly in
[16:48] Speaker 2: the exams?
[16:49] Speaker 6: First and foremost, eggs.
[16:50] Speaker 9: As I said, those are a powerhouse with all the
[16:52] Speaker 9: nutrients like you're calling, protein that we need for brain function.
[16:55] Speaker 6: Secondly, eggs.
[16:57] Speaker 9: Sorghum, you know, if we can afford the higher fiber
[17:00] Speaker 9: starch like sorghum, it's gluten free, yes. But at the
[17:02] Speaker 9: same time, it helps support the gut health. Remember, there's
[17:05] Speaker 9: that gut and mental connection as well. So those are
[17:07] Speaker 9: the things. The other thing is canned fish. I spoke
[17:10] Speaker 9: about pilchards, but also sardines and tuna can be part
[17:13] Speaker 9: of that canned fish group. legumes like your beans. So
[17:17] Speaker 9: we can just boil a good old red kidney beans
[17:21] Speaker 9: and make sure that for dinner, a child will have
[17:23] Speaker 9: such a complex, higher protein, higher carbohydrate meal. Think of
[17:27] Speaker 9: it like as preparing the brain for the following day.
[17:30] Speaker 9: So those are the foods that they can have. But
[17:32] Speaker 9: also peanut butter. Peanut butter is fantastic. We can do
[17:35] Speaker 9: the no sugar, no salt peanut butter, good source of
[17:38] Speaker 9: healthy fats or monounsaturated fats for the brain, but also
[17:42] Speaker 9: good source of protein.
[17:43] Speaker 1: Even ground nuts.
[17:44] Speaker 6: Like you know the boiled nuts.
[17:45] Speaker 1: That you just get on the streets.
[17:47] Speaker 6: Fantastic.
[17:48] Speaker 9: Good source of health effects that the child needs.
[17:50] Speaker 1: And just fruits and vegetables.
[17:52] Speaker 9: You know, if you've got friends in the north, avocados
[17:55] Speaker 9: can be sent down for the family. And avocados also,
[17:59] Speaker 9: if you can afford, like availability-wise, I think they are
[18:03] Speaker 9: still in season, getting out of season now. But yes,
[18:05] Speaker 9: good sources of health effects for the child.
[18:07] Speaker 2: And during exam time, true or false, this question? During
[18:12] Speaker 2: exam time, is that a good time for somebody to
[18:14] Speaker 2: be on a diet?
[18:16] Speaker 1: No, false, false.
[18:17] Speaker 9: We don't need this time because remember, we have to
[18:20] Speaker 9: make sure we're getting all those vitamins, minerals and macronutrients.
[18:24] Speaker 9: If you are on any specific diet, chances are you
[18:27] Speaker 9: are eating less of certain foods and that can cause
[18:29] Speaker 9: nutrient deficiencies. So if anything, you need to eat more.
[18:33] Speaker 9: But again, good quality, then we're choosing higher fiber. We're
[18:36] Speaker 9: choosing leaner protein, removing visible fat, removing the skin of
[18:39] Speaker 9: the chicken. We're choosing more fruits and vegetables so that
[18:42] Speaker 9: we can support a child during this time.
[18:43] Speaker 1: Mbali Mapoli, you are absolutely amazing. Is she not fantastic?
[18:46] Speaker 1: The best.
[18:47] Speaker 3: Guys.
[18:49] Speaker 1: You know, you can say metrics are writing exams. No,
[18:52] Speaker 1: we are writing exams.
[18:54] Speaker 9: All of us.
[18:54] Speaker 2: The country is writing exams.
[18:57] Speaker 1: Let's lock in.
[18:58] Speaker 2: Let's make sure that when the education minister stands there
[19:01] Speaker 2: in January and gives those results, we as a country
[19:05] Speaker 2: have done everything to make sure that they are successful.
[19:09] Speaker 1: Those people are going to run your country one day.
