15-Year-old Girl to Take the GCSE PE Exam in Skydiving    [10-02-2012] Sian Spence is no ordinary student at Penglais School in Britain. Spence is the first to take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)일반중등교육학력인정시험, which includes indoor skydiving. The exam board of her school district agreed to assess her extreme hobby as part of her physical education course. The school has agreed to let the 15-year-old girl continue her hobby and include it as one of her participation sports, which gives her academic credits. Spence first went skydiving on her 12th birthday, and she has been addicted ever since. Both of her parents are skydivers. Her father, Sandy, is a former UK skydiving gold medalist and coach for the Red Devils, a famous skydiving display team. The GCSE is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14 to 16 in secondary education in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Aside from the physical education exam, the teenager is also taking GCSE exams in English, English literature, drama, mathematics, double science, geography, and history. To her, skydiving was not a strange subject to study. “My friends are doing things like swimming for their PE exams and they know that I’m into skydiving, so it’s not such a shock for them that I want to do this,” she said. “My parents used to do skydiving a lot and they put me down to do indoor skydiving for my birthday, along with my grandmother.” Spence’s father supported his daughter in taking the GCSE in skydiving, long before the teachers approved the motion. “This will be the first time anywhere in the UK that indoor skydiving will be assessed as part of a GCSE PE exam,” he said.     출처: 어린이 영자신문 키즈타임즈 (www.kidstimes.net)