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#ResultsDay2019 – I am not prepared for Haringey Sixth Form College to engage in meaningless comparison culture using students as pawns

Russ Lawrance, Principal & CEO, Haringey Sixth Form College

#DiscoverTheDifference – A wonderful set of A-Level & BTEC students achieving a fantastic and well-deserved set of outstanding results at Haringey Sixth Form College

Haringey Sixth Form College will yet again celebrate outstanding successes in tomorrow’s A-Level and BTEC results, marking yet another year of excellent academic and personal achievements for students at the college.

New A-Level linear specifications are now fully embedded across all subjects. Both the A-Level and BTEC results are very impressive and very pleasing, especially for the people that matter; our amazing students!

But as with this early media release, College Principal & CEO Russ Lawrance is determined to do things differently this year

In effect, he is not prepared for the college to engage in the meaningless comparison culture using our students as pawns in an outdated process:

Our values as a college mean we really focus on every individual as we do not just churn out statistics; to do that I feel does not reflect on our college and especially on our students, their parents and the great staff.

To be part of #TeamHaringey6 and enjoy the #H6Experience really means something much more than results, they are the icing on the cake as tomorrow’s celebrations will show.

As such Haringey Sixth Form College will not be making public announcements about how well its students are doing, we believe this puts students welfare first.

The staff focus will instead be on putting the wellbeing of our students first and celebrating the individual achievements of each and every one of them; removing the focus from just those that attain for example the top two grades at A level or go to Russell Group Universities. All our students get good grades and all who want to attend a wide range of Universities including Russell Group Universities.

A journey for an A-Level student moving from a D to a B grade is every bit as impressive as a straight A student, as is the same relative journey for all our BTEC Students.

This does not mean that we will hold back with celebrations, we are rightly proud of all students achievements and we will be celebrating hard tomorrow.

I can confidently take this stance as year on year, the results and the college experience for young people at Haringey Sixth Form College has improved.

I can predict with confidence that the results will be even better this year, but that is what we do. This is why we are oversubscribed and student numbers are likely to have doubled over the last three years. There is no need to make big public announcements about how well our students have done against others or what percentage have done this or that!

So why are we doing it?

Well, having reached such high standards at the college and provided so many young people a great #H6Experience, it is now time to put things into perspective for us – Reflect on a job well done and define our core purpose.

Everyone member of #TeamHaringey6 is extremely proud of the results that so many of our students attain, so this is also making sure we do not undermine the journey of hard work, determination and growth that all our students undertake, whether they reach the impressive heights of the A and A* or not. We must ensure we celebrate equally the students who have absolutely worked their socks off to move from that D grade to a B grade mentioned earlier, as this achievement and personal journey is just as phenomenal.

At Haringey Sixth Form College we also believe in leading by example. There is a need and a responsibility for teachers to be role models to the students. Life isn’t about what may be unrealistic comparisons.

We also have bold and ambitious goals; working towards high aspirations and celebratating each point along that journey. You will see for example pictures of students celebrating results from tomorrow across all platforms.

People might not like me saying this, but at this time of year often the publicity, around A-Level results especially, is all too frequently modified and is lacking in authenticity. This culture of comparison can be damaging and is contributing to a crisis of confidence that is worn out in all the statistics regarding the mental health of young people.

At Haringey Sixth Form College, we constantly remind our amazing students that they are all individuals and we help them to become mentally strong, articulate and confident in the skills and attributes that they do have, rather than obsessing about those they do not.

Despite our great results, we are not an academic sausage factory. We are “more than a college”, we always invite people to visit, come and #DiscoverTheDifference.

At enrolment we make it clear that if you come to Haringey Sixth Form College to study then you fit in with our ethos and that policy creates a community that grows and thrives on an amazing #H6Experience. This is built on outstanding professional relationships and excellent teaching.

Haringey Sixth Form College is about building confidence and character.

Whilst it’s nice for us to know how good we are, and we all do know this as staff, trustees, students and parents, I hope you understand why we are no longer playing the statistics game. We don’t need to do this it is not in students best interests.

The new terms starts shortly and our new intake and returning students can look forward to a fantastic, enjoyable but challenging couple of years here at this amazing college.

Russ Lawrance, Principal & CEO, Haringey Sixth Form College


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