Exam results season

A reflection by Barbara Easton, Head of Service for the Methodist Academies and Schools Trust

This week sees the beginning of the main school exam results season. Results in Scotland were released on 8 August followed by 'A' level results in England on 17 August and then, the week after, GCSE results. This means different things to different people.

My own memory is of a self-addressed card that came in the post with my public exam results neatly copied onto it by the lady (sic) in the school office. Although it seems a very archaic way of doing things, finding the card again recently reminded me of all the feelings that I went through when it arrived over 40 years ago.

As a teacher, I’d always thought GCSE results mattered the most – getting (or not getting) the ‘magic 5’ unlocked (or closed) the doors to the future for so many children.

But when my own children did A’ levels I came to appreciate how pivotal they can be. The week before was full of questions like, ‘Will my children be leaving home? In which direction will they be heading? Do we need to buy a duvet? It was a very unsettling time.

So, during this time, please hold in your prayers:

• The young people, their families, their schools and their staff - their joys and disappointments, anxieties and celebrations and, for many, the choices and life-changes to which it may lead.
  
  
• Think particularly about youngsters in your neighbourhood. Maybe they pass your house on the way to school every day – and on results day. Maybe there is a school near where you live. Pray in your heart for the young people known to you.
  
  
• Be ready for the exam-time conversations – for example, people doing down our youngsters by saying they have it all much easier. Be ready to speak truth and love to power and powerless.