大象传媒

Good Morning

GCSE examinations began in England, Northern Ireland and Wales on Thursday. Schools take on an altogether different feel. Pupils are mainly focussed on doing their best. Teachers feel it too. Even the weather obliged.

However, this year鈥檚 GCSE cohort had only been at senior school for 6 months before COVID hit. One student, Phoebe, told the 大象传媒 website that this year鈥檚 Year 11 had been through a lot and 鈥渙ur year group is one of the closest鈥�.

I work as chaplain to several schools and love listening to students. A couple of days ago I joined some 6th formers, who are also doing exams, for a celebratory breakfast on their very last day at school. What a momentous day it was.

The word Perspective sums up our conversation. Of course, they understood the importance of the exams they are taking. But they also celebrated the fact that time at school had been about much more than academic learning. They spoke openly about the future 鈥� about their hopes and fears. These young people taught me a great deal. We older ones just need to make time to hear their voices.

The Generation game is a common theme across the books of the bible. The Prophet Joel is not alone in explaining how the baton of wisdom is passed from one generation to another. 鈥淭ell your children about it,鈥� he writes 鈥渁nd let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation.鈥� [1]

The psychologist Jean Twenge writes how older people have always thought that the generation after them are soft.[2] But that鈥檚 certainly not a word we would attribute to this year鈥檚 GCSE students That generation, she observes, have been dominated by technology. They are forever searching and asking deep questions. Their gleaned wisdom as young people has been in response to extraordinary times.

When more and more people talk openly of feeling isolated, or
cut off, intergenerational support is surely more important than ever today. It鈥檚 always great to see different generations of families interacting socially, where deep bonds of love and respect are created. The Book of Proverbs underlines a vital synergy between young and old, declaring that the glory of the young is in their strength whilst the grey hair of experience is the splendour of the old.

So, from one generation to another, this is a great time to express our admiration for the strength of those young people taking exams during these days, and to offer whatever benefit of our experience we can, as our future together unfolds.

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