Within the last fortnight, hundreds of Barbadians have either been celebrating or lamenting their results in external examinations set by the Caribbean Examinations Council.
One group which is simply over the moon about their success is tutored by former national basketball player and coach Shakira Shorey.
The lucky 13 sat the physical education (PE) exam and recorded 13 Grade 1s with 11 distinctions. This is nothing new for Shorey, a PE teacher at Daryll Jordan (formerly St Lucy) Secondary.
This is the third year she has been tutoring the private classes and of the 27 students – including herself – there have been 25 Grade 1s, 21 distinctions, one Grade 2 and one Grade 3.
It all happened purely by accident.
While talking about doing the course with friend Adrian Craigwell, he expressed an interest as well. That group of five had no official base, but met at the YMCA or Station Hill courts.
Shorey approached then Graydon Sealy principal Matthew Farley to use a classroom at the school. He gave the okay and with that in place, they went onto complete the course, all five with Grade 1s.
A second group of nine got seven Grade 1s, one Grade 2, one Grade 3 and five distinctions and surpassed what Shorey had been expecting.
“I was pleased with the results. I got positive feedback from that group and decided to start another group last December. Those are the results that just came back,” she told MIDWEEKSPORT.
But don’t be fooled into thinking CXC PE is about “games”.
“There is not much awareness about it,” Shorey said, “But it is a great help if you’re going to do PE at the Barbados Community College.”
Some of the courses include health and fitness; Caribbean eating; all the body systems – muscular, skeletal, cardio-vascular, digestive, nervous – how the body processes information; anatomy and physiology; the Olympic Games; social issues in sports; micro and macro training cycles; different body types; violence; drugs and a whole lot more.
Each candidate has to choose three disciplines and is assessed in one, but Shorey’s style is to introduce them to everything. There are three practicals as well as one school based assessment.
The Mini League Basketball at the YMCA was the perfect group for her class to use for their practicals. The group held planning sessions, with each person taking on a specific “role” in staging the tournament. All of this goes into the final report, which is reviewed by Shorey before submission. The exam accounts for the remainder of the grade.
What is also pleasing is the age range of the group – from teenagers (at both private and public schools) to people in their 40s.
“The majority of people who came are involved in various sports. We had some from cricket, netball, hockey, athletics and basketball. They are not just coming to do it, but they want to give back to their sport,” she explained.
“I like people who come from the block or the community and are not doing anything to give them a start. Two of the guys in the last group weren’t working and they have started to make a little income,” Shorey said.
