THERE were tears of joy at Staindrop Academy last week as the wait for GCSE results came to an end.
Pupils and staff at the school were delighted with the results despite stepping into the unknown with tougher exams under a new grading system.
Headteacher Alyson Carr said: “The government changed the curriculum to be a bit more challenging.
“For all schools it has been a turbulent year. We are really pleased that we have had another year of improvement with these new exams.
“We have had some outstanding results in health and social care, PE and food technology.”
The shake-up of exams meant that this year’s GCSEs were graded using a one to nine system, with nine being the equivalent to the old A*.
William Rolt was the school’s top achiever with grade 7 or above in all subjects, including seven grade 9s. Outstanding results were achieved by Kirstin Parr with grade 8 or above in all subjects, including five grade 9s. Caitlin Shaw gained grade 7 or above across the board, including four grade 9s.
Callum Spence also achieved grade 7 or above in ten subjects including two grade 9s and six grade 8s.
Overall, 68 per cent of students achieved a grade 5 or higher in English and/or maths.
In English, 64 per cent of students achieved grades 9 to 5 and in maths 51 per cent of pupils achieved grades 9 to 5.
Ryan Jackson beat his targets by an average of two whole grades. Jack Stobart, William Potts, Sian Place and Daniel Bullen all beat their targets by an average of one grade.
Ms Carr added: “Today has been about celebrating the students’ and the staff’s hard work. Our students have completed very demanding programmes of study.
“There has been that fear of unknown for the staff as much as the students but I can’t stress how pleased we are. It has been great as teachers to see all the faces of glee today as they opened their results.”
