Our teenagers are so much more than their exam grades
AT last school exams are over and all involved can breathe a collective sigh of relief – for a few days at least – before term starts again.
In the post-results fallout, it’s easy to forget that behind the figures are human stories that often provide deeper insight into our education system than bald A-level and GCSE results ever can.
Teenagers who get strings of A*s and As often grab the headlines, and should be congratulated. But there are many more who get what appear to be less impressive results, but which may have been obtained against the odds and with just as much hard work and application.
Not every pupil or every school begins at the same starting point. Not all things are equal.
And what of the teachers who go above and beyond to help their pupils, some of whom get scant support at home?
Many stories of educational triumph never get told, and some people are too self-deprecating to share them.
But this year, as every year, there were glimpses of the human stories behind the rows of numbers that are GCSE and A-level data.
Our teenagers are so much more than the lists of letters that they are sometimes reduced to in the collective consciousness come results day. And although qualifications are vital, good teaching is about more than just drilling people through tests and exams.
Some of the stories from around Wales show just what our young people and schools do.
Veronica Ghoda, from Bridgend, found out five days before Christmas that she had thyroid cancer which has spread to her lymph nodes – but she smashed her GCSEs.
Only a few weeks after the diagnosis, the 16-year-old sat her biology and physics papers before heading into hospital for an operation to remove the gland, followed by radioactive iodine treatment and a stint in isolation.
Now, having achieved four Cs and two Bs, she is enrolling in Bridgend College to achieve her goal of becoming a hospital nursing assistant to help other children with cancer.
“It was hard to concentrate knowing that I had cancer but I managed to persevere and get on with it,” she said as she opened her results at Archbishop McGrath Catholic High School in Bridgend.
“Now I’ve got my results I am happy that I have got into college and I am safe.”
In Cardiff 16-year-old Charlie Small thanked his girlfriend for helping him through his GCSEs after his mother’s death.
He got six Bs and two Cs at GCSE, despite having to miss time at school.
He said he was supported by girlfriend, fellow Cardiff High pupil Frankie Jones, to overcome a “difficult year” after his mother died from cancer last year.
Charlie said: “Frankie motivated me. My mum passed away and at the end of last year my attendance was 62%. I missed a lot of school and it was difficult to catch up.
“She has helped me get through. I just needed people to encourage me and Frankie did that.”
He also thanked Year 11 achievement leader Beth Wilson, saying she had been “fab” and “amazing”.
Frankie, who received six As and three Bs at GSCE, said that Charlie has also helped her while Ms Wilson said the couple were the two people she was most proud of this year.
At A-level there was a student who got four A*s while also acting as a full-time carer to his disabled mother.
Robin Denham, 18, originally from Parcllyn, near Aberporth, Ceredigion, achieved his top marks in Spanish, Chinese, maths and further maths at Brighton College after moving with his 52-year-old mother, Rosie, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
The teenager has been the sole carer for his mother, who is confined to a wheelchair, since his father died when he was nine years old.
Robin said: “It’s still a bit of a shock. I am proud – considering what has been going on in exam season, it’s pretty incredible.”
Then there was the teenager who fled war-torn African country Eritrea three years ago without speaking a word of English and has now won a place at the University of South Wales.
Awita Zera, 19, escaped the country in Africa around three years ago in hope of finding a better life.
The Cathays High School student has been offered a place to study mechanical engineering at USW after completing his A levels.
“I travelled from Eritrea alone. I don’t want to speak about the journey in detail, but it was hard,” he said.
“But the teachers and the friends I’ve made here have played a big part in helping me progress.”
He praised staff and the school, which gave him special classes to help him to learn English fluently, while teachers said he is a “very conscientious” young man.
These are stories of how people overcome death, war, illness and disability to achieve, with help from teachers, schools and friends. It is students like these who stick in the mind long after results days are over.
There are sure to be many more like them, and many schools helping them, whose stories never come out.
Recently one headteacher in Wales told me how her school helped refugee and migrant teenagers, some of whom arrived aged 14 having never held a pen before.
She wanted to keep the details private, but that is just one more example of the hidden work going on in education.
While we can measure ability at maths, English and other subjects, it is harder to quantify human attributes vital to happiness and success.
Sadly, there are no A*s handed out for having the strength and courage to cope with illness or the loss of a parent, fleeing war or caring for a sick relative.