A TEACHING assistant from Oswestry who sat a GCSE chemistry exam alongside his pupils has passed – and says he has also learned more about the pressures he faced.
Robert Howell, a learning support assistant from Oswestry School, passed the exam with a grade 5, and has reached his goal in gaining a great deal of insight into what students go through during exam season.
Rob said: "It has been an honour to revise and study with them and I am thrilled to have achieved a Level 5 in my chemistry GCSE."
He went through the whole process of revising and studying in preparation for the exam, and was "extremely fortunate" to have the support of the members of the science department, his pupils and everyone else around him.
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"It has been a while since I sat an exam so this was nerve wracking," he said.
"But it gave me so much insight into the pressure, anxieties and worries that students go through."
He further explains that this has given him an opportunity to understand his students and he can help support them better.
Rob added: "A lot of the students feel alone and isolated, and often they don't seek out help from their teachers, but I think now I can recognise what they are going through and I can help without being asked."
The hardest part of the process, the learning support assistant described, was remembering formulas and chemical reactions.
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When asked if he will encourages other staff to join him, he said:: "I really appreciated the support from all faculty members, but I think I will be the flag bearer of this, other teachers have a lot on their plate."
This process did exactly what Robert wanted it to do, and that is to understand what students go through during exam season , in order for him and other teachers to be able to support them.
A message, from the learning support assistant, to his pupils pupils that will sit their GCSEs: "Listen to the teachers, do the work, you have a lot of opportunities to learn."
As promised now Rob will sit GCSE physics next year and if he passes this as well, he will be "heading the hat trick " with GCSE biology in 2024.
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