It’s that time of year again, with many students mid-way through their GCE and GCSE exams, the school is a busy hub of excitement, optimism and apprehension.
However, one year group has already made it through one of the biggest challenges of their year. Year 9 students sat mock exams in early May and have just received their results, which show great promise for their years ahead at Carr Hill.
The students are the first year nine group to sit formal trial exams in a recent change made by Carr Hill to ensure that all lower year students have the experience of sitting formal exams before they reach GCSE level.
When students began to fill the exam hall to collect their results there was a mixture of excitement and nerves with pupils eagerly anticipating the outcome of their first formal examinations.
Amongst the many students who achieved impressive grades was Alex. Alex came away with a fantastic 4 A*s amongst his results. He said: “I did a lot of revision so I felt confident going into my exams and I found that I knew the answers to a lot of the questions. The teachers gave us lots of help with revision tools and recommended the best books to read and websites to visit.
“I was nervous before I sat the exams because I didn’t know what to expect but once I had completed a few I felt like it wasn’t that bad and better than I thought it would be.”
Assistant Headteacher Ms Hilton- Peet said: “We don’t want our students to wait until they are in year 10 or 11 to sit their first formal exams as we believe it is more beneficial for our pupils to experience a realistic examination environment at a younger age. This helps to eliminate anticipation about what to expect from the examination process and means students get used to the formalities that inevitably come with sitting formal exams.”
At key stage 3 students are levelled usually between 4 and 8 whilst at key stage 4 students are graded from A*-G. The grades obtained within these examinations will help staff to continue to set targets for Key stage 4 in addition to providing pupils with a realistic experience of sitting exams.
Lucy was smiling from ear to ear after opening her results which were consistently high. Lucy said: “I’m so pleased with my grades, particularly my 6b in English. I think my parents will be just as pleased as me. I’ve already text them to let them know the good news.”
Sarah was delighted with her grades and said: “I worked hard with my revision and treated the exams as if they were real. I like that I now know how I would do in real exams. It has made me think forward to my GCSEs and how I can prepare.”
Ms Hilton- Peet and other members of staff were impressed with the mature and focused attitude that the students approached the exams with. Ms Hilton-Peet said: “All the students were incredibly well behaved and took the exams seriously. We are very proud of the students and the level of dedication the have shown to the exams. I’m sure they will go on to gain more confidence in formal exams as they move up the school which we hope will be reflected in their improving grades.”
Other Images
YEAR 9 STEP UP TO THE MARK AFTER BEING THE FIRST IN THE YEAR GROUP TO SIT MOCK EXAMS
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