Ms Karen Murphy:

I know from working with the guys that group work allows students to work to their strengths. Darragh did not mention that we did a class election and we nominated a project leader and a project vice leader. Molly who is in the Visitors Gallery is our project leader. Each of the students pitched to the class on how they would direct the project, what they would do and what their leadership style would be. The students decided who should lead the project, based on the merits of each individual. Molly and Darragh have done a fantastic job in steering the class. The students are clever. They know each other's strengths. Within our class we had individual groups working on design, logos and content for our school app and social media. Working within groups allowed the students to work to their strengths. Different people have different strengths. An exam-based system only works for some people. I am thinking of that famous cartoon where they have lots of different animals together and they tell them that success is getting to the top of a tree. In the same group of animals there is a goldfish and a monkey. The exam structure at the moment does not suit every student but group work allows students to shine who would not necessarily shine on an exam paper.