What will be said of me when I am dead and buried?
Libby Reid. Good girl. She got 4As, 4Bs and 2Cs.
God, I hope my GCSE results are not all that I will be remembered for. But the way things are going in education these days, you’d think that exam results were all that matters.
In the TES last week, it was reported that many schools are losing pupils because they have been put on the National Challenge ‘hit list’. Not surprising really; and my bet is that the pupils they are losing will be those from families who both care enough about education to move and can afford to move house. Take for example acquaintances of mine who are about to re-mortgage their house to pay for private education rather than send their child to the secondary school they have been allocated.
I understand that ‘coasting schools’ will now be added to the list. (Coasting schools being those that should be getting better results considering the ability of the children at intake). Hmm, that makes me think that perhaps some highly selective grammar schools should come under scrutiny. Let’s face it, 98.8% of those kids would get 5 A-C’s if they were taught by a colony of monkeys.
Why is the Government putting such a focus on results and grades? Presumably because they are the one easily measurable means of telling how a school is doing? Yet there are so many things that are far more important than SATs and GCSE results, and these seem to go unmeasured. I wonder how many head teachers are brave enough to resist the pressure to concentrate solely on exam results and to consider what they and their pupils would like to be remembered for?