Results day

It's That Time of Year again. 'A' level results are out today. When I was a Secondary teacher, this was the day when teachers were as nervous as pupils, wondering how they had all done together.

I went into teaching relatively late, in my thirties. I've never forgotten the day our Head of Department, who happened to be a Linguist, talked about perceived changes in standards. I felt very insecure as a 'wrinkly' amongst all the bright young new graduates. John gave us some French exam papers from 1973 and asked people to guess what level was being examined. There was some discussion as to whether they were second year 6th form or 1st year University. I kept silent, feeling very disorientated. John smiled at me and asked, "What do you think, Gill? What level are they?" Feeling rather foolish, as though my memory had let me down, I stammered, "Well - I was 13 in 1973 and - I think - this is pretty much what we were doing then..."

Cue derisive laughter, to be silenced when John turned to the group and said, "Yes, Gill's absolutely right! This is a Y9 exam from 1973."

I was treated with great respect after that!

I wrote a brief paper based on interviews with local heads of Sixth Forms and University Lecturers, in which I highlighted their unanimous opinion that there was a huge gap opening up between the end of school and the beginning of University. Many of them spoke about having to do refresher courses which were in effect a recap of the last year or two of school.

I did a little research into why this was happening and with my fairly unscientific methods, decided it was mostly down to the existence of the League Tables. Children were not being taught to love their subjects, but to get the school the desired position in the tables. So they were fed the knowledge needed for a good grade, without the breadth of subject knowledge.

As a Languages teacher, I saw very quickly that Key Stage 3 was largely a waste of time, as everything taught was covered again in years 10 and 11 and this bored the children. (I'm generalising of course, but sadly there is a lot of truth in this). My theory was backed up by a family member missing KS3 through illness, sailing through KS4 and going on to Uni and an MA. As an NQT I was given a class of 'UnTeachables' and the curriculum for the French Certificate of Achievement. I engaged them, got through the first part of the Certificate in the first term, and when I went to the Head of Department and asked for the next part, he looked at me in horror and said, "That's meant to last the Whole Year!" Thus was born my theory that a lot of misbehaviour is due to boredom, and a lot of boredom is due to low expectations, and those expectations are fed by teachers' need to concentrate on the brighter children who can bring glory to the school in the league tables.

Years later in my capacity as a Behaviour Adviser, I would bang my head against the wall of a school toilet having seen a teacher ask a class of 7 year olds, "So! What kind of question is this?" I was impressed at children of 7 knowing the difference between open and closed questions, until a pupil volunteered the answer, "A TWO POINT qeustion Miss!" and was rewarded with a hearty "Yes! So don't forget to answer it!"

I think it is unfair to blame exams per se. I do however believe the Curriculum is not healthy. I am incredibly uneasy at the number of schools where I am told there is 'no time' for Art and Music. I once headed up the Infant Music in a school where I was on long term supply, and introduced the children to some classical pieces. which they loved but which they all told me 'made them sad'. I eventually unpacked this to discover that they had no other word for the strong feelings which classical music aroused in them, and it was a valuable starting point for work on emotions.

I estimate that preparation for SATS in primary schools probably removes about 8 weeks' teaching time from the school year. I was asked to deal with a boy of 10 who had become very violent in school. It turned out that he was terrified of 'failing his SATS'. When I asked him "How do you fail SATS?" his eyes widened and he gasped, "If you get less than a 4!" We went on to discuss what the other levels meant, in that case, and (very unprofessionally I'm sure) I told him that SATS were a load of rubbish which only meant anything to the Government, and that when he was in the pub at 20, nobody would even ask him about them. I watched him in the tests, sitting in a huge hall, and I observed at least 3 children hyperventilating with stress.

I frequently remind anxious parents that in many countries, children don't begin formal schooling until the age of 7. Here, we are already formally testing them by that age. I am convinced that our system is driven by poor childcare facilities. Where is the encouragement for parents to spend time with their children, time which feeds into their social development and which can never be regained?

So we teach our children early on, in the UK, that we can fail miserably. And no doubt in a few hours, the papers will all be saying how easy it was for them this year, that their efforts mean very little. What with the vast amounts of money needed to go to University, the scant job prospects and expensive housing, it's a wonder any of them are still standing.

I'm not sure exams are 'easier' than they were. They are very different. They look strange to those of us raised on 'O' and 'A' levels. But they take a tremendous amount of work to pass with high grades. We ought to be congratulating our children and building their self-esteem, not giving them the message that their efforts are worthless and their futures grim.

If you know a young person who has got exam results this summer, commiserate or congratulate as needed. Remind them that the world doesn't ask what you got at 'A' level for the rest of your life, that they now have time to enjoy themselves, that they are valuable human beings... do whatever it takes to build up our young people, because they deserve it, and they are our future.

NB I've just re-read my entries for February. They seem prophetic now!