“There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”
– Jiddu Krishnamurti
This week is one of extremes. We have had four year groups out of school on residential trips, and we have had four doing internal or external exams. I suspect that for many pupils there is little to be seen in common between these two activities, but perhaps both allow for development in their own ways. Those who have been on trips will have been tested, they will have engaged with new activities, overcome challenges, and will bring back an awful lot of laundry. For the cohort in exams, they have had to cope with performing under pressure following a period of preparation, they have confronted nervousness and have had to work to a target. They have been required to express themselves and their knowledge in the exam room, it is no easy feat. Whether the challenge has been on a mountainside, on a lake or facing an exam paper in a subject that is not your forte, within these experiences lies a greater understanding of a pupil’s own strengths. “Know thyself” as the Ancient Greeks used to say – it still holds true.
Along the way, be it preparing for an exam or challenging oneself in the outside world, there are other elements of character being developed. Many on the residential trips have demonstrated resilience, maturity and a willingness to push themselves beyond their comfort zones. I’d say that many in exams have done something similar. On residential trips, pupils find out how important it is to support one another, the same comes when facing academic challenges. Exams may well be seen as being individual endeavours, but I have seen on many occasions how pupils support each other both before and after the exams.
Residential trips can be seen as a nice treat at the end of a school year. Exams are rarely seen in the same way. Both can be rather like a flash in the pan. Something that once completed is not looked at again or thought about again in great detail. If they are to be useful formative experiences, it is important that we follow up carefully. Exam feedback is an important part of the process, reflecting on time in a different environment also teaches valuable lessons.
Next week may seem a little more normal but it is where the real work may well begin.
