On Monday my students at Guildhall took their Standard exam (this is the new name for the old Basic, Level 1 exam) Under the BADC.
All 23 passed, 6 Golds, 14 Silvers and 3 Bronze. It was also the first time having Rachel Bown-Williams as an examiner. She did a good job and was open and engaging with the students giving them information and feed back in a positive way... A vital skill, the exam is the culmination of one part of any students journey with the skill, if they get the information in a poorly considered or negative way it can destroy their enthusiasm for the subject. In some cases I have seen it break a student, with others it has taken months to build their confidence back up. Ultimately the the grade they get is less important than the way that the information is passed on.
So this examiner did the job as it should be, the students were happy and got the results that they deserved. This was the first time that I had gotten Guildhall students through the exam after 3 terms of training. If these had more time the grades would be higher.
It is always difficult teaching a 3 term process when there is a gap of the summer break in there.
Oh well
