Stress

[Miss Demeanour]

There is all this bumff on the box this morning about schoolkids being stressed out because they have their GCSE's coming up. It's causing sleeping nights , worry , yadda , yadda, yadda.....

Of course it bloody does 

You cannot live a stress free life - accept this fact now and stop trying to design out any potentially 'stressful' situations from your little prince and princess's lives .

What feckin planet do some people live on ?   

[Barman]

This nannying bullshit gets worse every day! 

I find it quite stressful... 

[Miss Demeanour]

That's not good for you you know ...you should move to another country 

[Barman]

That's not good for you you know ...you should move to another country 

Or just stop listening to R4 in the mornings! 

[Snoopy]

It is a fact that some teachers believe that by creating pressure in the build up to GCSE's and A Levels they "motivate" the learners (as we are now supposed to call both pupils and students apparently  )

In my experience, living with a lecturer and a learner, this works for some but not for others. Curiously those teachers who are doing this to the THW are the ones who have failed to deliver the whole course specification. Meanwhile SWWLTBO finished taking her "Learners" through the entire course with 3 weeks to spare .... quite deliberately, in order that she could spend 3 sessions giving them practical lessons in "What to expect in the Examination Room" ... "Examination Techniques" and "What the Examiners are looking for".
She did this last year too .... Her colleague (too many "Learners" for one class so the same course is being taught on separate days by different tutors) is complaining that she has no-where near finished the course and the examination is on Tuesday of next week. Again same as last year. All of SWWLTBO's "Learners" passed their As exams last year. All those taught by her colleague failed. Tells you summat about proper lesson preparation and delivery.

Sure some kids worry about taking examinations and some don't. Personally I never did but I put that down to the fact that in the "Olden Days" we were so used to Termly and Annual examinations that by the time we reached 'O' Levels and then 'A' Levels we were so used to examinations we took them in our stride. Nowadays the first time many kids see an exam paper is when they enter the exam room on the day. Prior to that the only "examinations" are done by "Teacher Assessment" and "Modules" with no reading around the subject, no proper text books etc. so when they finally get to the "Big Ones" they are terrified as they know they know nothing of context, have never sat a proper examination and they are constantly being told by the teaching staff that failure dooms them to a life of penury. Meanwhile the media have caught on to this "stress" and are using it to fill pages.

[Nick]

Wot he said

[The Moan Ranger]

I wasn't stressed taking either my O levels or A levels, but was really stressed taking my driving test. Most odd.

[Nick]

SATS are a bastard, they wind the kids up something awful. When SATS came round at the Boy's skool he had already passed his 11+. At a meeting with the Head (who was good) I asked "What is the educational value of this this test?" There is none. A riot ensued from parents who had not clocked this. 

And, in proud dad mode, and because I miss him today, here is The Boy

[Snoopy]

I wasn't stressed taking either my O levels or A levels, but was really stressed taking my driving test. Most odd.

Never taken a driving test.

RAF licences (one for each type of vehicle issued after a twice round the airfield drive) were exchanged for a civvy licence (For cars and motor cycles only) when I was demobbed.