[19:11] Speaker 2: And this is where we start supporting them. On the way,
[19:14] Speaker 2: we've got Professor Linda Mayer. She's an education expert. If
[19:16] Speaker 2: you've got any questions around the best methods to retain information,
[19:21] Speaker 2: what you should be doing, is it cue cards?
[19:23] Speaker 1: Is it essays? How often should kids be studying?
[19:26] Speaker 2: Right now, moms, dads, teachers, aunts, uncles, everybody lock in.
[19:29] Speaker 2: Send us a voicemail 084-0000947. The experts are here for
[19:31] Speaker 2: us and you today. The country's metrics start writing exams.
[19:37] Speaker 2: And like we said, it means we are all writing exams.
[19:41] Speaker 2: We need to make sure that the environment between now
[19:44] Speaker 2: and the 26th of November in this year country.
[19:47] Speaker 1: Is conducive so that metrics can do well. Instructions. to
[19:50] Speaker 1: wrap this conversation up Dr.
[19:51] Speaker 2: Linda Mayer she's the managing director at IIE Rosebank College
[19:55] Speaker 2: she holds a doctor philosophy Doctor of Business Administration, Master
[19:59] Speaker 2: of Business Administration, Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies, BCom Law,
[20:04] Speaker 2: BBA and several other diplomas, higher certificates and professional certifications.
[20:08] Speaker 1: And this is why I read everything that she holds.
[20:11] Speaker 1: Because if somebody knows how to study, it is her. Doctor.
[20:16] Speaker 1: Is it Doctor Linda? Is it Prof? Which one is it?
[20:19] Speaker 6: It's Prof, but please call me Linda.
[20:21] Speaker 5: Oh, Linda.
[20:22] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[20:23] Speaker 3: Linda.
[20:24] Speaker 2: Between now and 26th of November, we're going to have
[20:27] Speaker 2: a lot of stressed 18-year-olds, 17-year-olds who are writing their
[20:31] Speaker 2: metric exams.
[20:33] Speaker 1: What is the best study method that you know?
[20:36] Speaker 2: I know we've all got different methods, but there must
[20:39] Speaker 2: be one way as an expert you're like, trust me,
[20:41] Speaker 2: this is the one that works.
[20:43] Speaker 6: Absolutely.
[20:43] Speaker 7: So certainly the biggest, you know, the best advice is
[20:47] Speaker 7: to sequence your studies.
[20:50] Speaker 6: Okay, which means?
[20:50] Speaker 7: So what that means is that you... First of all,
[20:54] Speaker 7: that you plan your study time. You don't cram things.
[20:58] Speaker 7: So we have the Pomodoro method, right, which really you
[21:01] Speaker 7: select 25 minutes and a five-minute break or 50 minutes
[21:05] Speaker 7: and a 10-minute break.
[21:06] Speaker 6: You need to understand what is the best sequence for you.
[21:10] Speaker 7: However, in the environment where you're studying, in the house, Anil,
[21:14] Speaker 7: if you'll just allow me.
[21:15] Speaker 4: Please.
[21:15] Speaker 7: The biggest thing is that parents mustn't be stressing their
[21:18] Speaker 7: kids out, right? So this is not about the child
[21:20] Speaker 7: writing the exam. It's about the parents managing their emotions.
[21:23] Speaker 7: So study techniques, absolutely. There are many study techniques that
[21:27] Speaker 7: we can follow, and certainly the best is to make
[21:30] Speaker 7: mind maps, right?
[21:31] Speaker 6: Get a page, put the key theme in the middle of.
[21:35] Speaker 7: What this is about, and then you have little branches
[21:37] Speaker 7: going out with sub-themes that are then on one page,
[21:41] Speaker 7: and you can see this visually, right? The other thing
[21:44] Speaker 7: is recall methods, right? So where you study something, you know,
[21:49] Speaker 7: two or three pages, don't do too much. Don't go
[21:51] Speaker 7: and read 20 pages. That's the worst thing you can do.
