GCSE Results Day at The Friary School was much the same as previous ones – jubilation, furrowed brows, tears of all sorts, and frantic parents outside waiting for their child to tell them how they got on.

However, this year all achievements were well worth celebrating as after over two terms of home learning; countless further isolations; multiple internal tests; friendships and wider life put on hold in the key teenage years; and an educational landscape changing on an all too regular basis; this Year 11 cohort did not have things remotely easy no matter what some newspaper headlines suggest.

There were plenty of high fliers including;
Katie Browning 6 x 9s, 1 x 8, 1 x 7, 2 x Dist*
Hugh Hutchison 2 x 9as, 6 x 8s, 2 x Dist*
Isobel Swynnerton 4 x 9s, 2 x 8s, 3 x 7s, 1 x DIst*
Flynn Mulligan 1 x 9, 5 x 8s, 2 x 7s, 1 x Dist*
Owen Stothert 1 x 9, 5 x 8s, 3 x 7s, 1 x Dist*
Bryony Stephenson 1 x 9, 3 x 8s, 4 x 7s, 2 x Dist*
Grace Williams 1 x 9, 3 x 8s, 4 x 7s, 2 x Dist*
Jacob Wright 2 x 9s, 3 x 8s, 2 x 7s, 1 x Dist*, 1 x Dist

Elsewhere, there were some stunning progress scores (looking at Year 6 grades to Year 11 grades):
Finlay Barton +34 grades
Evie Hulme +27 grades
Dennis Ho +26 grades
Jorge Allcock +25 grades
Lydia Bedlow + 25 grades
Rebekah Alvarado + 24 grades
Bobby Mathieson + 21 grades

Sam Sullivan, Assistant Headteacher, said: “Our assessment systems were very rigorous so we know that today’s celebrations are hard-won and this makes them all the more special. Having to reach a destination like Results Day with the journey ever-changing is hugely difficult and we can hope that the resilience developed here will serve these students well in dealing with the ups-and-downs of adult life. We are hugely proud of all our students for getting to today and achieving successes whatever their level.”

Matt Allman, Headteacher, added: “When you know the individuals and personalities involved, when you know the immense potential in these students, then you can only be thrilled that so many are coming back to our Sixth Form. We are confident they will go on and prove their worth – whether it be Teacher Assessed Grades or formal exams – as this is not a cohort to be under-estimated. They, their families, and their teachers deserve fulsome praise and we’re delighted that five years of work came to a conclusion with so much laughter, accomplishment and relief.”