Now is the time

Five years, 200 school weeks, 1000 days (give or take a few)…that’s the length of a secondary school journey from day one in Year 7 to the end of Year 11. Our current Year 11 cohort are not quite at the end yet, but the final chapter officially began yesterday. Small groups of students sat exams in Religious Studies, Drama and Italian on Thursday, and today the whole cohort enter the process with Biology, the first of the core subject exams. Our students deserve to do really well – the vast majority have worked their socks off over the years, especially this year, and I wish them all the very best indeed.

As the exam season unfolds then students will get into the rhythm of revision and exams, and what appears daunting now will become more and more normal. If I can impart two last pieces of advice it would be these:

1. Sleep. At this stage, sleep is more beneficial than last minute cramming. The teenage brain is a wonderful thing, but the magic happens most when the teenager is asleep. Learning is embedded ready for use when needed, and so sleep is king.
2. Never leave a question blank. Never! It doesn’t matter how daft or silly the answer given might be, just never ever ever leave a question blank. The only way to guarantee zero marks is to write nothing, so always write something. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about!

Six school weeks from now the exam season will be over and what will be done will be done. I know that the whole team here in school is rooting for every student sitting exams, and we will offer all the support that we possibly can. Good luck everyone!

Best wishes,

Joe Barker

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