25th November 2022
HEADLINES
By James Saunders
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER I was reminded this week of an assembly I did earlier this year on the art of listening. In that assembly I discussed the phrase ‘knowledge is power’. Well knowledge came home in a big way this week as we made great strides in the creation of our new library. Mr Smith, Mrs Frogley and a diligent team of learners prepared all of our books and categorised them. There was quite a production line in operation. The leadership team even took part and spent one evening labelling up books. We now have our electronic system working and have begun to register our books ready for learners to access. Libraries are places of unfettered access to information, resulting in critical thinking, discourse, and analysis. This leads to knowledge. Libraries protect the freedoms to read, freedoms that are critical to democracy. Reading allows one to make a choice. To not have to take what one person says as gospel but to independently access the knowledge to make up their own mind. Libraries are treasure chests of the most amazing imaginations and inspirational stories. I am looking forward to our learners being able to develop their knowledge and love of reading further as we continue to improve our library space. MOCKS On Monday our C11s will begin their mock exams. And following on from that, I am sure that many teachers will be providing some formal assessments ahead of the learning reviews. On its own an assessment or mock exam serves little purpose other than to give us an indication of where a learner is in relation to the final outcome. Ultimately that is how everyone is assessed at the end of their GCSE journey, however, before then we have the ability to use assessment more purposefully. As part of the learning journey, any assessment and its resultant feedback offers something to the learner. If they are not happy with the outcome they still have time to do something about
it and guidance as to where they need to concentrate their efforts. I have however, heard quite a few times comments such as this: ‘they are only mocks, not the real thing’; ‘it’s just an in class test’; ‘it doesn’t really mean anything anyway’; ‘they are not the grades I will get in the summer’; ‘I don’t like sitting exams’; ‘I can’t do it - I get anxious in exams’. These are not uncommon feelings toward this part of the curriculum and guess what? No one really likes exams - I know I don’t. However, I would argue that they are an important part of a learners journey. To unpick that, let’s think about what the point of testing is in the first place. Think about the possible things that require a test: a driving test; a blood test; a test match; a fitness test; a crash test. A driving test checks whether you have met a certain standard of knowledge and skill to be able (trusted even) to drive independently. A blood test is designed to diagnose you - to test whether there is a problem. A test match is a simple test to see who can perform the best. A fitness test diagnoses how fit you are. A crash test identifies weaknesses. So what is the point of a mock or end of topic test? It is all of the above. Teachers will want to assess whether a learner has met a standard appropriate for their age - that they have made the right amount of progress; that they are able to independently master a certain body of knowledge and understanding. They will want to identify any problem areas so that they can then address these in their teaching. They will want to diagnose how much a learner has learnt and they will want to identify the weaknesses that need addressing. Sitting exams is tough. It is mentally and physically exhausting. It is perfectly normal to find this a struggle; to not want to do it in the first place. That gut wrenching feeling when entering an exam hall is very common. If you feel this you are not alone. Even today I feel this way if you put me in a high stakes test