Kaiya Walcott of Wills Primary School has emerged as the top female and overall performer in this year’s Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination, commonly referred to as the 11-Plus. With a total converted score of 241.46, Walcott will be starting her secondary school life at Harrison College this September.
Beaming with pride and surrounded by her proud parents, the young scholar was overjoyed when Barbados TODAY visited her school on Monday afternoon.
“I feel amazing, I’ve never felt this way before about any of my academics, so it’s a really big achievement for me,” she said.
Kaiya said she was confident heading into the exam, and credited her success to dedicated preparation and a strong support system.
She added, “I practised my compositions, and I reviewed my concepts I learned at school. I knew I was going to do it well. I wasn’t expecting to be the top girl, but I was expecting to do well. When my name was called, my friends all jumped on me, so it was pretty good.”
Her mother, Paula Walcott, also said she was proud of Kaiya’s efforts.
“Feels great…feels great to see all the work she put in pay off. She was very intentional about studying; she was very goal directed; she did a lot of research about the past exams, so she was sure to caution me to make sure that I’m watching the press conference live because last year’s top girl, her mom was in a meeting. So I followed suit and I watched the press conference,” she said.
Her father, Roger Walcott, shared similar sentiments, but also said he was extra happy to hear that she would be headed to his alma mater, Harrison College.
“Yes, she’s saying that that’s not the reason she’s going, but I know that’s part of it. I’m proud that she’s going to a great school,” he said. “I am extremely happy for her because she got what
she wanted. She worked hard; the school—Wills—really did a lot for her, they watched her grow because she was here from three to four years old. So kudos to Wills and I’m really happy for her.” (SB)
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