Invigilating exams is incredibly tedious. I cant even play
games with the other invigilators because I am the only one.
So this school runs termly exams taking up three weeks at
the end of each term. My last school ran mini-tests every few weeks that were
set by the teachers and held within lesson time. I can’t decide which I prefer.
It is better to assess them more regularly but having such frequent testing at
my last school made them seem less important. End of term exams are very time
consuming- writing the exams, photocopying scripts, implementing an exam
timetable, but they prepare the students for their GCSE/A-Level exams and make
them seem more official. The students get very nervous about them and, because
of the pressures from parents at home, they worry about them seemingly more
than their actual GCSEs.
This system is more like the South Korean and Hong Kong exam
system; one high-pressure exam at the end of school that accounts for
everything. These countries are well-known for being centres of excellence so I
hope this similarity is working for my current school.
In three more weeks the term will end. That is one more of
exams, one of revision, one of random-last-week-time-filling activities then
the Easter holidays. Although there are no half terms, the time seems to go
quickly. The huge chunks of school time disappear and turn into holiday
revision and cramming sessions in no time. I’m excited for the term to be over
but also nervous that the students won’t be ready. I have come to accept that
chemistry is the hardest subject out of all of them.
Next term, term 3, is the shortest of the whole school year.
It is also going to be my least hectic. Out of my 7 classes, 5 of them are exam
classes so I should be down to 6 lessons per week with form 3 and 4.
I plan to fill my time learning Spanish, learning how to
teach reading and planning the LRTT (teacher training) course in Guyana this
summer. Please share the course with your teacher-friends- we have 20 places
and 10 of them have been filled already with some impressive applicants.
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