An adolescent crush
DEAD BACK THE TORIES Ever harder tests making kids ill not lifting them
GCSE day this week and everyone did very well.
Top grades were up for the first time in a long time, standard pass rate was up – maybe the overall rate down a touch. But it was good going.
Mine were such a long time ago now. I think I did OK.
It’s a bit hazy but I got the basics – English, maths, science.
Failed technology, passed history, which means I can’t change a plug but can tell you when it was invented.
In the run-up we all had the usual anxieties and pressures. Queueing up outside one exam, a mate of mine told a teacher he was “scared”.
Scared
She said: “You’re not scared, you’re nervous. Scared is a different thing. There are plenty of things to be scared of – but not exams.” And she was right. Saying that, I went to the wrong extreme and was so laid-back in my English lit exam I called the invigilator over and asked if he wouldn’t mind trying to find out the cricket score.
But a survey this week highlighted how different things are now.
A poll of headteachers showed the effect the Government’s new GCSES are having in the first year.
Their invention came about in order to toughen up the system on the back of those years of falling literacy, numeracy and the rest of it.
We’ve all seen those stories about how our kids are bottom of THE Electoral Commission has released figures showing how the parties make and spend their money. And it did reveal a couple of interesting things.
The Labour Party grew its membership income by 12 per cent last year, up to £16.2million.
Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour various league tables. Not as clever as the French and all that. So the decision was taken to make them hard. Really hard. But maybe we’ve gone a bit too far. Even Education Secretary Damian Hinds, left, struggled to explain the new grades on the radio this week. Of the 546 headteachers surveyed, 86 per cent said the new exams had led pupils to panic attacks and sleepless nights. Three quarters said pupils were managed to break its record and raise just shy of £56million.
And the Liberal Democrats saw revenue go up a third. Although that could be one supporter putting an extra fiver in.
It was not such pleasant reading for the Tories. The most startling thing was how much of suffering depression, two thirds said they had seen children self-harming due to the tests. And 40 per cent said they knew of some pupils who had suicidal thoughts over them.
More material, more exams, harder exams, no past papers and a new grading system were behind these figures.
This is not a plea to scrap exams. But there is a clear message here.
A few weeks ago the Government was given a going-over for its strategy on improving children’s mental health. their income comes from beyond the grave. They bring in £835,000 from membership fees but almost double that from people who leave cash in their wills.
Spooky. Soon they will be needing ouija boards to hold fundraisers and relying on the services of Derek Acorah. It was accused of “sleepwalking into a crisis” as it unveiled a £300million plan, and “letting children down”.
Well here is the ideal chance. Union leaders, teachers, children are all saying the same thing. These new exams are causing untold damage.
This is where the Government and exam boards need to have a look, realise it’s not working and have another go. So go on. You may begin. You have one year from the time you turn the paper over... HOW can Brexit Britons stop being eternally conflicted and on opposing sides like Jacob Rees-mogg and Anna Soubry? The answer may be an event called the Brexit Workshop, set up to reconnect a split society, in (where else?) North London. The ad says like-minded and “unlikeminded” people will experience “eye-contact, movement, talking and active listening”. That should fix it. All for just over £30. No refunds.