Claire Robinson, NACE Associate and Challenge Award Assessor, and Headteacher of Holme Grange School, calls for recognition and celebration of the achievements of young people completing GCSEs or other qualifications in 2021.
As GCSE and A-Level results were released this year, it was inevitable that there would be publicity and opinion around them. Criticism often came from those outside the sector, passing judgement on a system which they have never experienced themselves, as educator or student.
Schools all over the country were put through possibly a more rigorous process of testing and evidence gathering this year, because it was inevitable that the validity would be questioned. Evidence required to justify grades was collected and the random inspection by examination boards that schools were subject to, meant that there was no place for complacency.
We should not underestimate young people. They know if they deserve their results and they also take responsibility for the efforts they put in. If they have been given a grade, it is because they deserved to be awarded it. Allow them to celebrate and let’s recognise the time and energy that teachers gave to make sure the results awarded were fair and beyond reproach.
A year like no other… yet much the same
A student’s success at GCSE is not reflected solely in their grades. GCSEs open the door to the next stage of a young person’s educational journey. If grades awarded result in gaining access to courses which would not otherwise have been accessible, a student will not succeed. No school is going to set their students up for future failure.
Pupils may not have sat official public examinations this year, but were arguably put through a more rigorous ‘testing’ system, and teachers continued to do what they always do: challenge and support their pupils to allow them to achieve the best they possibly can and meet their potential. Had visits been permitted to schools, many would have possibly wondered whether the examinations were in fact still being held, as we continued to provide an environment that allowed students to experience the examination system for which they had all been prepared, and would benefit from in the future.
In previous years, where ‘mock’ examinations are usually held just before or just after the Christmas break, students have made considerable progress as the time between mock examinations and the ‘real thing’ provides opportunity to work with focus and deep analysis of what is required to improve. This continued this academic year, yet was sometimes questioned as being unfair as teachers guided, challenged and supported students – as was ever thus.
Teachers are professionals and this year their professionalism was recognised as their judgments were valued and under intense scrutiny. Switching between online and onsite teaching and quite often a hybrid of both, teachers continued to ensure their students’ needs were met – academically, socially and emotionally.
Opportunities to thrive – not just survive
Teachers know their students well and good teachers always know at what level their student is achieving and what they need to do to improve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation also provide students with an opportunity to take greater ownership of their learning and apply metacognitive skills, nurturing self-awareness and developing skills for life.
Learners construct knowledge using cognitive strategies, and they guide, regulate, and evaluate their learning using metacognitive strategies, which is where real learning occurs. Students have applied a wider range of independent learning skills over the past 18 months and ‘thought about their thinking’ in a way which possibly they may not have done in ‘ordinary’ times. The pandemic opened opportunities in our schools for students to become more skilled at using metacognitive strategies; many gained confidence and become more independent as learners. Our able learners strengthened and when the correct pastoral support was given, academic success followed.
Let us also not forget, our young people are far more than a set of grades and we should not be defining them by these anyway. It is simply just one step along the journey they make. Let us take time to say well done for a group of people, who, if we allow them, could be the healthiest, the safest, and potentially the most resilient of any generation in modern history. Pupils have learnt how to manage life’s uncertainties and we should give them credit for that.
The world of education is one which has always, and is likely to always be, one which is open to others' opinions and ideas on how to make it better – from within the sector and from outside of it. We may have all been to school but not many have experienced school in a global pandemic! Most schools grew stronger; pupils did not simply 'survive' – many thrived because they were taught within communities that care, where professionals worked beyond all expectations to ensure children in their care continued to grow during these most testing of times.
“Just waiting to get out there and take our place in the world”
Yes, results are different this year, but let's not devalue the efforts our young people have made or that their teachers have given in order to support them. Teaching is a profession filled with people of integrity and it is also a great vocation. We have all come through one of the most challenging times in educational history; we have done so with great resilience, perseverance, professionalism and humour.
And has anyone asked the students about their thoughts and how they value their GCSEs? I finish with a quote from our head of school, a Y11 pupil in his final address to the school:
“We have been nurtured into citizens who are rounded and grounded, eager to make a positive contribution to the outside world… Not even a global pandemic can dampen our spirits, as a community we pulled together. The hours of live Zoom lessons, emails and Google Classroom notifications enabled us to continue our education in the comfort of our own homes.
“We are so much more than an educational establishment with a focus purely on academics – we are a laboratory filled with budding scientists, the next generation of ‘Michelin Star Chefs’, we are the ‘Steve Jobs’, ‘Shakespeares’, ‘Flemings’ and ‘Monets’ just waiting to get our there and take our place in the world.”
I think this is one example where expectations continued to be high, pupils continued to be challenged and to aim high, to be aspirational in their goals and supported and challenged to achieve them – as I have no doubt was echoed in schools across the country. Again, let’s celebrate what has been achieved, instead of picking fault in the young people and devaluing their efforts. This year’s GCSE students should be truly independent learners for life, as their future success will undoubtedly show.
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