Words schools use
The school and OS for Schools words you will meet, each in one sentence.
From A to Z
- Academic year
- The school year, from about September to July, named by its two calendar years (2026-2027).
- Admission
- Taking a new pupil in: application, entrance assessment, interview, offer and enrolment.
- Announcement
- A notice from the school to parents, pupils or staff, such as a meeting or a holiday.
- Arrears
- Fees still owed from this term or earlier ones.
- Assessment
- Anything that earns a pupil a mark: an exercise, a test, homework, a project or an examination.
- BECE
- The Basic Education Certificate Examination that JHS 3 pupils sit, set by WAEC.
- Bill
- What a pupil is charged for a term, item by item. Also called an invoice.
- Boarder
- A pupil who lives at the school during the term, in a boarding house.
- Cash-up
- Counting the money in hand at the end of the day and checking it against what was recorded.
- Class teacher
- The teacher in charge of one class; also called the form teacher.
- Continuous assessment
- Marks earned during the term, as opposed to the end-of-term examination. Also called school-based assessment.
- Disbursement
- Money the school pays out, such as for stationery or fuel, approved and recorded.
- Enrolment
- A pupil being placed in a class for the year.
- Exeat
- Permission for a boarder to leave school for a set time, such as a weekend at home.
- Fee structure
- The list of what each class is charged for a term: tuition, PTA dues and so on.
- Marks
- The one page where teachers enter marks and see each pupil’s results for the term.
- Grading scale
- How marks turn into grades, for example 80-100 is grade 1.
- Housemaster, housemistress, matron
- Staff who care for boarders in their boarding house.
- Mobile Money (MoMo)
- Paying from a mobile phone wallet, such as MTN MoMo or Telecel Cash.
- My Workspace
- Your home screen in OS for Schools: what matters to you today.
- Promotion
- Moving pupils up to the next class at the end of the school year.
- PTA
- The Parent-Teacher Association.
- Receipt
- Proof of a payment. Every receipt from OS for Schools has a code anyone can scan to check it is genuine.
- Register
- The daily record of which pupils are present, late or absent.
- Report card
- A pupil’s results for the term, with remarks, attendance and conduct.
- Roll call
- Checking every boarder is present, usually morning and night.
- Starting cash
- The cash already in the cash box in the morning, before any money comes in, kept for giving change.
- Stream
- One of the classes a big level is split into, such as JHS 2A and JHS 2B.
- Term
- One of the three parts of the school year.
- Timetable
- Which subject each class has, when and with which teacher.
- WAEC
- The West African Examinations Council, which sets the BECE and WASSCE.