Pupils at Poplar’s Langdon Park Secondary in east London have cocked a snoop at the national GCSE results which have shown a decline in top grades this year.
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.”
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.
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.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here