But I Smile Anyway…

Today, Peeps, my pride knows no bounds.

Yes, I know they say pride comes before a fall, but this time, I am prouder than proud of my son.

Despite the craziness of this last eighteen months, with the pandemic, and numerous other barriers to overcome, Lil Man got his GCSE results today, and he passed.

My boy will be off to Sixth Form in September!

I promise, I am not biased in this thinking, but I do feel that this year group had it tougher than most. If you think about it, last year, yes the exams were disrupted, but the children had the opportunity to cover the whole curriculum before the world went crazy.

So, despite not getting the chance to sit exams, they were prepared.

And A-Level students? They have seen the disruption, too, but they’d had a bit of normalcy with their own GCSEs, two years previously.

I mean, this set of children, have lost out on around six months of face to face learning time, suffered possibly even more testing than the average year group, as the grades were to be teacher assessed, rather than exam based, and have never faced a true exam. (SATs in primary school not withstanding!)

Yet, they carried on. And for the most, smashed their grades.

Personally, I much prefer this teacher based way of assessing, as exams mean you having an off day, despite being a good student, cound end up leaving you with a bad grade.

Whereas, this year, teachers were able to build up portfolios of evidence for each child, from assignments, to coursework, to test results, and their own professional judgement of each child, to give a grade that they felt truly reflected each pupils efforts.

I fall apart in tests and exams. I know my boy is the same.

But I also know that though he isn’t a straight A student, (can I say that, nowadays or is it a 7-9 grade student, now?) he is capable, and by acheiving the grades he needed to get to Sixth Form, he has proved that.

See.

Couldn’t be prouder.

Now, how to celebrate for a guy who passed his exams? Does he want a special meal? A treat?

Nope. He wants to go to his cricket training!

So, I’ll be off on cricket mum duty again!

Still, I’ll be taking him there, extremely proud of the young man he has become. 💜

And here is a little poem I penned a few years ago, just for him.

Fly my little chick, fly
Just stretch those wings and fly high.

Roar my little cub, roar
Show them what you're made for.

Swim my little fry, swim
You're just as good as 'him'.

Jump my little roo, jump
You can get over this bump.

Believe in yourself
In the power of you.

Have faith in yourself,
Like I always do.

So,

Fly my little chick, fly
All you can do is try...

Ritu 2016

For all those Little Chicks out there, that need that little bit of encouragement… You’re doing great, and you will continue to do so, have faith in yourselves… And especially for my son, Lil Man xxx