Leighton Park celebrate GCSE results 2020

Our Year 11s were back on the Park for the first time in five months yesterday morning to celebrate their exam successes with their families, friends and teachers. Having witnessed the difficulties surrounding the A Level and International Baccalaureate results, our GCSE students were pragmatic in their acceptance of the delayed grades from Cambridge Assessment and for BTECs.

High achiever, Grace Andrews, was delighted: “I’m very happy with my results. There are some higher than I thought they would be; there are some that I think were justified. It’s a mixed bag but I’m very happy.” Grace’s proud mum, Jane, reflected, “It’s what she was aiming for. She has a good sense of her own abilities. I think these results are fair.” Looking forward to her daughter pursuing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in the Sixth Form next year, Jane continued: “She’s an all-rounder so it’s a good option for her. It’s good to keep on with Maths and English and a language which she might not have chosen otherwise. Especially Maths, but you need Maths for everything in life.”

Fellow aspiring IB student, Tisa Maunder-Bushnell, who played Mama in the School’s Spring production of ‘Chicago’ enthused, “The biggest surprise for me was that I got two nines for my combined science! I was excited to come in today. I’m going to do the IB in the Sixth Form; it offers a broad range of subjects and I think it will be more suited to me than A Levels.”

Angelika Etherington-Smith, who has also chosen the IB route commented, “I’m looking forward to studying new subjects as I’ve opted for Economics and Philosophy in Sixth Form. I am really looking forward to getting back into the classroom.”

Harry Penman, whose future A Level options include Maths and Physics, converted from Economics to Geography on the strength of the bridging programme offered to Year 11 students during the second half of the summer term. The bridging programme offered students two lessons a week for each A level and IB subject enabling students access to sessions for the subjects they will study in the Sixth Form. They could also dip into additional lessons if they wished to ensure they had made the best choice of subjects. The academic curriculum was supplemented by two lessons each week of life and study skills which provide a smooth transition to Sixth Form study. The life and study skills element offered guidance on wider reading, note taking, motivation, organisation, concentration and study skills as well as careers advice with details of apprenticeships and university courses and an introduction to UniFrog for research purposes.

“These students haven’t had the opportunity to prepare for exams, hone their study skills and revise their course content as they normally would in sitting for GCSEs,” commented Head of Sixth Form, Helen Taylor. “The Bridging Programme aimed to replace that experience for them, to ignite their interest and curiosity and ensure they are ahead of the game in reviewing the material they will need next year. It also means that students, like Harry, who were uncertain about their choice of subjects can actually start off studying more and choose before the Autumn Term.

Harry was also a member of Leighton Park’s inaugural Engineering GCSE course, complementing the School’s established strength in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) subjects. “My experience of studying the engineering GCSE at Leighton Park is one that I have thoroughly enjoyed since day one,” commented Harry. “The course combined my passion for Physics with my love of problem solving and I wish I could do it all again.”

Mark Smith, Head of DT and Engineering was over the moon with his first set of Engineering results: “It’s encouraging to see such good grades in our first cohort in Engineering. In spite of all the disruption at the end of the year they put in extra work to get their coursework finished by the end of March and it has really paid off for them. I am delighted.”

Another top scoring student, Miriam Sesay, who is going to be studying Music, Maths and Physics at A Level collected her results with her mum, Aminata Kalokoh. “She worked very hard. I think she would probably have got even higher if she’d been allowed to sit the exams, but these are a decent set of results.” 

Minahil Adnan came in with her brother, Ahmer, who secured his place to read Medicine at Imperial College with his A Level results last week. “I didn’t feel too stressed about today as I had done everything that I could do,” commented Minahil. “The teachers are friendly and really work to get to know students. The teachers have played a huge part in my success in everything thus far.”

Leighton Park School, located in 65 acres of beautiful parkland, opposite the University of Reading, offers GCSE students the opportunity to choose from a broad range of 26 subjects. In addition, Leighton Park also offers a rigorous one-year Pre-Sixth Form course primarily for international students seeking an intensive programme of study prior to Sixth Form.

Students currently in Year 9 and their families are welcome to find out more about the GCSE or Pre-Sixth Form courses at Leighton Park at the School’s annual open morning, which this year will be held online on Saturday 26^th September 2020, from 9.00am. Book online at www.leightonpark.com/visit-leighton-park/.