Students at Carmel College are celebrating impressive GCSE results, with many now preparing to take the next step towards exciting futures in sport, academia and beyond.
Among those celebrating is Newcastle United Under-21 goalkeeper George, who has already achieved success on the football pitch and is now enjoying success in the classroom.
George, 16, recently signed a five-year deal with the Magpies and is a regular between the posts for the club's Under-21 side. He has also represented England at various age-group levels. After opening his results, George was delighted to have secured the grades he was aiming for.
"I got what I needed, and Carmel College has supported me 100 per cent with combining my studies and being away a lot because of football," he said.
His mum, Rachel Copeland, added: "I'm so proud of him – he blows me away. He's told me he wants to be a goalkeeper since he was five, and has always had a ball close by. He's so determined and the school has been amazing in supporting him every step of the way."
Also celebrating was Zacari, who was all smiles after collecting her GCSE results. She was particularly proud of achieving Grade 8s in Religious Education and Spanish. Her mum, Juliet, who moved to the UK from Zambia in 2004, shared her pride in her daughter's achievements.
"I'm so proud of her!" she said.
Meanwhile, Mya is looking ahead to studying Maths, Biology, Chemistry and English Literature at A-Level after achieving an excellent set of GCSE results. Mya was especially pleased with her Grade 9 in Maths.
"I didn't think I'd manage it, but it's a validation of all my hard work to see it pay off," she said. Their achievements come as Carmel College celebrates another year of strong overall performance.
The college achieved results significantly above the national average for Grades 4 and 5 in English and Maths, with 38 per cent of students achieving Grades 9 to 7 in English and 85 per cent achieving Grade 4 and above in both English and Maths. Creative arts subjects also performed well above the national average.
There was particular pride in the achievement of disadvantaged pupils, who recorded an Attainment 8 score of 45 points, just one point below the overall national average for all students. Attainment 8 measures the average academic performance of pupils across eight GCSE-level subjects.
Principal Melanie Kane said: "The dedication of the staff to go above and beyond has produced really strong outcomes and set up our students well for a bright future.
"It is particularly significant that we were able to help our disadvantaged pupils get so close to the overall national average for all pupils. That's something we are very proud of.
"We are also delighted that so many of our pupils are staying with us for their A Levels and continuing their journey with the Carmel family."
