DEPUTY PRINCIPAL REPORT

Examinations-‘Passing’ or ‘Failing’ Depends on How You View Success

The article below is based on one I wrote at this time last year as we completed Examination Week for Years 7-10. It will continue to be a message I promote until the day I close the last door on my last class and totter off into retirement. 

For some it would appear examinations are just opportunities to feel stressed, anxious and unprepared; all unpleasant sensations that only serve to make this time of year filled with angst. I want to reinforce to students and parents that this is not the purpose of examinations at all. This week has just been an opportunity for teachers to find out more about your child’s learning journey at the college. It also helps inform us as to the areas of strength or growth required in our teaching and programing. It ensures we have a snapshot of what students know and can do. For students, it is vital they see this as an opportunity to show us (and themselves) what they know and can do. That is not just a school thing, we will spend much of our lives being assessed in one way or another, formally or informally. 

Thus, it can only be about how we respond to these challenges. I despair at times when a student receives back their examination and responds with a ‘Yay I passed!’ Upon closer inspection their mark of 56% does not exactly represent a glowing endorsement on what they know and can do, and nor does it suggest they can rest easy as they ‘passed’. The whole concept of passing or failing is a fallacy. I have taught students who by a percentage measure have ‘failed’ and yet they are showing improvement and have significantly increased what they know and can do-is that not success? At the same time, the real world is not going to work on getting it right 56% of the time. I have often joked to my classes that it will not matter if you are a brain surgeon, a builder or a pro cyclist, getting it right only 56% of the time is going to be problematic….I also point out that no one is a brain surgeon yet, so becoming attuned to how to learn and reflecting on what they do in preparation for learning will be part of the journey. 

And so what is success, or failure for that matter, in an examination context? The failure part is simple. A student should ask themselves if they could have done better around the things they control. Time devoted to study, being more organised and proactive, seeking support when unsure, doing more practice…those things over which they have control. If the answer is that they could have done better, then reflection will help them see how they can be all they can be. And therein also lies the real danger of thinking a ‘pass’ is great. Because if I think that 56%, 72%, 81% is fine then what is driving me to reflect on what I can do better? 

And success is pretty simple too. Success isn’t a particular mark or performance band in the HSC. Success is simply having reached your potential, whatever that may be. If I have improved to 56% that is success. If I looked closely at my feedback from mid-year and acted on it for improvement that is success. If I learned one more thing about myself as a learner that is success. 

Examinations aren’t a speedbump in the calendar year designed to create stress. They are a snapshot in time of the learning achieved and a guide to where to head from here. As our children start receiving back their examinations, please take the time to have a close look at the feedback and areas of strength and weakness that need help and support. More importantly, ask your child those questions about the things over which they had control-did they do all they could do to achieve their own success? This isn’t a blame game. It is merely to challenge ourselves to be all we can be. Just as importantly, it is to reflect on what our teachers (and parents) can do to help us get there. 

As always, if you would like to discuss examinations and how they are used at The Riverina Anglican College please feel free to contact me Anthony.Heffer@trac.nsw.edu.au.

Anthony Heffer | Deputy Principal - Teaching, Learning and Innovation