GCSE: Poplar's Langdon Park bucks national trend with pupils getting up to eight A*s

PUBLISHED: 19:16 25 August 2016 | UPDATED: 17:20 28 August 2016

Mike Brooke

Poplar's Langdon Park School in Bright Street [Google image]

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Star pupils at Langdon Park... Shah Ahmed and Faridat Abdulsalami

It is one of the Tower Hamlets schools bucking the national trend with pupils getting as many as nine A* grades.

An ambitious 16-year-old Shah Ahmed, for example, hit nine A*s and two As.

“I am just relieved,” he admitted. “This is the biggest thing I have done in life.

“I’m going on to A-Levels and then try for a degree, but am not sure what I’m going to do after that.”

Nina Lai and Sabiha Alom

That’s at least five years away—so there’s time, young lad.

Faridat Abdulsalami was close behind with eight A*s and two As and has her sights on a very caring profession.

“I want to do something in medicine,” she said. “So I’ll be doing maths and science at A-Level.”

Nina Lai got three A*s, four As and four Bs and says she feels “really good” about it. Nina is staying on for Langdon Park’s sixth form and then wants to do Law at university.

Mayor John Biggs meets one of thne GCSE pupils at Langton Partk, Tasnia Qureshi

Shazia Bari achieved nine A-C grades, but wants to do her A-Levels at college and go on to study psychology.

Head teacher Richard Fitzgerald, who took over the school in 2013 and turned it around in just three years, said: “GCSE performance has improved so much.

“But that’s down to change, hard work, commitment and involvement of the children and their families.”

Tower Hamlets Mayor John Biggs turned up to meet some of the 166 pupils getting their results, which he boasted were “some of the best results in the country”. He puts it down to the youngsters themselves and support they get from parents, teachers and school staff.

Almost nine-out-of-10 pupils achieved A-to-C in English, well above the national average. Science also shot up this year to 61pc getting A*-C, which is 14pc up on last year.