School pupils across Lancaster and Morecambe celebrate GCSE results

Nationally, students have received another set of record grades, in the second year of Covid disruption to exams in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Top grades (7/As and above) rose 2.7 percentage points to 28.9 per cent, while grades 4/Cs and above - seen as passes - rose 0.8 percentage points to 76.3 per cent.

This a smaller rise than last year, the first time exams were cancelled and teacher assessed grades were used.

Exams regulators have insisted the process has been fair and thorough.

Last year top grades rose a record 9 percentage points and passes at grade 4/C were up 5.4 percentage points.

Pupils at Bay Leadership Academy in Morecambe are among those celebrating results day after facing more than a year of challenges to their education.

This year’s cohort of GCSE pupils at the school worked hard throughout the pandemic to overcome lockdowns, periods of self-isolation and illness.

But today, pupils are celebrating the results of their efforts as they collect their GCSE results and progress onto the next stage of their education or training.

Ian Theobald achieved an impressive set of results after overcoming not only the pandemic but being evacuated from his home during the school assessments.

Teachers praised Ian’s resilience and hard work after he achieved a grade 9 in Maths. Ian and his family were directly affected by the Heysham gas explosion and were evacuated from their home in the immediate aftermath.

Despite this, with support from school staff, Ian continued to attend school and completed all of the tests and assessments. Ian is looking forward to starting Morecambe Bay Academy to study A levels in Maths, Computer Science and Business.

Dedicated pupil Madison Hartley achieved an excellent set of GCSE results after working hard throughout her time at Bay Leadership Academy. Madison achieved three Distinction* grades and six grade 9s, one grade 8 at GCSE which secures her place at Lancaster Girls' Grammar School to study Biology, Chemistry and Psychology.

High-achieving pupil Ellie Middleton was awarded two Distinction* grades and five grade 9 GCSEs. Ellie worked consistently and diligently throughout her school career and is going to Kendal College to study A levels in Chemistry, Biology and Maths.

Abi Buczynski is a talented dancer, who achieved a Level 2 Distinction* in Performing Arts. Abi will be pursuing her passion for dance by competing a diploma in contemporary dance at Liverpool Central Studios.

Colette Roberts, principal at Bay Leadership Academy, congratulated pupils on their well-earned achievements.

She said: “Our GCSE pupils have worked incredibly hard in the face of challenges that would daunt many adults.

“Over the past year, our pupils have amazed us with their maturity and ability to overcome these challenges.

“An enormous congratulations to all our pupils, and thank you to our parents and staff who helped to support pupils during these difficult times.”

Our Lady’s Catholic College has reported some outstanding achievements by its students in their GCSE and other level 2 qualifications this summer.

As well as all students succeeding despite the challenge Covid has presented, the school is particularly proud of the following students who have done exceptionally well in gaining at least 8 of the top grades 7, 8 or 9 each:

Emma Harris: 2 grade 9, 4 grade 8 and 3 grade 7

Roxy Houghton: 3 grade 9, 5 grade 8, 1 grade 7 and a Distinction*

Nikolaos Kailidis: 4 grade 8 and 5 grade 7

Owain Kirkbride-Duckett: 5 grade 9, 1 grade 8 and 2 grade 7

Gurleen Pannu: 5 grade 9, 2 grade 8, 2 grade 7 and a Distinction*

Gurnoor Pannu: 2 grade 8, 6 grade 7 and a Distinction

Alice Rogan: 3 grade 9, 3 grade 8, 2 grade 7 and a Distinction*

Ella Saltariche: 4 grade 9, 1 grade 8 and 3 grade 7

Helen Seddon, the college’s headteacher, said: “We are immensely proud of all the work and achievements of our students, especially after such a difficult and disrupted two years.

"Our teachers have worked tirelessly to ensure students are all able to progress onto further education and study, and we look forward to seeing many of them again in September as they re-join us for sixth form at Our Lady’s. We wish all our students the best of luck for a happy and successful future.”

At Dallam School, head Rachael Williams said: “Cumbrian schools are proud to serve our children, their families and the communities they come from. This year the situation with Covid-19 and the shutdown of schools in March makes this results day unique.

"The grades the students are receiving are the result of the national standardisation of centre assessed grades we submitted back in June. We hope that the students believe they have received grades that reflect their hard work and depth of learning throughout their courses.

"We congratulate them all on the manner in which they have coped in these quite extraordinary times.”

“The majority of students will be pleased with their results and will have the keys to go onto to their anticipated destinations in September. We acknowledge that for some they may be disappointed and those students may wish to prove that they can do better in the Autumn exam series and it is essential that schools across Cumbria all support students to do that if they wish.

"It will be a challenge with the restrictions in place in September in schools but there will be a determination to make sure each individual student has every opportunity available to maximise their grades.

“The DFE have cancelled Performance Tables for this year and there will be no amalgamated headline results published for schools, which is right and proper given the circumstances around the exams this year. There is no doubt that leaves the focus on those that really deserve it, the people we should all be congratulating; the students.”

Ms Williams added: “Our students, the children of our wonderful county and schools are also more than the sum of their grades and so today we want to celebrate the individuals who have shone for all sorts of reasons.”

Pleasing results were achieved by many including:

Hannah Bradshaw and Isla Thiedeman are the school's highest performing students achieving ten top grades, including six Grade 9s each.

Matthew Acott, Amelie Brockbank and Carina Da Rocha Mumby embody the schools value of ‘endeavour’ - striving for excellence by achieving the highest progress scores across their subjects. Matthew achieved three Grade 9s, five Grade 8s and two Grade 7s. Amelie achieved one Grade 9, two Grade 8s, four grade 7s, two Grade 6 and one Grade 5. Carina achieved two Grade 9s, one Grade 8, five Grade 7s and one Grade 6.

