Fulham Students Celebrate Improved GCSE Grades

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Despite tougher exams and stricter grade boundaries

Students and teachers at Fulham Cross Girls' School celebrate their GCSE results

 

Pupils in schools across Hammersmith and Fulham have achieved improved GCSE results, despite the exams being tougher and the grade boundaries stricter than last year.

After the biggest shake-up in marking for a generation, all GCSE subjects are now graded by numbers, with 9 being the highest.

Hurlingham Academy in Peterborough Road is celebrating a huge boost in its English and maths scores. 78% of its students achieved five or more good passes (grade 4 or above), including English and maths, while students achieving the top grades 7 to 9 in English and maths rose to 23% from 17% last year.

With seven 9s and four 8s, Machi Otsuka was among the academy's star performers.

Machi, pictured below with Principal Leon Wilson, will now study maths, chemistry, German and biology at A-level. She said: "I didn’t expect to do this well. I’ve been to schools in Germany and Japan, but this is the best one I’ve been to, with the most supportive teachers. I am so grateful."

Other big success stories included:

Francesco Moscato, who achieved five 9s, three 7s and three 6s;
Hamza Gallo, who joined the academy at the beginning of Year 11, and achieved three 9s, four 8s, one 7 and two 5s;
Angelica Shokor, who achieved five 9s, four 8s and one 7;
Aisha Tahliil, who achieved five 9s, three 8s and one 5;
Charis Leto, who achieved two 9s, four 8s, three 7s and one 6;
Sergio Martinez Lopez, who achieved two 9s, two 8s, four 7s and two 6s;
Mark Phesan, who achieved four 9s, one 8 and five 7s.

Leon Wilson said: "I hope all our students celebrating today take great pride in their achievements, which are the culmination of five years’ effort, ambition and determination. Our Year 11s have been fantastic role models within the academy and I know that today’s results too will act as inspiration for our younger students."

There were smiles all round at Fulham College Boys’ School, with some students having special reasons to celebrate.

When Muessar El Fadl Al Shaweesh, who just turned 16 joined the school in Kingwood Road at the end of Year 10, he was on the road to getting no GCSEs. But with the support of staff, he went on to achieve and impressive set of results included three grade 9s and two grade 8s and will now go on to study A-level maths, further maths and history at St George’s Catholic School’s sixth form.

Rodin Akraminejad also thanked his "super supportive" teachers after achieving the year's top results, with with one 9, seven 8s and one 7. The 16 year-old will now head to the sixth form at Harris Westminster College to study maths, physics, chemistry and history.

"I’m delighted with all the hard work our students have put in this year with another set of great results," said headteacher Sally Brooks.

"Despite the huge funding cuts we’ve had to deal with, our teachers have gone the extra mile, worked late after school and on weekends to give our students the best chance to succeed."

At Fulham Cross Girls’ School, pupils achieved another outstanding set of GCSE results.The school’s English department, which was shortlisted for the Times Educational Supplement’s English Team of the Year award, achieved an 80% pass rate (grades 5 and above) and 40% top grades (7 to 9).

Meanwhile the RS (religious studies) team, achieved an 81% pass rate and 49% top grades. The hard work has not gone unnoticed as the head of RS, Courtney Hosp, has been shortlisted for the Pearson Secondary School Teacher of the Year. She will be hoping to add it to her prestigious London Secondary School Teacher of the Year for Raising Attainment accolade.

Classmates Noor Khan and Amal Mohamed Ali, pictured above, were thrilled with their outstanding results. Noor, 16, pictured left, scored seven 9s and two 8s while Amal, right, collected three 9s and four 8s. They are both now off to study their A-levels at Putney High School.

Headteacher Denise Fox was delighted with her students’ results, saying: "I’m so proud of all our students, teachers and parents after another fantastic set of results this year. It’s great to see our girls going on to the colleges and sixth forms of their choice to continue their studies."

There was also good news at schools supporting young people who are not in mainstream education. Westside School in Hammersmith's Galena Road, which provides young people with a personalised curriculum, had its best ever GCSE results, with 93% of students achieving GCSE grades in both maths and English, with a grade 8 achieved in maths; a grade 7 in English Literature; two grades 6 achieved in English Language Grades 7 and 6 in Citizenship.

Headteacher Carol-Anne Alcock said: "I am immensely proud to be the headteacher of Westside School and look forward to building on the school’s examination successes in the future.

"I would like to thank staff who gave their time so willingly to support our students, many of whom, for a myriad of reasons, had huge gaps in their learning."

At The Bridge and Latimer AP academies 81% of learners gained accreditation at GCSEs (9 to 1) or their equivalent – and, most notably, five learners achieved grade 4 or above in English Language and Religious Education.

The Bridge in Finlay Street, Fulham, and Latimer in Freston Road, Notting Hill, are both schools which provide education and intervention through Alternative Provision - supporting learners who are experiencing difficulty with or have been excluded from mainstream education. They are both part of the TBAP Multi-Academy Trust which support vulnerable and challenging young people.

Krishna Purbhoo, executive headteacher, TBAP West, said: "The TBAP West region continues to achieve successful outcomes for our learners. This is a well-earned reward for their hard work, dedication, support and commitment to learning."

These impressive performances were hailed by Cllr Larry Culhane, H&F Cabinet Member for Children & Education as a "really significant" rise in 'progress' – a performance measure that charts children’s progress from the end of primary school (key stage 2) to the end of secondary school (key stage 4) when pupils take GCSEs in Year 11.

"This demonstrates that our secondary schools are adding value to students’ starting points," he said. "But we shouldn’t overlook the other ways our schools are adding to students’ lives too: the guidance, support and opportunities they provide are all crucial and we thank our teachers and school staff for the dedication they bring every day."

Cllr Culhane also sent a message of support to local students who may have been disappointed with some of their results, asking them to look to the borough's sixth formers and apprentices, who re-took some of their GCSEs this year and achieved the results they wanted second time round, for inspiration.

Options for students include taking English and maths exam resits at William Morris Sixth Form or Hammersmith & Fulham College as well as further vocational and apprenticeship opportunities.

August 28, 2019