Teachers and pupils ‘suffering stress because of exam reforms’

TEACHERS AND children are suffering unnecessary stress as a result of frequent exam reforms, according to the leader of the UK’s largest independent co-educational school.

Sue Woodroofe, headteacher at the Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL), which has 2,100 pupils, said her “biggest bugbear” was the amount of change in the system allowed to take place whenever a new Secretary of State wants to make their mark.

It follows last week’s publication of secondary school league tables, which revealed that an increasing number of schools were falling below the Government’s performance threshold.

The national rise comes amid major changes to England’s exams system, including the introduction of a new grading system, which has meant the data includes English and maths GCSE results awarded new 9-1 grades while other subjects received traditional A*-G.

School leaders said the new grading system affecting English and maths has complicated the way school performance is calculated, as it has to be worked out using a combination of old and new systems. Mrs Woodroofe said: “Whatever the system is, I will be happy when the Government gives it the time to be bedded in so teachers can prepare as well as they can to support the children and the children have as much time as possible to become grounded in the new system and know the expectations. “Very often the changes set in motion by the Secretary of State don’t impact the children until they have gone on and got another job.

“They are not there to see it through and before there is time to review it they have signed a new contract.”

Mrs Woodroofe, who joined GSAL in 2016 after five years as principal at The British School in Brussels, said the Belgian capital’s exams system had remained unchanged for a long time, which had provided stability.

She said: “I’m all for change and development but it has got to be done in a measured way.

“It is causing extra stress for teachers as they don’t have the right materials or textbooks covering the new syllabus and they are unable to give pupils past papers. The amount of additional stress is huge – and for the children.

“Providing the best for children is at the centre of everything we do is. When they are messed around and short-changed and suffer as a result, that’s what makes me upset.”

Mrs Woodroofe’s comments come ahead of the 10-year anniversary since GSAL merged its two founding schools, Leeds Grammar School and Leeds Girls’ High School, to form a co-educational school.

And to celebrate the milestone, she revealed it was launching a birthday bursary campaign in an effort to raise money to fund an additional 10 places for students starting in September. A bursary provision of £1.5m already supports nearly 200 students through their education.

Mrs Woodroofe said: “We want to make sure the quality of education is available to as many children as possible.”