After all the worry last week, I am so proud to say that my son did fantastically well in his GCSEs and achieved the grades he needs to do the subjects he wants in the sixth form.
His response, when asked about how he had done, was to say that his grades were ‘good enough’. He was embarrassed when I told friends he had done really well, because as far as he was concerned, he had only done ‘good enough’.
He based his comment on the fact that other young people in the UK got all A and A* in their subjects…and he didn’t get ‘straight A’s’.
Of course I understand he’s not going to go around saying how well he has done (I’d be the same, if it were me)…And yet, from my perspective, as mum, he exceeded the grades he was predicted in most subjects, sometimes by two levels and unlike his mum, got all A-C grades (to be fair, History was never my strongest subject!!).
In my map of the world, the student who tries hard and exceeds predictions and expectations is just as fantastic as the student who gets all A*. It is not just about the grades, it’s about the attitude and the hard work and the work ethic and the sheer bloody mindedness and determination that some people have to put in, just to get ‘good enough’ grades on paper.
That’s the piece that is never reflected in the certificate, is it? The hard work, the determination. All the certificate says is that someone achieved a grade on a particular day.
As an employer, I’d far rather engage the person with the right attitude and work ethic, than the one who got the ‘right’ grades!
So to everyone out there who got the grades…or didn’t get the grades, if you have the right attitude, you will do just fine in life!