A-Levels: Whitechapel’s Swanlea tops 100pc in 3 subjects despite lockdown stopping exam sittings
Hugging time in Whitechapel as Swanlea Secondary pupils get their A-Level results. Picture: Swanlea - Credit: Swanlea
What a score for Whitechapel’s Swanlea Secondary getting 100 per cent in no fewer than three subjects today.
Yet another A-Level success year with high pass rates at Swanlea Secondary. Picture: Swanlea - Credit: Swanlea
That’s on top of the problems this year caused by the Coronavirus emergency when pupils couldn’t sit their exams in school.
Most of the tutoring has had to be done online in their homes just at the crucial time of year leading up to their finals.
But they smashed through the barrier with 100pc BTec Level 3 passes, A* to B in further maths and A* to B in Italian.
“It hasn’t been an easy time,” Swanlea’s headteacher Brenda Landers admits.
One youngster too exited to open the envelope hands it to head teacher Brenda Landers instead... for that big moment. Picture: Swanlea - Credit: Swanlea
“But we are extremely pleased with the grades that our youngsters have achieved.
“We are now supporting and guiding them onto the best possible university courses.”
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She predicts an even brighter forecast, adding: “They have achieved excellent grades this year, so we’re optimistic about their futures.”
Swanley notched up 59pc passes overall in grades A* to B and 85pc passes at A* to C grades.
They spend months striving for good A-Level results and they can't believe it's all over... it is now! Picture: Swanlea - Credit: Swanlea
The pupils manged 89pc A* to B in computer science and 83pc in geography and religious education.
Other subjects did famously, 80pc A* to B in Physics, 79pc in sociology, 63pc in maths, 60pc in history and 54pc in economics.
The stats also stack up well for Swanlea’s BTec Level 3 extended diploma with 63pc getting between Distinction* and Distinction grades.
Swanlea has 10 high-rated students high-tailing it to university after the summer break.
Two head for Queen Mary’s down the road, Musthakim Karim for chemical engineering and Tahera Miah for business management.
Syed Hussain finds his way to University College London for geography while Maisha Giash makes her way there for anthropology.
Rimaz Salih goes to Kings College London for international relation, Sayeeda Begum to School of Oriental and African Studies for philosophy and Yusuf Anwar to Bath for natural sciences.
Two students with BTEC extended diplomas, Hammad Waseer and Youcef Cherrak, go to Goldsmith’s for computer science.
But it isn’t a flash-in-the-pan, despite Swanlea’s catchment area among the most deprived in Britain.
The school has been improving steadily year-by-year and managing to get its bright sparks to university every time over the past decade, many coming from families often on the poverty line.
Life isn’t easy for families in deprived East End neighbourhoods, the school acknowledges. Issues such as bad housing don’t help, but the determined parents of Whitechapel know what success looks like and want it for their children.
