GCSE pupils perform well as

STATE schools in the Henley area performed well as nationally the GCSE pass rate fell for a third year running.

Most pupils would have started in year 7 in September 2019, six months before coronavirus gripped the country and pupils having to learn from home. They are the first to have spent every secondary year either in the midst or the wake of the pandemic.

Nationally, this year 67.6 per cent of all grades were grade 4 or above, A* to C under the old marking system, down from 68.2 per cent last year.

The overall pass rate has now returned to 2019 levels — the last year exams were sat before covid.

At Gillotts School in Henley, 85 per cent of pupils achieved five or more passes at grade 4 and above, including maths and English, up from 80 per cent last year.

The proportion of students who achieved five or more passes at grade 7 or better was 31 per cent, down from 33 per cent last year.

In English and maths, 35 per cent of students achieved a grade 7 or better.

Angelika Gwiazda, 16, from Henley, scored 9s in history, English literature, biology, chemistry and physics.

She achieved 8s in drama, French, maths, English language, and religious studies and a B in additional maths.

She will now study A-level English literature, maths, further maths and history at either Sir William Borlase Grammar School in Marlow or the Piggott School sixth form in Wargrave.

Angelika said: “I was really, really happy. I woke up this morning and my heart was really beating and I thought I was going to throw up but I got here and I’m really happy.

“The grade I got for the sciences I definitely didn’t expect. I was very shocked. It’s not what I expected at all, especially in additional maths because I was expecting to fail that.

“I didn’t do as well as predicted with some of the grades but it’s still vaguely similar. I did put in a lot of revision and I’m really happy with the results. I’m going out with my family to celebrate.”

Angelika’s mother, Kasia, said: “I’m very, very proud. Honestly, I don’t have to push her to study. She prepared her revision before each subject very well. She’s a very academic girl and I’m so proud of her.”

Ella Hanley, 16, from Shiplake, got seven grade 9s, including maths, and two 7s, despite having to miss some of her exams due to medical reasons. She is to start a performing arts course at The Henley College in September.

She said: “I've ended up missing quite a few exams which kind of meant I didn't really know where my grades were going to be, so I'm very happy with what I've got.

“I did a lot of revision, especially for history and the sciences, so I expected to do better in them but I’m most shocked about religious studies because I got a 9 and in my mock exam, I got a 6.”

Nina Govett, 16, from Sonning Common, achieved 8s and 9s including a 9 in German, which she was thrilled with. She will go to The Henley College to study classics, ancient history, maths and German.

She said: “I was very nervous walking up to school and I’m so happy with what I got. I’m over the moon. I’m most happy about German because I really wanted to get a 9 in it. I worked really hard so I’m happy it paid off.

“I was over the moon with my English literature mark as I was not expecting that at all. I did better than my predicted grades. I was quite nervous that I wouldn’t quite reach my target but I did. We’re going to have a nice family celebration.”

Alexandre Khoury, 16, from Henley, achieved 9s in history, maths, German, biology, chemistry and physics. He also scored an A in additional maths, 8s in geography and religious studies and 7s in English language, and English literature.

He will study A-level maths, further maths, physics and chemistry at either Sir William Borlase Grammar School or the Piggott School sixth form.

He said: “I wasn’t that excited or nervous. I knew today was coming so I didn’t feel that extreme. I’m happy. I got what I needed to get into sixth form.

“My best subjects were the STEM subjects. I was predicted those grades and I’ve been on track all year to get those.

“I started taking revision seriously a month or so before mock exams, which were in January and from that point onwards I started to have a consistent revision schedule.

“I’d often find time to ask teachers questions or make sure I can get as much help from teachers as possible and I practised past papers every now and then.

“For me, the most daunting exams were geography and religious studies, however, I got some grades which I expected to get.”

Headteacher Catharine Darnton said: “We’re really delighted. This has been another year of absolutely outstanding results.

“Since 2019, the school’s been in the top 10 per cent of schools in the country for progress and this year is just another year that cements us in that position. These students were in year 7 when we had the first covid lockdown, so they went through the whole of covid at Gillotts and it really interrupted their foundation.

“The fact that they've done just brilliantly today is an absolute testament to how hard they've worked but also how well they've been supported by their parents and by our staff as well.