[21:53] Speaker 7: Read two or three pages, you close and you recall.
[21:57] Speaker 7: So you sit there and you say, what have I
[21:59] Speaker 7: just studied? And you write down exactly what it is
[22:01] Speaker 7: that you've studied. Another very important thing is there are
[22:04] Speaker 7: free past exam papers, both on the IAB website and
[22:08] Speaker 7: the Department of Basic Education's website. Go and download those exams.
[22:13] Speaker 7: And have practice exams because that is critical, right? But
[22:17] Speaker 7: parents must remember this is not the time to stress
[22:20] Speaker 7: your kids out. And for those writing the trick, this
[22:24] Speaker 7: is not the end of the world. You need to
[22:25] Speaker 7: sit down. Remember that you need to pass this exam, right?
[22:30] Speaker 7: You getting stressed out is not going to be helpful.
[22:33] Speaker 7: You need to rest. You need to sleep well before
[22:35] Speaker 7: you write the exam. We heard from the, you know,
[22:39] Speaker 7: dietician that we need to eat well and we need
[22:41] Speaker 7: to be focused. There are other some practical things, Anneli,
[22:45] Speaker 7: you know, like arriving at the venue 10 to 15
[22:48] Speaker 7: minutes beforehand. Be well hydrated. If you are allowed to
[22:52] Speaker 7: take water in or a snack, obviously find that out before.
[22:56] Speaker 7: Take those things with because that is very helpful.
[22:59] Speaker 2: A question coming in on Twitter. Should I start with
[23:01] Speaker 2: the questions I know or answer them in order?
[23:04] Speaker 1: No.
[23:05] Speaker 7: So the first thing you do when you open your
[23:06] Speaker 7: exam paper is you read through the exam paper, right?
[23:10] Speaker 7: And then you make little notes on the side. The
[23:12] Speaker 7: biggest thing is to determine the time because you need
[23:15] Speaker 7: to establish how much time you need for each question.
[23:18] Speaker 7: Of course, there are marks allocated, 10 marks, 20 marks,
[23:21] Speaker 7: and that will give you an indication. But there might
[23:23] Speaker 7: be an essay type question, a long question that you
[23:26] Speaker 7: know really, really well. And you then split your time
[23:29] Speaker 7: and say, I'm going to put an extra five minutes
[23:31] Speaker 7: into that because I'm going to get maximum marks for that, right?
[23:34] Speaker 2: And you've got to build your confidence through the paper, yeah.
[23:36] Speaker 7: And the things you don't know, you leave those to last, right?
[23:40] Speaker 7: Because we all know, we've all opened an exam paper
[23:42] Speaker 7: recently We've all spotted.
[23:43] Speaker 6: Let's admit. Let's be honest.
[23:48] Speaker 7: And those questions you leave for last. Don't go and
[23:50] Speaker 7: invest now and rack your brain and stress yourself out more.
[23:54] Speaker 6: Understand what you know well. Focus on those. Get them done.
[23:58] Speaker 2: I study for hours, but when I get to the exam,
[24:00] Speaker 2: I can't remember anything.
[24:01] Speaker 1: What am I doing wrong?
[24:02] Speaker 7: So the first thing that you're doing wrong is that
[24:04] Speaker 7: you're trying to study long, you're trying to study big
[24:08] Speaker 7: batches of work at a time. Like I said earlier,
[24:11] Speaker 7: you do one or two or three pages, then you
[24:13] Speaker 7: do the recall and you write and recall, right? That's
[24:17] Speaker 7: the important thing. So when we speak about sequencing, we
[24:21] Speaker 7: say you open a chapter, you scan through the chapter,
[24:24] Speaker 7: then you go and look for the major themes. You
[24:26] Speaker 7: do your mind map that we spoke about. So the
[24:29] Speaker 7: key theme in the middle and the branches that go
[24:32] Speaker 7: out with the most important points are And then you
[24:35] Speaker 7: go out and you read, recite and recollect, right? That
[24:40] Speaker 7: is the sequence that you need to remember. And it's
[24:42] Speaker 7: the most important methodology that works.
