GCSE headteacher makes the grade
A HEADTEACHER is celebrating after making the grade in his GCSE exams.
James Allen, head of Beech Hall School, in Macclesfield, sat exams alongside his students and achieved a Grade 9 in English and Grade 5 in Maths Foundation Tier.
This year saw the new grading system rolled out across all subjects and Mr Allen wanted to put himself in his pupils’ shoes.
In preparation for the all-important tests he took part in extra revision sessions with his students.
Mr Allen said it was a good way of seeing how his students were learning.
He said: “It was an interesting and not-entirelypleasant experience joining our pupils in their GCSE pursuit. Just as the current pupils were the experimental babies in the new examination system, which now numbers grades from 9 to 1, I was also part of that experimental group experiencing GCSEs for the very first time.”
Mr Allen said that during the experiment there were tricks which he learned to help him attain the higher grades.
He said: “When preparing for my English exam, our skilled teaching staff informed me that although my writing was good enough for a high grade, my chances to attain higher could be improved with the use of more complex language features, despite it not being necessary.
“I developed a strategy to memorise a sentence which used as many linguistic techniques as possible, regardless of the actual need, which led me to question, are we teaching for actual understanding or teaching to the test?”
The head admitted however, that though he has learnt a lot the experience was just as stressinducing as he remembered it.
He said: “Thirty years on, the experience was no more pleasant, no less anxiety-inducing and no less painful than when I sat my O Levels.”