Kentish Express Ashford & District
Result – school’s grades among best in the county
HIGHWORTH GRAMMAR Some of the best GCSE results in Kent came from Ashford’s Highworth Grammar School.
Tears, laughter and screams of joy could all be found in the Quantock Drive school last Thursday morning.
High-flier Ivy Manning has a dozen reasons to celebrate after achieving an astonishing 12 A*s, in maths, design technology, statistics, religious studies, history, French, biology, English literature and language, chemistry, physics and geography.
She said: “I’m feeling really happy. I got the grades I wanted and now plan to stay at Highworth to study English, history, maths and politics at A-level.”
Fellow student Emma Kingston, 16, from Sellindge, also achieved 12 A*s in maths, English literature and language, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history, religious studies, computer science, German and statistics.
She said: “I’m really relieved. That is what I hoped for, although I did better in German than I expected.”
Emma will now take her A-levels at Highworth, in maths, further maths, geography and computer science.
Other high-achievers included Sophie Ball who got 12 A*s and one A, Tabi Underhill who got 11 A*s and three As and Hannah Bowden-Rooke who got 10 A*s and three As.
Wannabe photographer Niamh Hejsak secured three A*s, seven As and one B. She said: “Some of them surprised me, especially my results for chemistry, biology and physics, because the exams were really hard.”
Niamh will now take art, Eng- lish literature, history and photography at A-level.
In total, Highworth students scooped 1,284 A* and A grades across the board.
Head teacher Paul Danielsen said: “We’ve had some fantastic results today – our best ever in fact.
“In a climate where results are in decline, we are hitting new records. Two thirds of our students (66.67%) have got five or more A* or A grades, compared to 60% in 2013. We also had 37 girls who achieved all As and A*s. That is an exciting figure. We’re very proud.”