[24:45] Speaker 2: Oh, I'm loving these questions that are coming in. I
[24:46] Speaker 2: have math paper one and physics close together and I
[24:49] Speaker 2: haven't finished revising either one.
[24:50] Speaker 1: Which one do I focus on first?
[24:52] Speaker 7: So, of course, you need to focus on what you're
[24:54] Speaker 7: writing first, but you need to leave some time to
[24:56] Speaker 7: build up.
[24:57] Speaker 6: For the physics exam.
[24:59] Speaker 7: So, you know, whether you say I'm going to do
[25:02] Speaker 7: maths for four hours a day and physics for two
[25:05] Speaker 7: hours a day as I'm preparing, then do that. But
[25:08] Speaker 7: you need to focus on what's coming because your mind
[25:10] Speaker 7: needs to be freshly aligned with the information and the
[25:14] Speaker 7: context so that your recall is very, very well astute
[25:18] Speaker 7: for when you write the exam.
[25:20] Speaker 2: Oh, the parents are coming through. My child studies with
[25:22] Speaker 2: music on. I don't agree with this, but he says
[25:25] Speaker 2: it helps him study.
[25:26] Speaker 1: What do I do, prof?
[25:27] Speaker 7: No problem with that at all, right? So everyone has
[25:31] Speaker 7: a different brain context. And for some people, it calms
[25:37] Speaker 7: them down. It helps them focus. Some people we know
[25:40] Speaker 7: are neurodiverse, right? They can't go and sleep unless they're
[25:42] Speaker 7: listening to something because their brain simply just won't switch off.
[25:45] Speaker 6: So don't.
[25:47] Speaker 7: If your child is able to recall and they're able
[25:49] Speaker 7: to absolutely get the marks that they need to.
[25:52] Speaker 6: Have, why are you stressed about their music? And this
[25:55] Speaker 6: goes back to what I said earlier. We're all parents.
[25:57] Speaker 7: We're all stressed out. Don't take it out on your child, right?
[26:01] Speaker 7: Be loving, be nurturing, make sure that they're in a
[26:04] Speaker 7: great environment so that they can perform optimally.
[26:08] Speaker 1: I share a.
[26:08] Speaker 2: House with three loud brothers. How should I find a
[26:12] Speaker 2: space to lock in to study?
[26:14] Speaker 6: Okay, that's like stressful. That's off the charts.
[26:17] Speaker 7: But the important thing is, I think, respect. And this
[26:21] Speaker 7: is a critical part of your life. And I think
[26:23] Speaker 7: just to get together as a family and just have
[26:25] Speaker 7: some ground rules about what times noise will be allowed,
[26:28] Speaker 7: but what time, you know, noise will be elsewhere.
[26:31] Speaker 6: Go outside. Leave me alone. I need to study.
[26:35] Speaker 7: If parents are able to afford this, Please buy your
[26:39] Speaker 7: child noise-canceling earphones.
[26:42] Speaker 6: Please do that.
[26:43] Speaker 1: Okay. Okay.
[26:44] Speaker 3: All right.
[26:45] Speaker 2: 24 hours before they put that pen to paper. Linda,
[26:49] Speaker 2: what do you think every matric writer should be doing
[26:52] Speaker 2: right now for the next 24 hours?
[26:55] Speaker 1: Breathe.
[26:55] Speaker 7: So remember this when you sit down. Take five deep breaths, right,
[26:59] Speaker 7: for five seconds and exhale so your cortisol levels can
[27:03] Speaker 7: just be neutralized. Sleep well tonight before this exam and
[27:07] Speaker 7: go through your work and don't forget to recall and
[27:11] Speaker 7: go and download those past exam papers.
