Sarah Callanan

Last year I was sitting in a local library whilst my son sat a GCSE maths exam. The librarian, who was in her late 30s or early 40s, asked why I was there. When I told her, she said ‘I am so glad I wasn’t born nowadays. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.’ She told me that she had failed her maths GCSE, and that she had retaken it and had failed again. ‘I just can’t do maths’ she said. However, at the time this wasn’t an insurmountable barrier. She got other qualifications and developed an interest in English literature. She got a place at university to study librarianship, successfully obtained her degree and now works as a librarian. All without GCSE maths. Had she been a teenager now, that opportunity would most likely not have been open to her. Requiring everyone to pass GCSE Maths in order to progress limits some young people and causes intense distress. There is no way that everyone will ever pass. The exams are not designed that way. The only real way to raise standards for all is to create systems which empower young people to succeed in many different ways. Some of which will not involve a pass in GCSE maths. It can never be the case that everyone passes and those who fail need a future to look forward to as well.

All rules are not equal. It’s sometimes said that children must just learn to ‘follow the rules’ It sounds reasonable, after all. We all have to follow rules to get by in life. But ‘learning to follow the rules’ doesn’t really mean anything. It doesn’t say anything about what those rules are. For a rule about sock colour is not the same as a rule about violence or drug dealing. A rule about tracking the teacher with your eyes is not the same as a rule about running in the corridors. Some rules enable a community to function. Others are about micro-control of individuals. Some are created with the community. Others are simply stated by authority, with ‘if you don’t like it, go elsewhere’ as the putative opt-in. When we put them together under the umbrella of ‘rules’ those differences are invisible. We talk as if they are all the same, and the child must simply learn to accept them all. But rules have different purposes, and a different impact on individuals and the community. Some are about community wellbeing, others are about petty control. All rules are not equal. If someone pretends that they are, ask why.