“There are no shortcuts to true excellence.”
– Angela Duckworth
Way back in the 1980s, a lot of British newspapers became exercised about approaches to competitive sport in schools; competition had been banned, ran the screaming headlines. Fast forward to today where we are told that young people shouldn’t lose and there still remains a concern in some quarters that we are too quick to celebrate achievement.
Our school celebrates progress as much as it celebrates pure achievement. Personal bests are important, so is winning the race. We are delighted to see our pupils improve on the level they achieved in baseline testing and celebrate progress that is made not only at the end of the year but during it. We value those who work hard to improve as much as those who find their work easy.
Today is a day when we can celebrate the achievements of a small number of pupils who have achieved remarkable levels of understanding and competence in particular subjects. These achievements rarely tell the whole story of how such high performance came to be but it is something to be celebrated.
At the end of Year 11, our students face a battery of exams known as GCSEs. The school has the opportunity to choose an exam board who sets the exam, marks and grades it. There are three main boards in England with Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland having their own boards in addition and, in Scotland’s case, a different set of exams. Pearson Edexcel exams are one of the major English Boards whose exams we use. Each year, once the results have been published, the Board looks at individual performances by country and region and gives awards to outstanding learners. This year, 2100 learners from 740 schools from 85 countries globally are eligible for the Outstanding Pearson Learner Awards which puts these achievements into perspective. It says something about not only our pupils but also their teachers, that achievement has been obtained in a range of subjects this year. I’m sure that you will join with me in congratulating those of our pupils who have achieved the highest mark in various subjects in France, Europe and the world. They should feel proud of their achievements.
This week I was also delighted to learn that we have four pupils who have distinguished themselves in recent UK Maths challenge exams. These are testing exams which test not only a pupil’s ability to use what they have learnt in lessons but test their ability to apply maths in unexpected problems. Congratulations are due to the the pupil who entered the Mathematical Olympiad for Girls and were awarded a Certificate of Merit, a further two students who achieved a Certificate of Distinction and a fourth pupil who was a whisker away from achieving Merit level status. All sets of pupils deserve recognition of their hard work and notable achievements.
We are proud of all of the academic achievements of pupils at the BSP and I’m also delighted when their capacity for excellence is recognised beyond the school gates. As we meet the academic challenges of this new half-term, I am sure that all pupils will give it their very best shot!
Nicholas Hammond
Headmaster