[27:14] Speaker 6: Do not stress yourself out.
[27:15] Speaker 7: You getting two or three hours sleep tonight is not
[27:18] Speaker 7: going to help you at all. As a matter of fact,
[27:20] Speaker 7: it's going to be worse for you in the exam.
[27:22] Speaker 7: Your brain's going to be tired and you'll remember nothing.
[27:25] Speaker 7: So focus on what is important.
[27:26] Speaker 3: You.
[27:28] Speaker 7: Getting through this, be well hydrated and focus on what
[27:31] Speaker 7: is important to you. When that paper, when you open
[27:34] Speaker 7: that paper, take a minute, read through it. Like we said,
[27:38] Speaker 7: write the time allocation down. No, and you know, nothing
[27:42] Speaker 7: wrong to say, I know this nine out of nine
[27:45] Speaker 7: out of 10.
[27:46] Speaker 1: Great.
[27:46] Speaker 7: I know this one out of 10. Focus, just focus.
[27:50] Speaker 7: You'll be fine. And remember, whatever happens, this is not
[27:53] Speaker 7: the end of the world. We don't want a situation
[27:56] Speaker 7: where people don't do one exam paper and that's your destiny.
[27:59] Speaker 1: For the rest. Because that's the thing.
[28:00] Speaker 2: Like you can trip over a hurdle in the beginning
[28:03] Speaker 2: of the exam period and then that is the confidence
[28:06] Speaker 2: you take into everything.
[28:08] Speaker 1: It knocks you for the entire thing.
[28:09] Speaker 2: How do I bounce back from a paper that I
[28:12] Speaker 2: feel didn't go well?
[28:14] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[28:15] Speaker 6: And of course, you need to bounce back. So how
[28:17] Speaker 6: do you bounce back?
[28:18] Speaker 9: Yeah.
[28:19] Speaker 7: You put the time in, right? You focus, do your
[28:22] Speaker 7: mind maps, study for the next thing. One exam paper
[28:25] Speaker 7: is not going to define the rest of your life.
[28:27] Speaker 7: And it's difficult when you've put a lot of effort
[28:29] Speaker 7: in and you think, yeah, I just didn't do well.
[28:32] Speaker 7: But refocus, recalibrate, and just move on to the next
[28:37] Speaker 7: thing where you can do great.
[28:39] Speaker 6: And this can just be a bad memory. As an invigilator,
[28:44] Speaker 6: I work at a college.
[28:45] Speaker 9: And one thing I'd love to advise to the students is,
[28:49] Speaker 9: please make sure you, before you enter the exam, please
[28:52] Speaker 9: go to the loo.
[28:53] Speaker 6: Thanks.
[28:56] Speaker 1: Is that something you see a lot, Linda? Absolutely.
[29:00] Speaker 7: Kids get stressed out, right, when they're writing. And then
[29:02] Speaker 7: they're taking time to go to the toilet, and it
[29:05] Speaker 7: takes 10 minutes out of your exam time. So go before,
[29:09] Speaker 7: as a rule. As they say, when you're over 50,
[29:11] Speaker 7: you never pass a toilet. When you go and write
[29:13] Speaker 7: an exam, you never pass a toilet.
[29:16] Speaker 3: Prof.
[29:17] Speaker 2: Linda Mayer, MD at Rosebank International and Visiting Professor at.
[29:20] Speaker 1: Nelson Mandela University. Thank you so much. You have been
[29:23] Speaker 1: so great. And I'm pretty sure you.
[29:24] Speaker 2: Just want to say good luck to all the kids.
[29:26] Speaker 6: Writing the trick. Guys, this is your time to shine. Focus, rest,
[29:31] Speaker 6: and be ready, and do great.
[29:33] Speaker 1: Focus, rest, prep, do great. Thank you, doctor.
[29:36] Speaker 6: Say goodbye now.
[29:37] Speaker 1: Back to making your morning.

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