“Staff very accurately predicted what was going to happen and they do describe the students as dedicated, hard-working and that they listen carefully to advice.”

At the Piggott School, the proportion of students who achieved five or more passes at grade 4 or above was 80 per cent, down seven per cent on last year.

Sophia Monte, 16, from Wargrave, achieved two 9s, three 8s, two 7s and three 6s.

She said: “I’m quite happy I have got higher than some of my predicted grades and I was really happy with biology because I got a 9 and I wasn’t expecting that. I thought maths was quite a hard paper this year, so I thought I was going to get a 7 but I got an 8.

“The revision was all right. I just worked through it and I made lots of flash cards and resources and then, in the weeks leading up to it, we had lots of support in school and practise papers which really helped with the stress of everything.”

Sophia said that she planned to stay at the school in Twyford Road for sixth form and was planning to take psychology, business and geography.

Max Meader, 16, from Ridgeway in Wargrave, achieved five 8s, four 7s and one 6 and said he plans to stay on at the school to study maths, economics and business A-levels in September.

He said: said: “I’m buzzing. I did much better in English than I thought so I am very happy with that and it’s enough to go onto sixth form here so I am very happy.

“For a couple of the exams I was revising a bit the night before but the sciences I definitely did a lot on and that reflects in some of the results.”

James Lamacraft, of Braybrooke Road, Wargrave, achieved one 9, five 8s and three 7s. He said: “I’m feeling really good because I’m in for sixth form. I was surprised by the 9 in biology but not anything else.

“Some of the subjects were hard to revise for. The sciences took ages but some of them I did the night before and I still did really well.”

He plans to study English language, media and economics at Piggott and to celebrate he was going to Reading Festival with friends.

Anna Hodgkinson, 16, from Twyford, achieved all 9s. She said: “It went really well, I’m really, really happy. I was expecting to do well but I wasn't really expecting all 9s.

“When we were doing exams, it was so full on. Suddenly we are all getting results and I can't even remember what I wrote on the papers.”

Anna said that she had enjoyed sitting her exams. She said: “I like doing exams when you know what you are doing. It felt kind of satisfying to be able to use all of the years we have been learning this stuff.” To celebrate she went going to London with her family to see the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and will stay on at Piggott and study, physics, maths, further maths and German.

Nina Worrall, 15, from Twyford, achieved all 9s. She said: “I was really not expecting it. I was expecting them to be good but I thought that there would be a kink in the chain.

“I did a lot of preparation quite early on and when it came to the exams I felt quite ready but there was definitely a lot of panic and last-minute stressing for each one. But I got the hang of it by the end.”

Nina said she opened her results in the car with her mum and to celebrate was planning to go out for dinner with her family. She is to study chemistry, maths, further maths and physics at Piggott.

Headteacher Rebecca Alexander said: “The Piggott School is extremely proud to share an outstanding set of results. The results that have been awarded are a testament to the hard work, commitment and dedication of our students and staff.

“We are excited that many of our students have chosen to return to study in our sixth form this September. It will be a privilege to support them in their continued learning journey and we are looking forward to seeing what they can achieve at A-level.”

At Langtree School in Woodcote, 80 per cent of pupils achieved five or more passes at grade 4 and above, including maths and English, compared to 83 per cent last year.

The proportion of students who received a grade 7 or better was 37 per cent, up from 35 per cent last year.

Anna Kennard, 16, from Goring, achieved two eights, four sevens, two sixes, a five and a four. She scored highest in English language and religious studies. She said: “I found it quite hard, and I don’t like exams. I didn’t do loads of revision but I probably did about seven hours per subject, which isn’t that much.”

She is going to do her A-levels in psychology, sociology and law or business at The Downs in Newbury.

Lili Borak, 16, from Woodcote, achieved three nines, two eights, one seven and three sixes. She will be going to Wallingford School to study her A-levels.

She said: “I’m really happy and I revised quite hard, I put in hundreds of hours of revision and this is better than I thought I was going to go get.”

Josh Schmidt, 16, from Woodcote, achieved seven GCSEs from grades 7 to 2. His highest score was in English literature. He will go to study engineering at The Henley College. He said: “I feel really good because I put in quite a bit of time into my revision.”