The school would also like to recognise the achievements of Millie Williams, who embodied the school value of ‘courage’ and achieved three Grade 9s, two Grade 8s and five Grade 7s.

Catherine Walmsley, principal of Ripley St Thomas, said: "At Ripley, we are very proud of our Y11 cohort this year in particular. They have showed great determination and resilience throughout a difficult year and they rose to the challenge spectacularly.

"We congratulate them on their excellent and well-deserved GCSE results and we wish them every success for their futures.

"Our whole Ripley family has really pulled together throughout this year to support our young people and to help them achieve their best under very difficult circumstances.

"I would like to thank the whole staff team for working tirelessly to support pupils both academically and pastorally and also our parents and carers for their support for remote learning throughout the two difficult periods of lockdown.

"We hope our Y11 and Y13 students will all take the time to celebrate and feel proud of their achievements – well done!"

Lancaster Girls' Grammar School assistant headteacher Key Stage 4, David Green, said: "Everybody at Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School would like to congratulate Year 11 students on their fantastic GCSE results.

"It was lovely to experience the relief and happiness in school today as received their grades. After such a difficult 18 months students can now enjoy the results of their hard work and commitment.

"Instead of external exams, this year’s GCSE results were determined by a rigorous teacher assessed process, which included work completed over the course as well as assessments carried out in school in their final half term.

"Our Year 11 students have been a supportive, good humoured and friendly year group. Their successes in their GCSEs is very well deserved. It has been a pleasure to support them and I wish them all the best."

LGGS head Jackie Cahalin added: "Year 11 LGGS students can feel a sense of achievement as they receive their results today. They have had to deal with so many challenges during their GCSE courses and have shown considerable resilience and determination.

"We wish them the very best in the next stage of your education and are looking forward to welcoming many of them back to the Sixth Form at LGGS in September."

Carnforth High School principal Tim Iddon said: "The students of Carnforth High School have again attained excellent results this summer.

"We are especially proud of their achievements in the wide range of academic, creative and vocational subjects that they have studied. Particularly noteworthy are the achievements of pupils in English, PE and all vocational subjects.

"A number of pupils achieved outstanding results with our highest attaining pupils including Freya Jones (nine subjects at grades 9-8 including seven Grade 9s), Keeleigh Kennedy (nine subjects at grades 9-7, including one grade 9) Elliot Kneale (nine subjects at grade 9-7) and Holly Little (nine subjects at grades 9-8 including two grades 9s).

"We are also delighted for our pupils whose results have shown fantastic progress, notably Matthew Kay, Ellie Byram, Molly Livermoore and Hope Byrom. Yet again, all of our pupils have successfully secured further education, apprenticeship or employment.

"Consistently achieving such strong results would not be possible without the hard work of the staff and students at Carnforth High School, along with the support and encouragement of parents. We would like to thank everyone who has been part of our continued success."

Morecambe Bay Academy principal Heather McClurg said: "Today has been another day of celebration at the academy marking the fantastic achievement of our Year 11 students. As with A level results the results today demonstrate the hard work and determination of our students in the face of considerable adversity. They also reflect the hard work and dedication of their teachers in supporting students to achieve their very best.

"GCSE study has seen these students work through two full lockdowns with further disruption to learning due to periods of self-isolation. Again, as we did with our Year Thirteens we would like to thank our families for being so supportive, particularly during the extended lockdowns when this was so important

"It has been a challenging time, but our Year 11s have shown remarkable resilience and dedication: engaging with online learning and spending large periods of time studying independently.

"We are immensely proud of all of them and today has been another extremely happy occasion with many students gaining the highest grades possible.

"Many of our students are now looking forward to returning in September to join our Sixth Form, whilst others are going into apprenticeships or pursuing other career options. Whichever path our Year 11s have chosen, we wish them well on their next stage and look forward to hearing of their future successes."

Lancaster Royal Grammar School students are celebrating outstanding GCSE results received today.

Headmaster Dr Chris Pyle said: “Many congratulations to all of our Year 11 pupils on their excellent results today. It is wonderful to see them gain the recognition they deserve for all their hard work over the past five years.

“This year group has come through extraordinary disruption, and they have well and truly risen to the challenge! Their hard work and engagement have been immensely impressive, both here in our classrooms and remotely on Teams.

"It is particularly pleasing to see success for a number of day pupils and boarders who have come through particular challenges during the past two years.

“They are such a talented and ambitious group of young people and we look forward to seeing them continue to thrive, hopefully in more normal circumstances. These GCSE results will be the foundation for great success for them at A-level and beyond. Well done to every single pupil!”

Central Lancaster High School is celebrating an outstanding set of exam results and congratulating all its Year 11 pupils on their achievements in the face of considerable adversity.

Of particular note are pupils Abdur-Rahman Patel, who has achieved the top grade in almost all his subjects and moves on to study at Lancaster Royal Grammar School; Tyler Hackett, who worked hard to achieve superb progress and suite of excellent results across a range of subjects and moves on to an apprenticeship; and Emily Armstrong, who achieved the top grades in all her subjects with 7 grade 9s and 3 Distinction* grades and goes on to study at Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School.

Victoria O’Farrell, acting principal, said: "This year, following the cancellation of exams, grades were awarded through a process of teacher assessed grades, against a national standard and approved and awarded by the exam boards.

"Despite the disruption caused by the pandemic our staff have worked tirelessly to ensure students are all able to progress onto further education and study, and we look forward to seeing what they will achieve in the future.

"Our outstanding GCSE and vocational results demonstrate the commitment of all our whole school community to the education of our pupils and we extend our thanks to the parents for their support.

"We are immensely proud of all the work and achievements of our students, especially after such a difficult and disrupted year. We wish them all the best with their futures.”