Never Too Late To Learn
A dult learners at Northbrook College have proved that it’s never too late to return to education by achieving excellent GCSE grades in Maths, English and languages.
The mature students, who have been coming to college part-time, either one evening or one morning a week, have put previous negative learning experiences behind them to decide to do a GCSE. The majority hold down jobs and many are single parents or have specific learning difficulties.
Margaret Nungari arrived in this country recently from Kenya and is a single mum with a toddler. She managed to arrange child care so that she could return to college and gained an A grade in English.
Other students, such as, Jonathon Adams, 25, have had to contend with health issues alongside their learning. Jonathon, who has a serious illness, attended all year, often getting out of a hospital bed to get to classes. He gained a B grade in English which he was never able to do at school because he couldn't attend for long enough.
For many of the students, gaining the qualification is the first stepping stone towards higher qualifications. Samantha Pearce, 25, from Lancing took her English GCSE and achieved a B grade. She said “It has made such a difference in my life as it means I can now enter onto the second year of a degree course at Brighton Uni. I hope to do my placement year next year in New York. This is possible now with the grades I have achieved.”
People who have considered returning to education but are perhaps anxious or unsure about doing so, should look to Yvonne Goldfinch for inspiration. Yvonne was so nervous about her Maths GCSE exam she turned her bike round and went home instead of going to the exam. However, she faced her fear and sat her English GCSE and came out with an A grade. Yvonne, who initially found it hard to return to education, said “I learnt so much from my course and it was such an amazing confidence boost. It goes to show you really can do it if you want to.”
Spanish GCSE results were also exceptionally high with the entire group receiving A and A* grades. Their tutor, Marita Horcajo is obviously proud of them and said, “The group was a highly motivated class and their determination has paid off. They set a good example for learning a foreign language.”
These students are fine examples of what can be achieved by returning to education. The majority of mature students hadn’t taken an exam since leaving school but judging by the tremendous results achieved this hasn’t been an obstacle for the successful students.