News from Mr Grady
Hello everyone.
This week our Year 13 students are taking their mock examinations, and I have lost count of how many discussions about the impending exams I have heard outside my office. I could recite chemical formulae, lecture on the finer details of courtly love, quote mathematical equations and discuss all sorts of other academic topics and controversies and it’s only Thursday.
For our Year 13s this is a great diagnostic tool. A sense of what they’ve got under control and a sense of what might need a little more work. It’s also a real sense of what A-Level exams are like – Those of us who’ve done them will have very different experiences I expect, but I remember in one mock English Literature examination, writing what I thought was a fine analysis of an “unseen poem”, and with time to spare, smugly checking over my work. It was only with about 5 minutes to go that I thought to turn the page upon which the poem was printed only to discover a final verse which offered a contradictory interpretation to what had gone before. My hurried attempt to re-write the entire essay in 4 minutes did not lead to a satisfactory outcome.
It was a harsh reminder of even the most basic exam technique: read all the questions early on. IT certainly meant I was scrupulous in my final examinations. As a Drama teacher, I equally think about mock exams as a dress rehearsal. You don’t WANT anything to go wrong, but if it IS going to wrong better it happens in rehearsal and not the final thing.
For our students, at the end of seven years at secondary school, whether you spent all seven of those years with us or not, it can feel a little over-whelming in these mocks as it’s a reminder of a period of time that is coming to an end before the next stage. But it’s also a timely moment to remind all our students that the only real grades you get are the ones at the end of Year 11 and the end of Year 13. Until that point, by far the most important feedback you get from teachers is the written comments, the reports and the verbal feedback all focussed on your improvements. Each marginal gain as you respond to key points builds your arsenal of skills, knowledge and understanding.
I got an E for the unseen poem mock disaster. But the E itself didn’t help me to improve. It was the feedback of the teacher carefully applied, and it was the reminder to check the simple things, before I even considered anything more difficult. So, to you all I say: When in doubt, just turn the page – you never know what might be waiting on the other side!
With best wishes,
Mr Grady
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