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Showing posts from June, 2013

Leaving

At first when I left school I didn't really have any clue how I felt about it; I was sad, yes, but I didn't know if I wanted to leave or not - so many emotions ensued. Having just finished my exams and pretty much will not be going back into school until August I have finally figured out how I feel about leaving: I don't want to leave but I feel ready. I feel ready because I realise that I've out-grown the school (not the teachers though, gosh darn it I love my teachers!) and some of the people (I emphasise 'some' here). It's a place where I've had sad times and happy times, met amazing people and learnt so  much. I've grown up there. As much as this makes me sad, I really recognise that I'm ready to move on... ready to grow up. It's kind of like leaving Neverland in a funny way. And who knows, maybe I'll be back teaching there someday?

New GCSEs

Having just read this article  about the new GCSEs that we will be blessed with come September 2015 I am highly intrigued to how they will pan out. Yes perhaps it is good for fourteen-sixteen year olds to read a Shakespeare play and a 19th Century novel - in fact I think that's a really good aspect of the new GCSEs - but the focus on examinations is something that I do not agree with. As someone who attends a competitive comprehensive I felt enough pressure as it was to do exams and I still do as I am finishing my A Levels. The coursework aspects of the courses I took - particularly as someone who found essay writing particularly difficult back then - were a welcome relief and a chance to develop and engage in essay writing. I understand that students will do 'mock essays' but this only increases pressure on students to actually do them - since they won't have 'official' deadlines - and more pressure on teachers to be constantly working on and improving the st