Teesdale school is once again celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of our students as they collected their GCSE results this morning. In total, there were an amazing 81 grade 9s achieved. This is the highest possible grade and indicates exceptional performance.
There were, as ever, some superb individual performances. Most notable among them are:
- Beth Stenlake 10 x grade 9
- Lorna Gillhespy 9 x grade 9, 1 x Dist*
- Sam Crowe 8x grade 9, 1xDist*, 1 x grade 7
- Emma Piercy-Mycock 6 x grade 9, 1 x Dist*, 2 x grade 8
- Joe Richardson 9 x grade 9, 1 x grade 5
- Keira Scott 6 x grade 9, 4 x grade 8
- Jasmine Walton 6 x grade 9, 3 x grade 8, 1 x grade 7
As impressive as the results achieved by our students are, it is who they all are as young people and the significant challenges they have overcome to reach this point in their educational journeys that we are truly proud of.
Education, like all areas of society, has been hugely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and students faced unprecedented challenges this year. The decision to cancel exams as we entered the national lockdown in January 2021 meant students faced an uncertain future about how their results would be decided.
The process that students then had to go through saw unprecedented long-term pressure of assessment. In many respects this was far more gruelling than a traditional examination series that tests students in a number of exams in a relatively short period of time. Instead, students this year faced weeks and months of different assessment tasks in order to build a portfolio of evidence to support the grades they achieved. With time in school continuously disrupted by the coronavirus situation, students had to adapt to new forms of learning and work with greater independence than ever before.
Our young people, like those all across the country, have made huge sacrifices in order to protect those in society more vulnerable than themselves. So, we celebrate their wonderful exam results today, but we also congratulate and recognise them for so much more. Well done, we are extremely proud of you!