Our children’s teachers spend a significant amount of time with them so it’s always heartening to hear how much they care for them.
With the start of summer comes exam season and an often-forgotten set of exams are the Drumcondra tests that
Listeners to today’s Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio One heard a letter written by a Ms Lynch to her class ahead of their tests.
In the letter, she reminds her students that they are more than their test results and that they each have their own talents and qualities that make them ‘enough’.
“Dear students, tomorrow you will take your Drumcondra maths test,” Ryan read aloud.
“I know how hard you’ve worked but there’s something very important you must know. These tests do not assess all of what makes you special and unique.
“The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you like I do and certainly not the way your families do.
“They do not know that some of you speak two or more languages or that you love to sing or draw. They have not seen your natural talent for dancing or gymnastics or football.
“They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them, that your laughter can brighten the darkest day or that your face turns red when you feel shy.
“They do not know that you participate in sports, wonder about the future or sometimes you help with your little brother or little sister after school.
“They do not know that you are kind, trustworthy and thoughtful and every day you try your very best. The scores you will get from these tests will tell you something but they will not tell you everything. These tests do not define you.”
“There are many ways of being smart. You are smart. You are enough. You are the light that brightens my day and the reason I am happy to come to work each day so in the midst of all of these tests, remember that there’s no way to test all of the amazing and awesome things that make you, you.”
“You couldn’t write a teacher like that,” concluded Ryan.
The segment served as a reminder that kids of all ages can get down about exams and school and that there are some really lovely people guiding our kids at school every day.
