It's Exam Season...

It's exam setting and marking season with report writing season around the corner. With exams that are normally marked by exam boards having to be marked internally and all assessments being online these days my screen time is going through the roof and so for the next couple of weeks I'm taking a break from updating here. I do plan to come back to this though once the dust settles in July.

But first a few thoughts:

Mainly I am so very proud of my students!

I've barreled through my first round of marking this week and I just can't get over how far my students have come from the start of the year; even with all the madness of this last term. When I started this new job in August I was warned that the students at this school, in general, weren't very good at English and that the results for the subject were normally disappointing. As a brand new, first time, Head of Department, I have to admit this did make me a little nervous. What I've been marking though is in no way disappointing. Exams that have been taken in less than ideal situations: WiFi dropping, lagging computers, noisy homes, power-cuts, you get the picture, have been completed with excellence, precision, and imagination. Average grades for this particular year group have soared spectacularly from the start of the year (back when I was trying to teach a course I hadn't yet become familiar with) and I have encountered some of the most talented writers I have ever come across.

Teaching from home is definitely not easy - I would much rather be in the classroom - and some things are just so hard to communicate or make interesting virtually whilst retaining a semblance of work life balance. But I think that studying from home must be harder. Whilst I have full control over what I do and where I go each day this is not the case for teenagers. I can't even imagine how hard it must be to stay on top of everything when there are computer issues, the house is noisy with everyone else at home, you can't go out and see your friends, there's the uncertainty of how will exams and grades be sorted out, and so much more.

And in the midst of all of this they have continued to study and improve and outdo themselves in this round of exams. 

I'm so looking forward to seeing the half of my students that are allowed back into school later this month, and can't wait for the fresh start next academic year. I'm also looking forward to all the exams being finished and the reports being written in the next couple of weeks.

But for now I'm taking a moment to be proud of my wonderful students.