Zane Phillips Achieves Perfect Scores

Zane Phillips' goal, going into Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) examinations was to achieve perfect scores, and the St John the Baptist Preparatory School student did just that.

In an interview with The Gleaner, Phillips who will be attending the Wolmers' Boys' School in Kingston, come September, noted that he had an interesting experience during the exams.

"My goal was to score 100 per cent in all subjects, but during the science exams, I remember being sleepy. I was very tired, I almost fell asleep. Some of the questions were a bit difficult. Language arts and communication task were my better subjects, however, and I managed to do my best," he recalled.

"There were many times I wanted to play, especially during the lunch break, but I had to limit that and tried as best as possible to cope as I prepared for the exams. It paid off in the end," he continued.

Phillips noted that after seeing his results he was quite elated.

"My principal called me into the office and showed us the scores and when I saw it, I suddenly felt hot. I honestly wasn't surprised but it still took some time to settle in. Overall, I'm happy with my performance," he said.

Zane's father, Andrew Phillips, noted that he always had confidence in his son's abilities.

"Zane is an ordinary child but he is very sharp. You have to be very focused when you are talking to him. He has a mind of his own and very independent. Some challenges emerged, however, as he is not the studying type and sometimes when he needed to settle down, it took a while for him to keep calm. I am not surprised though because he is very advanced," the proud father told The Gleaner.

"I had no doubt he would have got his first choice but I had no score in mind. I have always had confidence in him and it is indeed a proud moment for me," he said.

Principal of the school, Cecile Jarrett, said the school had some challenges but did its best to provide quality education to the students.

Of Zane, she said, "He will learn 90 per cent of the content in 10 minutes, where others will take 40 minutes to learn 80 per cent of the content, that's how sharp he is."

"There were six students who were behind and four managed to excel and get through for traditional high schools. Only two of them did poorly, but I am still happy with the overall performance. Most of them are going to traditional high schools," she said.