GCSE results 2018: Reaction from Calderdale schools

Here is the reaction from the borough’s schools as the results come in.

Click here to keep updated with the results

Todmorden High School

Students at Todmorden High School have celebrated a bumper year in the top grades of 8 and 9 this year.

Head teacher, Gill Shirt said: “We are extremely pleased with the performance of our students who worked hard, with the staff to achieve the results that they deserved. We had some great individual performances from Elena (Larissa) Caton-Sutcliffe, Matilda Carnall, Isaac Clarkson, Umaymah Kabeer, Jacob Brady, Joe Pugh, Alanna Pickering, Amna Nisah, Callum Issitt and Jude Schroeder.

"Subjects that did extremely well were Art, Ethics, Philosophy and Religion and there were good performances from English, Science and Sport Studies.

"Our Year 11 students have been into school to collect their results and they are all now able to go onto the next stage of their education/ career.

"It has been a pleasure and an honour to know these young people, we will miss them dearly but wish them well in the future."

Trinity Academy Sowerby Bridge

Principal Charlie Johnson said: "Today’s results are a record for Sowerby Bridge and represent the new standard of education that students have received since the transformational changes, which have taken place over the last 18 months. Congratulations to all students, staff and parents!"

Ryburn Valley High School

There were hugs and tears of joy at Ryburn this morning as the class of 2018 collected their GCSE results. Amongst them quite a number of level 9s, the top mark on the new grading system, which is slightly above the old A*.

Headteacher David Lord said, "It's always an emotional day when exam results come out. We're incredibly proud of how hard our students worked in the run up to their exams, and the teachers and families who supported them through all their revision and coursework. It's great to see all that effort pay off in a great set of results."

Brighouse High School

Brighouse High School students have once again risen to the challenge of the GCSE examinations and, as a result of five years of hard work and dedication from both students and staff, have secured a pleasing set of results. The strengthening of the GCSE examinations has not hindered notable achievements across the full range of subjects. The number of students attaining good passes in Maths and English is a very pleasing 70 per cent with a fantastic 50 per cent of students attaining a ‘strong pass’ in the two subjects. We are delighted to see our students attaining the highest achievement of grade 9 in a range of subjects with some outstanding results for individual students.

The Headteacher, staff and governors would like to congratulate all of the students and wish them success in their next steps.

Particularly notable individual achievements included:

Carla Stanley – 5 grade 9; 1 grade 8; 2 grade 7; 1 Distinction and 1 grade 5

Abigail Smith – 1 grade 9; 6 grade 8; 2 grade 7 and 1 Distinction

Reece Jones – 3 grade 9; 1 A*; 4 grade 8 and 1 grade 7

Emma Crowther - 6 grade 8; 3 grade 7 and 1 Distinction

Nicola Winslow - 2 grade 9; 3 grade 8; 4 grade 7; 1 Distinction and 1 grade 6

Thomas Fox - 2 grade 9; 3 grade 8; 3 grade 7; 1 Distinction and 2 grade 6

Eve Hustler - 2 grade 9; 5 grade 8; 2 grade 7; 1 Distinction; 1 grade 6 and 1 grade 5

Ewan Walker - 1 grade 9; 3 grade 8; 4 grade 7; 2 grade A and 1 Distinction.

Hipperholme Grammar School

Hipperholme Grammar School is celebrating a fantastic set of GCSE results – recording an increase in those achieving five or more top-level 9-4 grades.

In-line with the new 1-9 grading system (nine being the highest and which applies to not all, but certain, GCSE subjects), pupils at the school in Bramley Lane, Halifax, had plenty to celebrate.

The school has reported that the number of pupils gaining the equivalent of five GCSE 9-4 grades (A*s to Cs), including English and mathematics, has increased from 80 percent in 2017 to 89 percent in 2018.

There have been some particularly outstanding individual results too, with Sophie Noble gaining the equivalent of eight A*s and As, which included two grade 9s.

Zainab Sajjad achieved the equivalent of eight A*s and As which included four grade 8s and one grade 9. Meanwhile, Isabelle Williams’ results showed the equivalent of four A*s to As – this included two grade 9s.

Another notable success story came from Nichola Backhouse who achieved the equivalent of six A*s to As, alongside an A she had already gained in art the previous year for a total of seven 9-7 grades.

The school’s Modern Foreign Languages department had an impressive set of results too – with a 100 per cent pass rate in French and German. A total of 25 per cent of those achieved a grade 9 in French and 22 per cent gained the same top grade in German.

Jackie Griffiths, Hipperholme Grammar School headteacher, said: “I am extremely proud of all our GCSE pupils who have exceeded expectation and produced such outstanding results, which reflect the academic aspirations of the school.

“I am delighted that their hard-work has been justly rewarded and thank the staff for their excellent teaching and support throughout their studies."

Calder High School

The Calder Learning Trust is proud to report another rise in our GCSE results. For the fifth year running Calder High students have improved on the previous years record breaking results, making the 2018 summer examinations the best ever.

Three quarters of students achieved the ‘gold standard’ of five GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Maths.

Head teacher Anthony Guise said: “We are very proud of all of our students, they have shown a real commitment to their studies, made the most of all the opportunities that our staff offered achieved fantastic academic success at this crucial stage in their education.

“I would like to thank all of our students, staff and parents who have worked together to continue with the amazing improvements across every area of The Calder Learning Trust.”