The GCSE results are out and our students have performed well. Some students have surpassed themselves with better than expected results giving them more choices for their next destination.
This year has seen Heart of England’s GCSE students once again achieve an excellent set of results that recognises the hard work of staff and students alike. We can see just how well our students have done with over 22% of our grades being the ‘top grades’ of 7-9, outstripping the national average. Our success can also be seen by the fact that our grade 4 or higher was nearly 10% above the national average for standard passes overall.
Students were already waiting to get their results since before the doors opened at 8.30am. There were many smiles throughout the morning as students opened their envelopes and greeted fellow students and teachers. A good number of students had elected to wait to open their envelopes at school rather than using our online Insight system on the web. “I wanted the element of surprise so I came to school,” said one student. “It was really nice to share the experience with my friends as well.”
Vice Principal Mr Bennett was in the hall to welcome students and congratulated many. “It is always impossible to list all of the fantastic achievements across the curriculum but subjects such as History achieving almost 10% grade 9s, French with over 90% grade 9-5 and music achieving over 30% 9-7. Equally impressive was the performance of science, in particular our students achieving twice the national average in 9-7 grades for double science.” he said.
Sixth Form
There was an opportunity for enrolment to Heart of England Sixth Form and Head of Sixth Form Mrs Theay and Sixth Form pastoral lead Mrs Davis welcomed candidates who wanted to apply. Heads of department were also on hand to take details and advise on options for students to consider.
Elliot who has enrolled into Sixth Form to do law, geography and media studies was very pleased with his results and said: “The teachers stretch you to do your best. They make you work – but it’s worth it!” He has yet to decide what the future holds and has planned his choices to keep options open.
Some student like Phoebe are more certain of their future path. She has opted for biology, chemistry, English literature and mathematics studies because she wants to go into medicine and specialise in anaesthetics.
Newly enrolled Matthew has also decided on a career in programming or engineering and has chosen mathematics, physics and computer science. “I’m excited about starting the studying,” he said.
Good Choices
Members of our pastoral team and careers advisers were also available to help our students with possible paths and make the best of their results.
One student, Elizabeth said: “I was ecstatic when I opened my results here. All the hard work I put in has really paid off.” With an excellent set of results, she has chosen to go to Solihull College to do a creative arts course. She has her eye set on a career in film production. Talking about school she said: “This school pushes you hard; they push you to your personal boundaries and I’m very thankful for what has been offered to me here.”
English and Maths
There was good news for our core subjects too. “The achievement of our students in the core subjects of English and maths is also a real cause for celebration,” said Mr Bennett. “English and maths have both outstripped the national average for students achieving a standard pass of grade 4 or higher by at least 20% and demonstrate our ongoing success within a context of a broad and balanced curriculum and a three-year Key Stage 3 that places learning and a love of learning at its core.”
Our students have excelled and some have even surprised themselves with their achievements. It all adds to the great choices they are able to make for their own futures. Over 83% of students achieved a grade 4 or higher in English, marking the achievement of our students almost 20% above the national average. Success above the national average is also being celebrated by our maths department who achieved almost 80% Grade 4 or higher, making achievement here almost 20% higher than results nationally.
Heart of England Principal Miss Hughes-Williams was very positive and said: “The GCSE class of 2019 have successfully negotiated significant changes to both the internal assessment and external examination system. The results today are a testament to our students’ determined hard work combined with their families support and belief in our educational philosophy and values. A huge thank you from me for the wonderful commitment of our staff and governors whose dedication, grit and shared vision for education is an inspiration.”
Students returning to Sixth Form are due to start their studies on 4 September.