Praise for pupils who ‘rose to the challenge’
HEADTEACHERS praised pupils for rising to the challenge of exam changes after a series of top results.
Thousands of nervous teenagers attended schools across the Valley to collect their grades with even more subjects now scored using the new numerical system.
Traditional A*-G grades have been scrapped and replaced with a 9-1 system, with 9 the highest grade, as part of a move to ‘toughen up’ GCSEs.
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School headteacher Alan Porteous said he is ‘delighted that the results achieved by our Year 11 students this year continue our sustained record of outstanding academic attainment’.
He said: “With the wholesale change to the qualification system, and the introduction of number grades across all subjects, it is very difficult to make comparisons with previous years, but we are very pleased that our students, with the support of our staff, have risen to the challenge of the new more difficult GCSE qualifications and have achieved so well.”
Alder Grange headteacher David Hampson said the class of 2018 deserved a lot of praise.
He said: “Given that this is the first year of tougher exams and new specifications we are absolutely delighted with this set of results.
“The success is a clear reflection of own our students’ dedication and the outstanding levels of support provided by our teaching staff.”
Helen Stead, headteacher of Fearns Community Sports College, said: “We are delighted with the success that the pupils who worked hard and put the effort in have achieved and we wish them all the very best in their future chosen career path.”
Haslingden High School headteacher Mark Jackson said: “It has been fantastic, it is great to see the hard work pay off and so many happy, smiling students and parents. We are so proud of each and every one, it is undoubtedly the result of a huge amount of hard work from both staff and students.”
Gill Middlemas, headteacher of Whitworth Community High School, said: “We are delighted that so many of our young people have achieved excellent grades and made fantastic progress across the ability range.
“This reflects the outstanding commitment of staff and students; the solid support of parents and families and of governors; the high quality teaching and learning experience, which has led to students being so well-prepared for the new demands of GCSE.”