Competitiveness against intelligence

Schools were once seen as a place of learning where young people could experiment and explore. A place where young people could feed their minds with knowledge and where they were given freedom to research and study things which interested them. Now to me as an outsider looking in Schools seem to be more about competition than anything else.

With more people looking to stay in education after school due to the lack of jobs out there, there is a higher level of competition for these places. To get funding and a good reputation schools are pressured in to getting their grade averages up so now many schools will choose to offer subjects where it will be easier for their students to get good grades in. GCSE and A Level results can give off the illusion that the school is improving where in actual fact it could just mean less students are doing so called harder subjects or that the exams themselves are getting easier.

Now I am one for competition as young people need to know how to achieve in a competitive world as that is what the outside world will bring them after they leave education but competition shouldn’t take the lead over learning. Real intelligence can’t be measured by exam scores. If you get good grades but haven’t come through a school system which has nurtured your intelligence development it may mean that you struggle on that A Level of University course you have applied for. A grade is just a means to get on to another course or a job but if you aren’t prepared for that course or the job you are going to fail in the next stage of your life.

I think it is quite ridiculous how we can live in a world where sports days are getting banned or changed to take away competitiveness from it yet school grades and league tables are plastered all over local and national media for all to see as each school tries to out do the other.

Do you think School exams are getting easier? We would like to know your thoughts and you can share them by joining in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=770


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

School Grading Systems

Ever since I started TYP I have been very outspoken on school league tables. In my opinion you can’t judge the successfulness of a school based on exam results because it means some schools will never have the chance t finish top. Should schools be judge more on the progress of their students rather than the final grade they get? And shouldn’t schools be judge on the number of their students that go on to gain skilled jobs as surely school is just suppose to be a building block to make a pupil a well rounded member of society who can get a job doing something they love doing.

In the news this week has been a new school grading system which has been implemented in America which sees schools getting graded from A – E which is measured not just against exam results but behaviour and progress as well. This gives the chance for schools from deprived areas a chance of being a top school which they probably wouldn’t have under our league table system.

Now no system is perfect and this has its floors as well because if you are a top school with pupils consistently getting a high grade you aren’t going to get top marks for progress. However I do feel for pupils to behave better in schools they have to have a sense of pride in their school and this system lets the pupils who go to schools in run down areas the chance to be proud of their school.

The news is now that they are heading our way to the UK which has been met with positive and negative feedback. Myself personally I think grades speak form themselves so parents that would have sent to their kids to a school that achieve top exam grades are going to continue to send their children there but this system can bring the feel good factor to some schools and give them something achievable to work towards. Most schools know that they will never be top of the league table so may think why bother but with this system every school has the chance to earn an A.

Like I said at the top I can’t wait until the day we see league tables based on pupils life outside of school but I think this is a step in the right direction. I think schools need to start putting more emphasis on the characters they are developing in their pupils and what contribution they will make to society, not just worry about grades. I think both systems can and should be used in the UK as I think it help parents make informed choices of where their children go to school and the parents will be able to ascertain quicker the sort of standard at their child’s school.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Exam Results

Over the next two weeks millions of young people up and down the country will be getting their GCSE and A-Level results. Years of hard work finally come down to the opening of an envelope or a line on a results chart. Months of anxious waiting since they sat in that exam hall are about come to an end but the outcomes will be very different for many people.

The first thing you need is a plan and you need to have it ready before you go to collect your results. You need to know what opportunities are available to you for each possible outcome of results day. No matter how much you worry or stress before you get your results you can’t change the results on the papers. After you hand your exam paper in you can’t change the outcomes and any time spent stressing about them is a waste of time and can have a long-term affect on your health. Stressing about your results can only have a negative affect on how you deal with your results and your future after you get your results.

The thing to remember is whatever grade you get on that piece of paper it doesn’t change you as a person you are still the same person before you get your results and after you get your results, that piece of paper doesn’t define you and it isn’t going to change your life it’s what you do with that piece of paper that will. The only time you lose on exam results day is when you don’t do something positive about your results and with your results.

Exam results are just a stepping-stone on your continuing journey. You don’t study to get results you study and work hard to get where you need to go in life, to get that career to get that University placement. If you can achieve these things then your results don’t matter as it is the outcome we are worried about not the steps on the way.

If you have a successful results day celebrate, be proud of yourself and your achievements but don’t let it go to your head as like I say these results are only as good as what you do with them. Use the power of the achievement to achieve even greater things with your life. If you can harness that energy then you can achieve anything.

