Teaching young people the power of “yet”

With GCSE results out today (25 August) parents, legal guardians and children up and down the country will no doubt be having sleepless nights in the run up to opening up those envelopes. However, it’s important for young people to understand this isn’t the end, no matter what their results, but rather part of their unique journey to success.

Not achieved what you wanted?

As many celebrate their grades, there will also be those that may not have achieved what they wanted and who can feel like they have failed. It’s important for parents, guardians and teachers to help young people put things in perspective and not to dwell too much on seeing poor exam success as a failure.

Helping young people navigate through the highs and lows of exams, and understanding that this is just one point in their lives, is vital. Exam results today don’t need to define the rest of their lives. As a famous quote by American psychologist Robert Sternberg says, “Success in life does not necessarily originate with academic success”. I agree.

Despite being a Headteacher, I don’t necessarily think that academic success is the ‘be all and the end all’ of everything. I think it’s important to recognise that exams, schools, higher education and being in a classroom environment are not for everybody. There are other values and traits that a young person may have, that cannot be measured by an exam paper or graded but which are just as important in life.

My team work at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) at St Andrew’s College so we work with children who have significant mental health issues. We work closely with them, ensuring they receive the education they should. But, we also focus on other significant milestones within education, so there is less emphasis on exam success.  

The pressure is on for young people

This year, pressure on young people is likely to have been ramped up because of the challenges brought about with the pandemic. During that period, students were taught remotely, there was confusion over lessons, sickness among teachers and exams were cancelled. All these issues formed the backdrop to an already stressful and frightening time of life for everybody.

It is no wonder that this year, the young people sitting their exams may have felt more pressure and more anxiety as they put pen to paper. But, according to research carried out by the University College London,[i] there is no clear relationship between GCSE test anxiety and exam performance.

In fact, the study revealed a maximum difference of just one-fifth of a GCSE grade between the most anxious and least anxious groups. No meaningful differences were found across key sub-groups either which were based on prior achievement at school and socio-economic status.

This is good news for those who struggle with exam nerves and anxiety. But, that does not stop the butterflies from making their way into the stomach as results day nears. So, what can parents; guardians and teachers do to help them cope with their results?

Re-frame what lower grades actually mean

One of the first things is to re-frame what lower grades actually mean. Culturally, society tends to focus on winners and losers, and lower grades can be perceived in young people’s eyes as failure. However, instead of focusing on the result, it’s helpful to put this in perspective and see this as part of their learning journey. 

Mistakes shouldn’t be perceived as bad. Teachers have a responsibility to model this and not to just celebrate the biggest achievers the loudest, but to recognise effort and grit as equally as great. This needs to be built into the school’s ethos so that young people are aware of this throughout their school life.

By embedding this into the culture, young people will not be so fearful of exams and can build up their resilience, helping them to cope better if their results are not what they wanted or expected. Resits are always a possibility and reminding people of this opportunity can also help ease the sting of disappointment.

Measuring students success

As part of our education, we measure our students’ successes by also focusing on kindness, resilience, compassion, integrity and effort. It’s not all about outcomes and measuring up to a societal expectation that are important to us, and celebrating the other stuff are equally, if not more important.

Recognising someone’s effort and their good character should be done throughout the year with awards and prize giving. Creating a culture where young people see the value in other traits, apart from academic success, can be really beneficial to young minds as they start to find their way in the world.

Another key element is around the language that is used in schools. My team talk about the power of “yet”. It may only be a small word, but it has huge meaning for young people on the verge of giving it all up. Parents and teachers just need to instil the mantra from “I can’t do it” to “I can’t do it ….yet.”

This simple change can make the world of difference, and it’s something that people of all ages can adopt too. It speaks to the journey of learning that we are all on and that reminds people that, even the greatest of minds have to start from somewhere. Perseverance and practice can gradually overturn the “I can’t do it” to “I can’t do it ….yet”, until they can proudly say “I can now do it”.

There shouldn’t be a time limit on this and young people need to learn that just because something didn’t work out now, doesn’t mean it won’t in the future. It helps them to see that progress may not happen overnight but they can get there if they don’t give up.

GCSE results day should therefore be seen as a celebration of learning, no matter where someone is on their journey.  Everyone will have achieved something and should be looking forward to the exciting next chapter in their lives… whatever that might be.

By Cheryl Smith, Headteacher at the St Andrew’s Healthcare CAMHS College

[i] https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/jun/high-anxiety-about-gcse-exams-has-minimal-effect-grades