A new school year means a new academic year. A period when students or learners advance into new classes.
Learners meet new teachers, classmates, subjects, and surroundings.
This marks the beginning of a new level and expectation for students.
Students in a new school year are said to have completed or attained a particular milestone and are expected to begin another.
These students and learners are happy to advance into new classes. Their happiness fades off with the thought of advanced learning.
Every new lesson presents its challenge to learners.
Oftentimes, parents have complained that their children did better in their previous school year. They want to understand what has gone wrong.
A lot of times they blame the teachers for not teaching in a certain way. Parents go as far as hiring an extra tutor at home to close these learning gaps.
The summer holiday usually spans from 4weeks to 8 weeks depending on states, countries, and schools. This period is long enough to have an impact on the;
- mood,
- age,
- experiences and
- behaviour of children.
Again, teachers at the beginning of a new school year, make preparations to receive and teach the students. They do not feel pleased with poor students’ performance after many preparations.
Hence, the reasons for the poor academic performance among students in a new school year have been questioned by teachers and all education stakeholders.
Let’s review the reasons behind poor academic performance in a new school year.
Reasons for Poor Academic Performance in a New school year.
“For effective learning, teachers must relate with students according to their needs”
Clare Chibueze
New Teacher- Student Bonding
At the beginning of a school year, teachers try to know and understand the needs of every student.
Since children are very unique, all students in the same class wouldn’t respond to teacher-student relationships in the same manner. Therefore, leading to academic setbacks at the beginning of the school year.
New Subjects
For some students, new subjects would be introduced as the class demands. These subjects sometimes are not familiar so is it with the components.
These causes struggle with learning and comprehension.
A lot of times these subjects are so abstract causing the student to struggle to relate certain concepts with what they think they know.
Age of the Learner
Age poses a problem to students’ academic performance at the beginning of a new school year.
Children who are yet to reach the class-appropriate age tend to struggle with academics for the new class.
Research carried out on learning age shows that younger students within the school year will face more difficulties than relatively older students.
Mrs. Blizz a Year 1 Teacher stated that at mid Second term of a session, 95% of students meet up with their academic expectations.
She also stressed that at this period, 98% of the learners have turned their class-appropriate ages.
Hence, learners will meet their milestones at different times within a school year. This can be achieved if all stakeholders involved will render the appropriate and timely help.
New Learning Environment
Our surroundings deeply influence our learning styles. Children observe new surroundings before they adapt. Aside from being a learner, every student first looks out for a friend in a class.
When you hear your child say “I have a friend”. This is their first stage of adaptability.
When a child in a new school or class is having learning issues, pause and allow her to adapt.
Yes, we may consider the child’s temperament but everyone has that one person that understands him.
A new surrounding can make or mar a Student’s academic performance at the beginning of a school year.
Anxiety
In the new school year, the students are very anxious. Parents’ expectation for their children increases seeing their child in a higher class.
Guess what!
Stress and Pressure to please mom and dad become an order.
Anxiety in learning impacts memory. Students struggle to retain what they have been taught.
Impact of anxiety on learning;
- Students recall fewer words when they are anxious.
- Children lose confidence in what they have learned when they are anxious.
- Anxiety leads to lower grades in students’ assessments.
See Also Parenting Styles: Effects on Children’s Study Habits
Inadequate Rest
The new school year comes with a whole “goal-attainment” syndrome, for both learners and teachers. For the learners, they are in a higher class and the quest by parents for them to achieve better results is so high.
Hence they need to put in the extra effort with study time.
This in turn takes away most of their playtime and sleep time.
When changes occur in children’s sleep times, it negatively impacts their mental health.
Poor Health Condition
Health challenges can threaten the academic performance of a student in a new school year. A student could have developed a health issue during the holiday and at the beginning of a school year, the academics are affected.
11 ways to Improve Students Academic Performance in a New School Year
- Minimize the number of learning tasks.
- Reassure your students that it is alright to fail.
- Take it easy on the students.
- Let students have adequate rest after school and hours of learning.
- Parents should always monitor children’s eating habits to stay in the loop of their mental well-being.
- Parents should avoid the urge of making children skip classes. Let children stay in their age-appropriate class. This aids a better understanding of age concepts.
- At the beginning of a new school year, teachers should help students settle down with friendly and warm smiles. Doing this makes students feel at home, thereby creating a teacher-student bond which in turn improves academic performance.
- Every new subject has a link with an already existing concept. Help students love the concepts of new subjects in a school year by relating them with existing knowledge.
Nothing in the universe is entirely unknown. Let there be a link between the unknown and a known concept.
- Equip the classroom with the right learning materials and displays. Materials that will not pose a distraction to learning.
- Resist the urge to compare Students’ as their learning abilities differ.
- Parents should relate any sudden health challenge to their child’s teacher and school management at the beginning of a new school year. This helps those involved in the child’s academics to stay up-to-date and report observations.