JS Headmaster's Blog
The value of examinations
Last week I used the following quotation which appeared recently on Chase Jarvis' website:
'Knowing how to do everything is not the goal. Knowing that you can learn is everything.'
For our Upper Remove (Year 8) boys we have just come to the end of a very important week as they have been sitting their final examinations, which determine entry to the Senior School. When there are examinations the atmosphere in the school changes. The boys become quieter - and this is not because there are signs telling them to be quiet! - and the customary hustle and bustle is replaced with a rather more sedate movement around the corridors. I have spoken to some parents and boys about examinations recently and several have said that they wished we set them less frequently. One very thoughtful boy, who always does well, said that he does not think we should have any until the Lower Remove (Year 7). He did agree, however, that taking examinations twice a year from Second Form (Year 5) onwards means that the boys are well practiced and that these tests do not generate the sense of fear that they might otherwise do. I also take the view that the examinations provide a goal for the boys and they do give objective evidence of what has been learnt. In short, returning to the Chase Jarvis quotation, they confirm for the boys, their teachers and parents that the boys do know how to learn.
11 May 2012
