The Next Step

After waiting a few weeks, my GCSE students finally texted and emailed me with their results. I must confess, after a week had passed and I had not heard a thing from most of them, I assumed the worse. I then contacted their parents who also took a while to respond; they could have been abroad and just not picked up their results. Fast forward to finally getting responses like, “Miss’ I tried to call you it’s not allowing me” and parents apologising for their children not informing me; the responses were endless. My comment to them was “Teenagers.” However much to my delight, in the pain of waiting, their results overall were quite good. 

 

Two of my students got a place at their chosen grammar school; one other got into their chosen school to complete her A’ levels. 

I tutor students with different tutoring requirements and educational needs. One of my students whom I’ve tutored since year 8, and has learning challenges also did really well; receiving a level 5 in English language and literature. I was so pleased when I got a call from his mum to discuss the next step on his educational ladder. 

 

That was the great news! Well done to my students Naomi, Thoko, Julienne and Rayhaan. 

 

Not all of students did well. One of my students did not achieve anywhere near what was expected. So what happened and what is the next step forward? As parents we all want our children to do well and be the best they can be. But life does not always work out as we expect and the straight path may become a curved path or a completely different path to what we expected. However being positive and looking at a situation from different angles and discussing options with our children/students to move forward and stay positive is crucial. 

 

I know my student is frustrated and very disappointed, already beating themselves up with questions like- why didn’t I listen to my parents, teachers, and tutor? What does the future hold? Am I a failure? The answer to this final question is NO! You are not a failure, you just did not get the grade you wanted, and you have to take responsibility for that outcome. Once that is established, the next stage is to have a family discussion and make a mature decision as a family about options. 

 

The road you now take may be a longer journey to reach your destination, but if you are resolute in what you want to achieve you have to change your mind-set and put in the work to make it happen. If you keep doing to same thing expecting a change and the change is not happening, you need to change what you are doing. 

 

Sometimes when life does not quite pan out as expected, different doors may open to bring new opportunities that were least expected. It’s important to notice these doors or create your own door.