So if you are reading this before you collect your results remember to do your research and find out what opportunities are available to you for every outcome so regardless of what is written on that results page you have a plan and can not let a second go to waste. If your exam results aren’t what you needed them to be you need to be quick in trying to get in to colleges and Universities as if your grades aren’t what you needed to be and you leave it a while then your chances of getting in are going to be significantly reduced. Universities, Colleges and employers like people who can face up to their failures and take the bull by the horns.

If you are reading this after you have collected your results then what are you waiting for go and research your next move don’t let a second go to waste. The one thing to remember whatever you grades are there are always opportunities and possibilities open to you in order for you to move your life forward and closer to your dream.

Regardless of your results don’t give up. If you give up after one bad grade you are not going to be able to reach your full potential and achieve great things with your life.

If you want to talk about exam grades, how they are affecting you and what the future is going to hold then get involved in our topic of the week:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=170#170

Good luck to everyone collecting exam results from everyone here at Talented Young People.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Summer Holidays

Although you wouldn’t believe it with the weather we are currently having in the UK many young people up and down the country are now either on summer holiday or starting to make plans of their upcoming summer holiday. You may still be doing your exams but I know summer holiday is in the back of your mind. For many it will be there last summer holiday they ever have before they leave education and for some they may not have a summer holiday as it’s now time for them to find work.

The summer holiday is the longest period that you are away from the structure of schools and education. For six weeks or more you are left to your own devices and it is up to you to make your own timetable and decide what you want to do and where you want to go. This leaves many young lost and confused as they are use to being told what to do and having there day mapped out for them and because they don’t know how to organise themselves they spend most of the summer holidays on the sofa watching TV. Many young people will only do things if they are told to or they have to like school and the moment they don’t have to do anything they will choose to do nothing.

A great summer comes from great preparation and a want to do something meaningful with your time off. The summer holidays should be a time to recharge your batteries ready for the next year of education and a time to let off steam but don’t be the one that goes back to school or college on the first day back and when asks what they got up to this summer says not much. There are so many opportunities open to you regardless of your situation or what you want to do you just need to find them and devote time to them. The summer holidays is a time where you can learn about what you want to learn about or practice what it is you want to get better at.

Now some of you may be spending the summer stressing about exam results but don’t as stress isn’t going to change the grade you get. Use your summer to learn about yourself, the world and to gain skills. Before the summer holiday starts set yourself some targets that you want to achieve by the end of the summer and make a plan on how you are going to achieve them. Be experimental, try new things, join new clubs, if you’re old enough try a small part time job. Just do something which is going to help you get closer to achieving your dreams. Do everything you can to make this the summer of your life.

Why not get involved in our forums and let the world know what you have planned for your summer by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=105#105

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Cheating

Right about now up and down the country many school college and university students will be either sweating to get their essays and dissertations in by deadline or they will be sweating on the results of work they have already handed in which could have an impact on their future. The question many people have asked over the years is how many students have actually sweated and worked hard and how many have used unethical means, plagiarism or have brought essays from the Internet.

The Internet has been a great tool for education and the advancement of information. The Internet has impacted the way we learn on all levels from how information is presented and how it can be accessed. Gone are the days when if you were ill you had to have work sent home now you can go online and do your homework and coursework online with the aid of audio, videos and online tests.

On the contrasting side the internet making information more easily available has meant that young people up and down the country with little or no effort have been able to stumble across essays and extracts and have given in to the temptation of copying the information and passing it off as their own so they can go out with their mates or watch TV. With the level of cheating going on the teachers haven’t been able to cope and many students have been getting marks for work which was not theirs.

This week search engine Google have made a stance against this by banning adverts for essay writing services on their search engine which is a huge step in the battle to combat plagiarism and the using of other peoples work on the internet.

Young people may think that if they get away with it then it doesn’t cause a problem but the far reaching and long term effects is where the real danger lies. Unfortunately in life there are no short cuts and when you leave school when times get hard you have to be ready to graft to keep a roof over your head, to pay the bills and in time support a family. By letting young people get away with cheating we are not giving them the right building blocks that they need for their development.

The big problem with cheating is that if you cheat say on your University Dissertation and you then decide to get a job in the field of your study they will expect you to have the knowledge and the skills equivalent to your grade. With graduate jobs companies expect you to have that high level of knowledge and expertise as the job demands it and you will soon be found out if you don’t possess these. A good University grade may help you get a job but if you haven’t done all the work you needed to do to earn that grade you are not going to keep that job for long and a CV which has you moving jobs every month or so does not look good to future employers.

I understand that there is a lot of pressure put on young people today to succeed with this pressure only getting more intense but if you can show the strength to deal with this and not be swayed in to cheating it will set you up for life. If you are struggling ask for help it takes a great inner strength to admit your own failings and you will only feel stronger because of the experience. Just remember that nothing is impossible or to hard to overcome you just have to put yur mind to it and have the dedication to see it through.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/