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GCSE results | News Agreat year for our students
STAFF and students have responded to national changes to GCSE courses and the way they are tested by putting in another solid set of results across the borough.
Government efforts to put greater emphasis on final exams over coursework saw a dip, nationally, in the number of students earning the top A* grade this year – the first fall in figures since the exams were in- troduced 24 years ago. And with greater scrutiny of spelling, punctuation and grammar for those taking GCSEs in English literature, geography, history and religious education, English grades were hardest hit. But while results are still coming
in, early signs are that in the South East, students have respondedwell, achieving the highest proportion of top grades in this year’s GCSE re- sults –with one in five ofA* grades coming to the region. The Downs Mail has been out
and about talking to schools in the area to find out how they got on. Despite the changes to GCSEs, Sutton Valence School’s results held firm with 93% of passes at A*- C and more A*s (19%). However, with 11% of the cohort returning 11 or more of their results at A* or A, headmaster Bruce Grindlay said the school “bucked the national trend”. With an overall 100% pass rate,
five ormore passes at A*-C, includ- ing English and maths,were gained by 90% of the 84 pupils who sat the exams.
Achieving more than 11A* andA grades, were: Sasha van Diepen, from Harrietsham; Freddie Nelson, Loose; Katherine McKeating, Kings Hill; Amelia Gaston, Pluckley; Emil Evans, Otterden; Tom Brunt, East Farleigh and Joanne Amos, from Cranbrook. Emily Vernon, from Frittenden, achieved 11 A*s and Freddie Parker, from High Halden, gained 11 A*s and an A. At Swadelands School, 94% of
pupils achieved at least five GCSEs. High achievers included Dasara
Hadri, with six A*s and five A grades and Deon Nzou with two
A*s and eight As. Merena Subba achieved two A*s and six As and Tasnim Oladejo got fiveAgrades. At Oakwood Park Grammar School, 99.3% of students achieved five A*-C grades and 39% got five or more atAor A*. Top performanceswere put in by Robert Crawford and Christopher Johnson, who both achieved 12 A*s. Twenty-two students earned at
least 10 grades at A*/A, with Daniel Harris achieving A* grades in nine subjects and Jason Dawson, Ellis Hill and Jack Slater eight A*s. More than 60% of this year’s grades at Maidstone Grammar School for Girlswere atAor A*. Thirty students gained all A and
A* grades and 69% achieved five or more A* andAgrades. Of particular note were Melissa Seabrook and Eleanor Swan, who gained 12 A*s and anAgrade atAS level.
Maidstone Grammar School recorded 50% of all subject entries achieving grades at A* orAgrade – 2% higher than last year. More than 99% of students gained five A*-C grades including maths and English. One in every five students gained five ormoreA* grades and 84% of the year group achieved the English baccalaureate. High achievers included 29 stu-
dents who earned six A* grades, or better, and Padraig Cuffe, Lewis Fit- ness, Ben Gosling and John Hudson who each achieved at least 10 A* grades.
Students at Invicta Grammar School in Maidstone achieved 100% A*-C grades and 55% A*/A grades – at total of 1,130 A*/A grades. The percentage of students with
eightA*/Agrades increased to 45%, with more than 16 students gaining straight A*/A grades and 30% 10 or more A*/A grades. High achievers included Sarah Hunter and Catherine Lincoln, who
Kelsey Brigden and Jamie Dee King collect their results at NLL and right, Ben Austen is all smiles at Cornwallis
gained 12 A*/A grades in their GCSEs and an A grade in an AS level. Sophie Aujard and Harriet Turner also achieved 11 A*/A in their GCSEs and anAgrade in their AS level, taken a year early. Head Julie Derrick said: “We are
also very proud of Farhart Tasmin who achieved 12A*/Ain her GCSEs and a B grade in herAS level, along with Sophie Chase who achieved 12 A*/A grades at GCSE.” Laura Hooker also achieved 11 A*/A grades in her GCSEs and twoAs in her AS levels. At New Line Learning Academy
(NLL) more students gained good grades in key subjects, with A*-C grades up by 11% in English and 10% in maths. Three students achieved the acad-
emy’s first A*s in maths. High achievers included Kelsey Brigden, who gained four A*s, anA, four B grades and a C; Jamie Dee King, with two A*s, two As, two Cs and two Bs and Agni Surung, who achieved three As, six Bs and two Cs.
Cornwallis Academy in Maid- Students at Sutton Valence School with head Bruce Grindlay
stone recorded a 7%increase in the number of students achieving the English baccalaureate qualification, and 50% of students gaining five A*-Cs, including English and maths. St Simon Stock Catholic School, Maidstone, was happy with its GCSE results – 97% per cent of stu-
dents achieved at least five GCSEs and 82% five A*-C grades. ). High achievers included Jack Barnes (eight A*s/one A), Amy Dowd (six A*s/three As), Anureena D’Costs (six A*s/two As), Holly Davey (six A*s/one A), Rachel Alexandre (five A*s/four As), Mar- tin Burstow (five A*s/two As), Amber Gibbs (four A*s/five As), George Craven (four A*s/three As), Laurence Wild (four A*s/two As), and ClareWoodward (four A*s/two As). Louise Goswell scored eightA grades, Joseph McDonagh-Brown one A* and six As and Marion Guerbet sevenAgrades. St Augustine’s Academy in Maidstone saw an increase in the number achieving five A*-C grades (54%), with the overall pass rate at 97%. The school particularly excelled
in English, with 83% of pupils gain- ing an A*-C. Among the high achievers was
Sam Shahabi who earned 12 A*-A grades. At Valley Park School in Maid-
stone 65% of students gained five A*-C grades, including English and maths – up 5%on last year. High achievers, with at least eight
A* grades, were Ben Anderton, Craig Barden, Alisha Bell, Louis Broad, Phoebe Collins, Charlotte Maxwell, Matthew Porter, Olivia Rossiter-Langworthy and Cynthia Royer.
Maidstone East September 2014 27 Celebrations at Oakwood Park Grammar School Picture: Edward Solly Photography
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