Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Primary school pupil gets A* in GCSE maths
There were tears of joy – and in some cases, disappointment – as thousands of teenagers across the district peered inside the brown envelopes containing their GCSE results on Thursday. Some schools achieved their best ever results, while others attributed
cprice@thekmgroup.co.uk @TheChrisPrice An 11-year-old bright spark joined the thousands of teenagers celebrating their GCSE results as he picked up an A* in maths.
Aidan Moss, of Nightingale Close, Chartham Hatch, nervously took the exam alongside 16-year-old pupils at Canterbury College.
The Chilham School pupil worked extra classes with his teacher Chris Johnson, also of Chartham Hatch, but admitted he only put in the work two weeks before he took the paper.
And he was relaxed as he opened the email with his result on Thursday – unlike his parents, who said they were “shaking”.
He will now go to Simon Langton Grammar School in Canterbury after getting 100% in the Kent Test.
He said: “I’m really proud. I had to put in a lot of work at the last minute but I didn’t do much at the start. I want to carry on doing challenging maths. My friends all say ‘what’s that you’re doing?’
“Doing the exam was really scary. The teenagers looked as nervous as I was. But I just got on with it. I will miss Mr Johnson. He has been a great teacher.
‘He’s bright. I went for something harder to keep him motivated’
I wouldn’t have done it without him.”
Aidan’s mother Jo, 37, said he would get a computer as a reward for his efforts.
She said: “I was shaking when I opened the email but he was quite chilled about it.
“Ever since he was three or four he would be reading books for children quite a few years older than him. Maths is a real passion for him.
“I knew it would be stressful for him in the exam but, as soon as his teacher mentioned it, he was adamant to do it. For a primary school to push him to do a GCSE is really good.
“Aidan was panicking when he was queueing up outside the hall with 16-year-olds but he went in and did really well.
“He would have retaken it if he had had an A because he’s one of those people who wants to do his best in what he does.”
Teacher Mr Johnson, of Denstead Lane, put him in for the exam as a way to keep him on his toes during lessons.
He said: “Bright children can often get bored if they are not challenged.
“There was nothing left for Aidan to achieve so I went for something harder to keep him motivated.
“He’s very bright. You tell him things once and he doesn’t forget anything but it was nerve-racking when he went into the exam.
“I thought if he got a bad result it might damage him but he picked everything up so quickly.”
There was one word of warning for Aidan, howver, after his success.
He might have to watch out for his younger brother Finlay, nine, who is also top of his class.
Jo said: “Finlay says he is going to do his A-level next year. There is a bit of competitiveness between the two of them.”