This year’s GCSE results for Hackney school students are the best ever. Students and teachers are celebrating following strong performances in GCSE exams this summer.
Seventy-five per cent of students secured five good GCSEs, a rise of over 4% on last year.
A total of 58% of Hackney students achieved five good GCSEs which included English and Maths – a rise of almost 3% on last year. This places the borough above both last year’s national and Inner London averages.
Cardinal Pole RC Catholic School has received its best ever GCSE results – their recent A level results also broke previous records. Friends Georgina Appeagyei, Nneoma Nwaosu and Aminat Oladipupo were described as a ‘credit to the school’ by their teachers after achieving 18 A*s and 9 As between them.
Nneoma, who received 7 A*s, 2 As and 1 B said: “I’m really surprised to see the results – I didn’t expect that. I’m now very happy – I put lots of hard work into my GCSEs, and it’s now paid off!”
At Clapton Girls’ Technology College, 39% of pupils achieved 3 or more A*s or As. Eight pupils secured all As and A*s. One of the eight, Le My Dang, achieved 12 A*s and plans to go on to study A levels. She said: “I’m ecstatic. My target was 12 A*s but I thought I’d only get 8 as the exams were so hard. I am staying on at Clapton’s sixth form to study French, maths, economics and English literature. My aim is to get into one of the top 10 universities and eventually work in Paris.”
Talented actress and public speaker Chris-Ann Jarrett achieved 3 A*s, 7 As and 1 B, and also secured a place on a Pathway to Law course with a leading university. She said: “I worked so hard for my GCSEs and am very happy with the results. I’m on the Pathway to Law programme and my results set me up well to continue along this career path”.
At Our Lady’s Convent High School, fifteen Year 11 students were awarded 9 or more A*/A grades with Vivien Hoang achieving 8 A* and 4 A grades. She said: “I’m really relieved! We’ve all been waiting in suspense for three months! This makes me feel more confident to begin sixth form. I’ll be studying chemistry, biology, Mandarin Chinese and maths” she said.
Headteacher Mrs Jane Gray commented: “We offer a good breadth of core curriculum subjects and our EBacc result is very pleasing; it’s great to see our success rate increasing for students studying these courses. In addition, I am delighted that overall, 91% of students achieved five or more A*-C grades. I would like to congratulate our Year 11 students on their success and thank all our staff for their hard work in helping the students achieve their goals.”
Haggerston School pupil Mae-Li Evans adds 10A*s and 1A to the title of Hackney Jack Petchey Speak Out challenge winner after impressing judges with her speech on procrastination. Commenting on her grades, she said: “I was quite worried about one of my grades but it’s turned out well so I’m proud of that. Next year I’m going to do A-Levels and hopefully continue on to university and maybe do English, I think.”
Hackney Free and Parochial School (from September 2011, to be called The Urswick School), is celebrating record GCSE results for the third consecutive year.
The highest achieving student was Necati Tosun, with 10 A and A* grades. Necati joined Hackney Free in Year 7, after moving from Turkey. He could not speak English before he moved to the UK. Necati achieved A* in maths, ICT, science, religious studies and Turkish. Necati will study maths, physics, history and politics at A-Level and aims to study engineering or law at university. Necati said: “I’m so happy that all the effort I put in paid off. I owe a lot to my teachers who have worked so hard to support me to achieve these grades.”
Meanwhile, Hannah Oladugba and Tony Le Thai are off to prestigious public school Gordonstoun in Scotland, after securing full scholarships. The students achieved 18 A*s and As between them.
Tony Le Thai said: “I’m really excited about my results, they are exactly what I wanted to get. I can’t wait to start at Gordonstoun School next week.” Tony will study maths, further maths, history and physics A-Levels at the school and plans to pursue a career in engineering.
At Skinners’ Academy, 29% of students secured 3 or more A* and As. Chaya Khanna was the highest achieving student with 8 A*s and 5 As. She said: “I’m really, really, really pleased with what I’ve achieved – despite the challenge of my long commute amongst other things, it’s all been worth it. When you are determined, you can achieve, no matter what happens. I achieved my aim.”
Samroz Umarat Skinner’s Academy is one of the highest achieving GCSE students, securing 1A*s, 9As and 3 Bs. She said: “Being a part of the class of 2006-2011 has been a great pleasure as well as going through the transition to Skinners Academy… the teachers and students have been awesome.”
And Stoke Newington School, which last week saw top grades at A level shoot up by 50%, celebrated another year of excellent results. Stoke Newington School’s Jessie Roberts-Smith achieved 6A*s, 3Bs and 1C despite fitting in her studies around 15-20 hours a week of dancing. Jessie, who has a place on a prestigious government scheme to develop new performance artists, was thrilled with her grades which included a 100% mark in drama. She said: “I’m a bit of a mess, it was such a surprise. But I feel like I worked hard so it has really paid off.”
Esme Kirk of Petchey Academy has overcome her dyslexia to excel, achieving a raft of good grades including an A* in History. A talented textile artist, she will be spending next summer on a textiles project in Kerala, India. She said: “I’m delighted with my results, and particularly my maths grade B. Having dyslexia, I’ve found numbers and spelling difficult but I’ve had a fantastic maths teacher who has spent hours with me. I’m thrilled.
Steve Belk, Acting Chief Executive of The Learning Trust, which runs the schools in Hackney on behalf of the council, said: “Yet again, Hackney schools have made exceptional progress. These are very strong results and a credit to the students and teachers who have worked incredibly hard.
“I’d like to congratulate this year’s Year 11 students. We are immensely proud of them and wish them all the best for the future.”
