GCSE results slips. Photo: Amy Lacey

Schools in South and East London are celebrating a second wave of exam successes as GCSE results are published.

Following the drama of last week’s A Level grades, today younger students have learnt the results of their GCSEs – two years of work that, for many, will provide a foundation for further study.

Nationally, results have once again shown an improvement on last year, with 69.1% of papers graded C or above. 22.6% received one of the top two grades, A and A*.

Among the high achievers locally was 16-year-old Anish Jalabhay, head boy at The Oasis Academy Coulsdon, who achieved top grades in an impressive 18 subjects. The school’s principal, David Millar, described himself as ‘very proud’ of his students and their achievements.

At Croydon High School, 99.27% of papers were graded A*-C, with two top pupils, Frederiekje Fayd’Herbe De Maudave and Natalie Coulthwaite, achieving 11 A* grades each. Head of 6th Form Heidi Mester described them as ‘bright, charming, well-rounded girls’ who are ‘a joy to teach.’

Meanwhile, Harris City Academy Crystal Palace achieved its best ever GCSE results for the third year in a row, with 25 students achieving 10 or more A and A* grades.

Principal Steve Kenning described himself as ‘delighted’ with the results, adding: “These results are great news as they give all our students a real life opportunity. Their success allows them to move on to the next level confidently.”

At The Petchey Academy in Hackney, students from Year 10 were celebrating as they gained GCSEs a year early. 80% of the school’s first crop of Year 10 students achieved a GCSE grade from A* – C in at least one subject – results that will set them in good stead for their exams next year.

One high-achieving student, 15-year-old Meir Touitou, succeeded in gaining A* grades in Biology, Chemistry and Religious Studies, as well as As in Geography and History – and an A in AS Level Maths.

Boys at Bethnal Green Technology College inspect their results. Photo: Amy Lacey.

To sample the results day atmosphere, EastLondonLines went to two local schools, Bethnal Green Technology College and Mulberry School for Girls – and found a lot of ‘shocked’ students left outside.

Staff at Bethnal Green Technology College, Gosset Street, told pupils they had a ‘surprise’ for everyone – it being a good set of results when they got there.

Kudret Ismail, a 16 year old who lives on Kingsland Road, Hackney, said he ‘wasn’t expecting to do well’ because of pre-exam nerves. However he leaves the school with a mixture of Bs and Cs, with the intention of studying art and design at Southwark College.

For his post exam celebrations Kudret said he plans on fine dining with the family, after his Mum promised to take him for a meal if he got higher than a C in Turkish.

Elsewhere, at Mulberry School for Girls there were similar results with a chorus of happy students getting A*- C grades – and one girl did very well indeed, getting 9 As and A*s as her end result.

Planning on attending Mulberry Sixth Form in September, Rema Rohim said she was most surprised by her English result because she got a C but was expecting higher. Despite this she left with largely high Bs – missing out on As by only a few marks – and said overall she ‘did better than expected.’

But it wasn’t just the Year 11s getting their GCSE results at Mulberry: some bright pupils from year 10 also took exams in Citizenship and Science. Taznin Begum and Aniqa Basith both agreed: “It was a good experience doing it a year early as it prepares you for the real thing and there’s always another year to retake.”

Aniqa added: “Considering I did no revision I was quite happy with my C and D for now.”

Additional reporting by Amy Lacey.

Photo: comedy_nose @ flickr

Sixth-formers across South and East London have received their A and AS Level results – grades which will determine whether they can take up a place at their university of choice.

Competition has been particularly fierce this year, with the introduction of the new ‘A*’ grade, designed to reward candidates at the top end of the marking scale.

Nationally, pass rates have risen for the 28th successive year, and the number of students achieving As has also increased slightly. In its first year of use, 8.1% of papers overall were given the new A* grade.

At Croydon High School, candidates achieved an impressive 100% pass rate, with 84% of papers taken awarded the A*, A or B grades. Three of the school’s students, Natalie Kulenicz, Louise Bond and Priyanka Patel, achieved 3 A* grades each.

Headteacher Debbie Leonard congratulated her pupils, noting: “99% of our girls have automatically secured their places at their first choice university.”

At Riddlesdown Collegiate, also in Croydon, 6 students achieved the new top grade. Principal Gordon Smith praised the ‘excellent’ results and said staff and students had performed ‘magnificently.’

Lewisham’s Christ the King Sixth Form College reported a 98.2% pass rate for its A Level students, of which papers 35.4% received A*-B grades. The college’s BTEC National students also managed a 100% pass rate.

Principal Jane Overbury described herself as ‘very proud’ of the ‘hard work and dedication’ of her students.

Tower Hamlets College achieved a 94% pass rate, including eight students who achieved the A* grade.

In Hackney, Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form also had a 94% pass rate, while Our Lady’s Convent High School in Stamford Hill reached 99% – with 83% of papers graded C or above.

BSix Sixth Form College in Lower Clapton has also been celebrating after 19-year-old Allum Bokhari became its first student to get into Oxford University.

Meanwhile, Shoreditch-based Hackney Community College showed a distinct improvement in its A Level pass rate, achieving 97% – an eight percent increase on last year. To celebrate its students’ results, the college posted some short videos on its Youtube account.

Deputy Principal Lois Fowler said: “Our students have worked incredibly hard and have achieved impressive results. At Hackney Community College, we’re dedicated to sustaining the steady improvement that we’ve worked for in recent years.”

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Forest Hill school in Lewisham: one of the local schools seeking academy status

More schools in Croydon have registered an interest in academy status than any other of the East London Line boroughs.

Eleven requests for further information by both primary and secondary schools in the area, have so far been registered on the Department For Education website. This is compared to five requests from Lewisham, four from Tower Hamlets and six  from Hackney.

The new academy legislation introduced by Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, earlier this month allows state schools to break away from local authorities gaining greater freedom over things like budgets, admissions criteria and curriculum.

Schools that register interest and are rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted will automatically be fast-tracked to academy status by this autumn.

Critics of the new legislation have argued that the introduction of academies will lead to a two-tier education system, where children from the poorest backgrounds will suffer most. Head teachers are being urged to proceed with caution, as once their school becomes an academy, it cannot revert back to the state system.

Eastlondonlines is offering a group of 16 young people the chance to participate in a journalism summer school at Goldsmiths which will involve teaching from a professional journalist who is also a journalism tutor at the college.

You’ll learn, not only how to produce quality news stories, but the high paced pressures of getting work done to a deadline, the importance of being entrepreneurial, and also get a taste of university life. You will see how your story is received by the public sphere as it’s published on the ELL website and the course can go on your CV. Additionally you’ll have the chance to work on the website writing news stories for us after the summer school course during July and August and you will be able to participate in further training courses at the Journalism Training Charity – Headliners.

The criteria you need to have to take part are:

• You must be 16-19 years old
• You need to live and/or study in boroughs of Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham or Tower Hamlets
• You need to have a passion for writing and an interest in journalism
• You need to submit your application by Monday 7th June
• You need to have access to the internet & a computer outside of the sessions at Goldsmiths (at home or in a library)
• And you must be able to commit to the full 5 days of study at Goldsmiths. Priority will be given to applications that state they can commit to further involvement over the summer holidays (please state your availability on your application).

The course takes place from 10am-4pm on 22nd, 25th, 29th June, 2nd & 6th July

For further information, please contact:
Ben Gwalchmai on 020 7078 5002 or b.gwalchmail@gold.ac.uk

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