Jan 09 - Championship dilemma for Charlotte
Black belt pupil of the Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Charlotte McDermott has a difficult choice to make this May. The 15 year old has been selected to join the elite Taekwon-Do junior squad and represent England at the European championships in Slovenia, but the dates clash with some of her GCSE exams.Charlotte, who has been doing Taekwon-Do for 6 years, trains with the England squad twice a month and this is on top of her regular, twice weekly, training sessions in Caterham with Mr Paul Harwood (International Instructor). The demanding training regime, which as well as the practical side includes learning Korean, has kept Charlotte very busy. “I try to give my school work and Taekwon-Do equal importance and I somehow manage to fit everything in” she says.
But the European Championship is another matter. She would be in Slovenia for a week and would miss two of her exams, RE and Sport. “The way things stand at the moment I will not be able to do the RE exam which is a short-course, but I am hoping that the Sport GCSE can be assessed another day. I am taking 11 other GCSEs so overall it should be possible to get a good set of GCSEs.”
Headmaster of the Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Paul Spencer Ellis says “We are working with the exam board to try and find a way for Charlotte to attend the European Championship as well as take her exams and I am optimistic we can find a satisfactory solution. Being selected to represent England is a fantastic achievement for Charlotte and we want to support her as she aims for success in Europe.”