Erin Abbott, 16, from Goring, achieved eight 9s, two 8s and one 7. She was one of five students who were recognised as high attainers.

She will be going to The Downs School in Newbury to study A-levels in biology, chemistry, maths and psychology. Erin said: “I didn’t expect it and I’m really, really happy, I’m almost speechless. I wanted 7s and above and I got that, but there were some of them where I wasn’t sure, so I’m really happy. I did lots of flash cards and spent a lot of hours and shed a couple of tears.”

Natasha Maslen, 16, from Whitchurch, achieved seven GCSEs in grades 5 and 6 and one distinction star. She is going to The Downs in Newbury to study A-levels in psychology, business and PE.

She said: “I was worried about English because that’s what I hadn’t passed all year but I ended up getting a 5 and was one mark off a 6 so I think I’ll get it remarked. I also struggled in literature but I got a 5.

“Getting the results makes you feel nervous but I’m feeling pretty good and I’m able to relax now. I’m pretty proud of myself. It can be daunting, especially when you have so many friends who you want to tell. My revision was hard but I’m happy because all the work paid off.”

Her father, Barry, 65, said: “I’m absolutely delighted with Natasha’s results, she’s worked so hard to achieve what she’s achieved. Lots of worry and lots of late nights but she’s put in the hard yards and got her reward, so it’s brilliant.”

Headteacher Simon Bamford said: “I’m really pleased. We got the highest proportion of grade 7s that we’ve ever had before.

“I hate using covid as an excuse, I try and not have it in my vocabulary but this is the cohort that arrived during it, so they missed out a lot of year 7, so that’s impacted them in a lot of ways, not just academically.

“Our results aren’t quite as good as they were last year, but in a small cohort of 140-odd students, we have about five or six that find it really difficult for various reasons to come into school. They didn’t really take any exams and that hits us hard as a small school knocking off five or six per cent of our numbers but it’s not like I worry about numbers particularly.”

Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge School in Sonning Common declined to provide any percentages of grades for the second year running. A total of 74 students received their results.

Amelia Beecroft achieved nine above grade 7 with three grade nines. She will be moving on to study A-levels at Piggott School.

Charlotte Fulford Perez, who balanced elite kayak training with her studies, received 11 GCSEs including a grade 9 in Spanish.

Twins, Dan and Josh Kimpton achieved a matching seat of results with one grade 8 and four grade 7s among their collection of grades. They will be continuing their studies at Highdown sixth form.

Headteacher Briony Bowers, who joined the school in January, said: “I am very proud of our students who have shown resilience and commitment to achieve these results and of the staff who have gone above and beyond to support them.

“I am excited for their next steps post-16 and the contribution they will make to our community in the future."

Highdown School in Emmer Green achieved its best set of GCSE results and said that more than 80 per cent of pupils achieved five or more passes at grade 4 and above and 75 per cent achieved five or more at grade 4 and above, including English and maths. They declined to give any percentages last year.

Some of its high achievers were as follows: Thomas Busby achieved nine 9s, one 8 and a 99 in further maths; Ellie Bloxam achieved eight 9s, one 8, one 7 and a 9 in further maths and Eloise Hackett achieved eight 9s, two 8s and a 9 in further maths.

At Icknield Community College in Watlington, 77 per cent of students achieved at least a standard pass in English, 75 per cent achieved at least a standard pass in maths and 47 per cent achieved a 5 in both English and maths.

The college did not provide a full breakdown of results but headteacher Mat Hunter said they should be proud of their results

Mr Hunter said: “I am particularly pleased that our students have performed so well across such a wide range of GCSE subjects again this year. This is testament not only to the hard work of so many students but also to the high quality of teaching in all areas of the school.

“There have been some amazing individual successes, too, ranging from students attaining a full suite of grade 9s and 8s. Congratulations to Kate Vincent and Ewan Rogers, who achieved 16 grade 9s and four grade 8s between them.

“I know that there is always, at this time of year, a focus on outwardly celebrating the performance of the highest attaining students in schools. While this is clearly important, this year, we would like to congratulate our highest achieving students: those who have made the most progress from their starting points.

“These students have really achieved fantastic success between years 7 and 11 gaining, as they have, anywhere between one and three grades higher in every subject than their targets. They all demonstrate how hard work and commitment can lead to success at every level.”