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Every August young people all over the country anxiously await their exam results. These exams are the culmination of their  academic lives. From starting school, which many children do at three, this is what they have been working towards. From their first ill-formed lettering and word recognition, the GCSEs and A levels have been their goal.
From Year 10 most of them work really hard, learning and undertaking course work.
And the big day comes, the day when they will find out whether they did enough. But there are mumblings in the media.
Rumours that once again there are too many high grades. The exams are obviously easier than in our day.
These comments are made year after year after year. How demoralising!
Do you remember the days you got your GCSE/O level and A level results? I do! Joy at the good marks, despair at the bad ones. The sick feeling in your stomach on the way home to tell Mum and Dad?
Now for whatever reason more students get great marks. It could be that the students worked harder over a longer period of time to cover exam preparation and course work. It could be that all the extra effort the teachers have put in is paying dividends.
But no! We do not celebrate their success with them. We denigrate their achievements. We undermine their successes. we make those who didn’t achieve what they wished, feel worse. In short we demotivate them.
We then send them out into the world, the world of work, the world of further and higher education……and complain that they have no enthusiasm, that they are disinterested, can’t be bothered. Who can blame them when we treat their successes with such contempt.
 This morning, GCSE results day, I looked out of my window as I usually do on this day. I love to watch the young people going to and fro with their results. Silently I share their anticipation and their excitement. I smile and celebrate with those that return with smiles on their faces and I feel like crying with those that don’t.
The days are gone when I used to know many of them and they used call at our house to share both joy and sorrow. But the feelings don’t change.
Today, one young lady actually skipped and danced for joy down the road. It made my day. But I did hear her say, “ I’ve still got a long way to go. I have to do A levels first”. Let’s hope she retains her motivation.
Celebrate with these young people. Give them permission to be happy and send them out into the world knowing that they have achieved their first big success. They have exactly what was asked of them. They have done well at the exams they were set.
We can always talk about standards in February.
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