Announcement

A big congratulations to all of our young people, both here and at our partner school at Dunraven, who have received their A Level and BTEC results. A huge thank you to the families who have given their support as well. 

All public examination points represent three  things. They are a moment for students to be proud of what they have achieved. Secondly, they are a moment to celebrate knowledge, both the acquisition and application of it. Thirdly, and most importantly, A Level and Level 3 BTEC grades are a stepping stone for the next stage of a young person’s life. The next opportunity for learning, or working and a whole new set of adventures. Therefore, we are very pleased at the very high percentage of our young people who have secured their first choice of destination today as they move on to that exciting next stage.

This is also a great day for our teachers. Teachers know what a complete privilege it is to do the job we do, that gift of learning and knowledge is just that: a gift. So thank you to the teachers who have worked so hard.

There are always, of course, great individual tales to tell. Massimo achieved A*A*A* in Maths, Further Maths and Physics, plus achieved the top mark of an A in Additional Maths. He has accepted an offer to read Physics at Brasenose College, Oxford. Of the other students who achieved an A* in Maths, Jeven who achieved A*AC will be studying Maths at Manchester and Sean who achieved an A*BB will be studying Maths and Computer Science at Queen Mary University.

Sumaya achieved A*A*A and after a gap year will be applying for Oxbridge next year to study Law. We always like to note the achievements of our Head Students who have served us so well this year. Daisy will be studying Drama, Theatre and Performance at Sussex. Aidan will be studying Mechanical Engineering at Cardiff University and Aaliyah will be studying Medicine at Queen Mary or Southampton. Good luck to them and we are sure they will take their leadership skills with them.

Each year group is different and this year has been a particularly ‘arty’ one. This, of course, reflects the school and Trust’s commitment to the arts and their importance to our cultural life. Importance, indeed, to the economic life of the country.  We have seen some impressive grades across the arts, with prestigious destinations including Laban Dance Conservatoire for Keira, and Alex, Leo, Rhea, Yagmur and Yilmaz of the Art and Design students going on to University of Arts London (the highest rated Arts undergraduate university in the world) to follow foundation and degree courses. 

The breadth of our offer is reflected in the importance we give to vocational qualifications and the BTECS, are as valuable for our young people as A levels with a very high percentage of Distinction and Distinction * grades award.  It is worth noting the great success of our Health and Social Care Course. We have a number of students who are pursuing degrees such as Nursing, Social Work, Occupational Therapy and Early Childhood studies. Young people who will be vital in making the country thrive in the future. Good luck to Esther and Kiera (who both  achieved a Distinction * Distinction *) Ella, Marvin and Jacob in those courses. They will be studying at King’s (x2), Portsmouth, South Bank and Bristol respectively. 

A special shout out to Molly who will be studying English at King’s after achieving an ABB. In my thirty years of teaching I have taught precisely two terms of A level but Molly very kindly allowed me to read her English coursework and in spite of my intervention she achieved a fantastic grade! Having taught Molly in Year 7 and 8, I can say that her hard working attitude is exactly what we look for in all our students. Well done to her.  

Nationally, we are back to pre-pandemic exam results so it is worth reminding ourselves that  these students were significantly impacted in both Year 9 and 10 so well done to them. I clearly remember sending 15 or 20 students home at a time to isolate as we tried to work out the complexities of proximity, seating plans and various other rules around close contact. This year group got Covid a lot!  We also remember Dominik, a very talented student, who would have been collecting his results today who passed away last year and the resilience of his friends who have done so well today. 

And so - the best of luck to our young people as they prepare for a whole new experience of arranging accommodation and sorting finances and learning to cook beyond boiling an egg. We wish them all the very best in the future and hope they always remember us at The Elmgreen School. 
 

Dominic Bergin 

Head Student Aaliyah                  Head Student Aidan              Head Student Daisy