GCSEs start across the county - with worries for young people suffering from stress
In the past year, more than one and a half thousand young people reached out to ChildLine about revision anxiety.
Last updated 3 hours ago
As GCSEs start across the country, we've been hearing from Childline that more than one thousand five hundred young people have contacted them in the last year, worried about revision and exam stress.
Speaking to us, New Romney based teacher and NEU rep Paige Horsford said it was an issue that gets worse annuallyr:
"It's been widely reported and I believe that NEU has confirmed we have the unhappiest teenagers, certainly in Europe if not the world. A big part of that is the exam factory school system. Because of the way our education and assessment system works.
"A certain amount of children have to fail. It's not like there's a pass mark. If you hit 60% that's it, you're good off you go. It's graded on a bell curve.
"So 40% of kids are going to fail and they have to fail, that's part of the system, and that's so wrong on so many levels.
"I mean I love my job and I've been a teacher for 10 years now. But the worst part of my job is this part of the year when you're saying to the kids 'yes you need to get your exam grades but it's ok if you don't'. Because you have to. Because you're part of it.
"Every year it becomes more and more complex.
"There's more instances of mental health crises. You know this is the time when school mental health resources if they are they become really stretched. There's just not enough room for all of them. We see children start to persistent absenteeism, not coming in.
"There's so many issues and then it's because of the way that our assessment works. We are an assessment factory unfortunately. "
She added:
"Stress is normal.
"But when we're having extreme behaviour changes, when children are locking themselves away all the time, it's putting too much pressure on themselves.
"Make sure that they're taking breaks, that they are revising, but that they're doing it in a structured way that's that's constructive. Not cramming the night before or the morning of."
"If you are concerned about mental health for your children, then please do get in touch with your GP."
“This government is determined to see every child achieve and thrive, which means encouraging pupils to work hard while also helping them manage stress and build resilience.
“Exams and assessments are the best way for young people to demonstrate what they've learned, and there are no quotas for the number of grades that can be awarded each year.
“To support children and young people more widely, we are accelerating our rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges, alongside directly tackling the barriers to attendance pupils face, already achieving the biggest year-on-year improvement in a decade.”