Thursday 22 August 2019

This one

So it's GCSE results day here for you-know-who and it's been a busy morning going up to the school, collecting results and enrolling for the next big adventure (A Levels).  The girl done good - we are all immensely proud and I just had to dive into the darkroom this afternoon to print this shot of her - taken last Christmas in Dublin on HP5+ in the wee Yashica T4 point'n'shoot thing and printed on Adox MCC paper:

Missy, growing up too fast

I didn't want to change places with her this year - the new exam format is just plain nuts.  A few years ago they decided to move away from continual assessment so now pretty much 100% of the assessment is exam-based.  Over 4 weeks of exams and since most subjects have 3 papers that's coming up on 25-30 written exams.  For 16 year olds that's a big ask.  They never stop tinkering with the education system in the UK and I doubt they ever will.
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4 comments:

  1. Marcus Peddle25 August 2019 at 15:52

    I'm glad I went to school when things were much more relaxed. You had to study to get good grades, but if you stayed awake in class and did a bit of homework you were okay.

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    1. Michael McNeill26 August 2019 at 23:48

      I agree, Marcus. Things were much simpler back in the day. These days the metrics are so complex even the Examination Boards can't cope - Missy has had two of her results changed already (for the better) and I've spotted a third anomaly which we're going back to get sorted tomorrow. If the Board can't get it right what hope do the teachers and students have...

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  2. Roy Karlsvik26 February 2020 at 01:33

    Oh well... better late than never I suppose:
    First of all my congratulations to the clever girl. Good to hear it went all well in the end after such a demanding period as I'm sure it was for all of you. Then again it's good for her to have her father spotting anomalies in the results... which automatically leads the thoughts over to those a bit less lucky ones. If the exam period and the exams are getting too hard for even the boards to cope, it might be better to have a final look at the matters and do the right thing once and for all. Easy to sit here and say that, I know... but still.
    Oh, and the print? Marvelous, of course... but you already knew that a long time ago :)

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    1. Michael McNeill27 February 2020 at 11:01

      Thanks, mate! I like this shot a lot, but my wife doesn't. So it hangs upstairs in my print mounting room where only I see it. That's OK though - we still got the odd one or two of Missy hanging downstairs ;)

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