By Geoffrey Stanford, Headmaster at Newcastle Royal Grammar School
It may seem surprising for the Headmaster of a school that is consistently ranked top for academic results in the North East, but I often say that results should be the consequence of a good education not the purpose of it.
Indeed, it is rare that A Level results count for anything in later life beyond being a necessary hurdle for securing a place at university. Similarly, GCSEs provide a focus for performance in school but they should not be the be all and end all of everything.
As an independent school we also recently took the decision not to make our Year 6 pupils sit SATS. We know our pupils well and we want to ensure that they develop a love for learning.
Indeed, the love of learning is so much more than just the pursuit of academic results. Whatever results our young people get, they can and should go on to do interesting things with their life. They should always be willing to create options and take opportunities. The love of learning will provide them that willingness to think beyond the syllabus, to be curious, creative and to innovate. They should not define themselves by a single discipline even though they may be a specialist in that subject. Instead, it is always important to think across disciplines, make connections and join the dots.
The ambition to succeed is certainly a key part of the RGS ethos. However, that success must be much broader than just what students can achieve in their academic results or even the workplace. It should be the ambition to succeed in their personal life too: to look out for their family and friends; to be there for them when things are tough. An ambition to succeed should also not be just on an individual basis, for their own personal gain but for the good of society as a whole. Each and every one of our young people can and should be able to go out into the world and make a positive difference in the lives of others.
As I write, our Year 11 and Year 13 students have now gone on study leave prior to their public exams and I do recognise that this is a time when both students and their parents will be nervous. However, we should not forget that the current Year 13 have all already shown strength and resilience in the face of adversity surviving the lockdowns during their GCSE years. They will certainly have developed skills that will help them in the future. Whatever they go on to do, I have no doubt that they will be more independent and better equipped from this experience.
Meanwhile, we also have our end of year internal exams coming up. In a recent assembly, I encouraged that students should not blow these out of proportion as we typically find that the vast majority of them are more than well prepared.
Yes, students should do a reasonable amount of revision as we want them to do well in these assessments but that should not be at the expense of their health or mental wellbeing. I encouraged them to set out a realistic revision plan and stick to it, while also maintaining a good level of sleep and keeping up with their normal cocurricular activities to ensure that they are mentally fresh.
In the coming years I anticipate that there will be considerable change in how students are assessed. During Covid, universities moved away from formal exams to other forms of assessment and it is clear that they do not intend to revert to a purely exam based model. Increasingly, I anticipate that we will see far more online assessment in schools too, particularly as we learn how to harness the power of AI. In addition, assessments will become more akin to what is needed in the workplace, involving collaboration and group work. We may need to accept that, for the timebeing, exams remain a necessary hurdle. However, instead of just focussing on “getting the grades”, remember that developing life skills of teamwork, leadership and knowing how to engage with other people is likely to be far more important for future success.