When the boys leave, the campus returns to a different state of calm, filled with more birdsong as the wildlife comes in a little closer from the edges. With no bells to remind those of us who remain what to do next, there is a change of pace which means that some of our meetings last longer!
 
The Housemasters Council met to review the term and think about the ways in which the activities, sports and inter-house competitions are both pillars of what we do as an all-round boarding school and burdens on time that have an impact on other things that are important in school. Our aim is to help everyone prioritise and make choices about what they do without limiting their opportunities; quality over quantity. Inevitably I think that we will have to place limits on choices to help prevent people being pulled in every direction to do, perform and contribute to their house; the cost of this is too high.
 
The Academic Council also met to review and analyze the results of the ISC and the IGCSE examinations. ISCs are familiar and have been at a consistent level since 2006. This year's average was a little lower than last year's at 86.9%, with 44% of the batch scoring over 90%. The topper in the batch scored 99% in English and best three, congratulations to Raghav Bagri.

Cambridge IGCSEs are less familiar to many, not only are they a new programme for the school with this being our first cohort, but it is also a different examination system from the one that most of us went through in school. One key difference is that the results are reported as letter grades rather than a percentage. 46% of the boys achieved five A* to A and 92% achieved five A* to C grades These are usually taken as the two measures of success for a school offering the programme. The topper in the batch scored 9 A*, congratulations to Rushil Choudhary. Over all, this is a good set of results, but some of our boys were disappointed; they were expecting more, and in some areas we were too.
 

We have already looked at the results that were very close to a grade boundary and will be helping the students put in a request for a review of marking and an enquiry about results. We will also be requesting some of the exam papers to be returned to us so that we can learn what feedback we need to be giving our students to improve.
 
When the grades are reported they come with a percentage, but the percentage is not one that is equivalent to an ICSE percentage; 53% of the marks in an IGCSE subject does not have the same meaning as 53% at ICSE and this is something that our Cambridge team will have to keep sharing and educating the community about.
 
The marking in IGCSEs is criteria based, rather than norm referenced; this is unfamiliar. The courses are skills and process based, using knowledge and the subject as the medium through which learning takes place; this is unfamiliar. The work that has to be put in to develop the understanding being assessed is something that has to be done consistently over two years, again, this is unfamiliar.
 
For university admission it is the consistency and improvement of results from the 9^th to the 12^th class that get you your place at college. These boys will continue with the programmes that we have been offering or the last 15 years, either the ISC or the IBDP route, to get there. The foundation that they have been given over the last four years is stronger than it has been and we will keep our eye on that target. At the moment, we know that of the graduating class, 90% of those applying abroad have received offers from their preferred college. We will have a complete picture in July when the IB results come in and the Indian university cut-off and placement details are available.
 
The IB exams are ongoing with the IB SC Leavers haunting the campus along with a few students waiting for their May session IGCSEs in Spanish, German and Design and Technology.