I’m standing in a field in Gloucestershire at 8am on a Saturday morning in my exercise gear
surrounded by strangers. I’m convinced that I don’t belong here, that everyone else is the
real deal, that I am a fraud, and that the next fifty two kilometres of running are about to
reveal my imposter status to everyone here, and all the family and friends following my run.

The connection between this experience and examinations week will seem distant at first,
but please bear with me.

In the weeks before the external and internal examinations, every teacher in the school
spends a significant amount of time reassuring students. Much of the advice we give is
important both for the tests and life beyond. The advice that I give includes:

 stress is normal: it is just a sign that you care about an activity
 stress can be managed
 it is important to be able to perform under pressure, and this can be practised
 how to look after yourself and your friends

I believe that this advice is true and important, and while examinations week is no one’s
favourite, it sets the students up for important moments in their future lives.
I have honed the advice over twenty years of teaching, but with repetition there is always the
danger that it can become glib.

That was certainly how it felt on the start line of the Maverick Cotswolds 52k ultramarathon.
However, what I also realised is that helpful thoughts are rarely helpful when you are scared.
In that moment what stopped me getting back in my car and driving home sheepishly was a
sense of purpose.

Purpose is often the term we skip over in ‘confidence, purpose and joy’. This is probably
because it is not as exciting as the other two. It’s also less obviously an Abbey virtue. One of
the parts of the school I love, and which I feel my own daughters have benefitted most from,
is that so many students seem to have a confident sense of themselves, never mind whether
they love academics, sports, hobbies or just downtime. Abbey students come in all shapes
and sizes, and take joy in different areas. We are proud of all of them.

However, confidence and joy can also go missing, especially walking into an exam room or
on the start line of a race.

At these moments, purpose comes into its own. I knew I had to start the race and that I could
not go back home and say that I had not even tried. My purpose became simply to start the
race.

Once the race started, it changed to not running too quickly, and to managing the amount I
was eating and drinking. To my surprise, and helped by some great views and nice
conversations with other runners along the trails, I began to enjoy parts of it and feel a sense
of adventure. I found that the words I often say to students about exams were true of racing:
it is better once it starts.

On the final leg my purpose switched to finishing the race, and again joy went missing in
action as I struggled with a lack of energy. However, a photographer popped up at the edge
of a field and, to my surprise, I look ok. My usual gurning expression when running, of a man
having his insides rearranged, is instead a big smile. Perhaps it was not quite as bad as I
thought. I hope it wasn’t, because I’ve signed up for another in September.

Reflecting on the race later led me to think that purpose is undervalued, that it should be
more than just the middle term overshadowed but its flashier neighbours. Purpose is what
gets us through when times are tough, whatever the challenge.

It also led me to reflect on the students this term getting through a battery of tests with good
humour and maturity, and on how difficult and impressive this is.

Before exams week in future years, I’ll try to be more empathetic in my advice to students
and to understand that it is not easy to be tested and experience the unknown. However, I’ll
also praise the value of having a purpose and of the importance of learning to stick to a task
even if it does not seem to be what you want at that moment.

Mike Dalton, Director of Enrichment