Put those school books in the bin!

Enjoy the sunshine-life is for living!

I opened the kitchen bin the other morning to find it full of school text books. GCSE's are not even over yet and my son has symbolically made his bid for freedom.

At his leaving assembly I cringed as one of his teachers warned the children that their whole future depended upon their GCSE results- what sort of stress I thought does that put on the children?

I have been surprised at just how calm and happy our household has been throughout my son's exams. Whilst I as a mother would have preferred him to do more revision, it is not my life and he has made the right decisions so far.

He is lucky because as Student of the Year he has secured his place at college for next year so the pressure is off .but it was he who had the wisdom and sense to 'hedge his bets' and cover all bases. Only he could put in the time and commitment to become Student of the Year - no one forced him. In fact one day when the teachers were on strike and school was closed he was furious because it was his college day and he thought it was jeopardised. He asked whether I would by.pass the system and drive him there in the absence of a school bus!

In contrast to the paucity of revision my son was sitting at the computer the other day submitting apprenticeship applications. Whilst there is no need for him to secure an apprenticeship for the course he wants to undertake it will give him options if he is offered one. At the very least it is giving him experience filling in applications and possibly being interviewed.

So don't despair- life goes on no matter what results you get. Life may take a different turn from the one you expect but that's what makes life a challenge and it's how you learn - which after all is what Education is all about ISN'T IT?