Bexley: Star pupils congratulated

The percentage of pupils passing, and scoring the top A* to C grades, has improved and many pupils have been celebrating a handful of A* marks.

As expected, the borough's four grammar schools achieved the best marks, with both Bexley and Townley grammars achieving a 100 per cent pass rate.

The non-selective schools also recorded top results with 100 per cent of pupils at Hurstmere Boys' in Hurst Road, Sidcup, achieving at least five GCSE passes and 99 per cent at Trinity C of E School in Erith Road, Belvedere.

Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, in Hurst Road, Sidcup, can boast two of the top French students in the country after John Hildred and Emma Richardson scored in the top five marks in the country for French out of 138,508 entries.

John also achieved 10 A* as well as 2A* and a B on short course GCSEs. His results were closely followed by Rose Morley with 10 A* and an A* and a B in short courses.

The school achieved a 99.5 per cent pass rate with 98.9 students achieving five A* to C grades. Headteacher Dr Joe Vitagliano praised "excellent results achieved by a hardworking and conscientious group of students".

At Bexley Grammar School, in Danson Lane, Welling, 98.2 per cent of students also attained passes at A* to C. Top among them were Eleanor Walsh with 11 A* and one A; Michael Johnson, 10 A* and two As; Luke House, 10 A* and one A and Sarah Magill, nine A* and one A.

Headteacher Rob MacKinnon described the results as "very pleasing".

At Townley Grammar School, Townley Road, Bexleyheath, top pupil Veronika Kantorovich was not only celebrating her 12 A* but also achieving one of the top five marks in the country in Italian.

Fellow pupil Alex Jolly was also in the top five for English literature.

Other top achievers were: Charlotte Clarke, 11 A*, one A; Keya Vithani, 10 A* and one A; Amy Waters, eight A* and two As; Harkirat Gorcha eight A* and one A.

With 53 per cent of results at A* or A grades and 54 per cent of pupils achieving at least five A* and A grades, headteacher Linda Hutchinson was "delighted".

At Beths Grammar School, in Hartford Road, Bexley Village, the overall pass rate was 89 per cent with 96 per cent of boys achieving five A* to C grades. Star pupils included Matthew Pressland with 12 A* and Matthew Bardrick with 11 A*.

At Trinity C of E School in Erith Road, Belvedere, the school celebrated a 99 per cent pass rate in five GSCE passes with 44 per cent in the top four grades.

Star students were Laurie Newnes with four A*, five As and a GNVQ merit; Alice Darko, five A* and four As; Lephia Darko, three A*, five As; Kassandra Tomlin, one A* and five As and Dale Turnbull with four As.

Headteacher Ian Collins said he was delighted with the individual achievements and also with the overall pass rate.

Hurstmere School, in Hurst Road, Sidcup, was celebrating a 100 per cent pass rate in five GCSEs with 43.4 per cent pupils gaining at least five passes in the top four grades.

The school said it was especially pleased that together the top rate passes in GCSE and GVNQ was running at 80 per cent.

Among its top students were Mark Wollen, three A*, two As and four Bs; Scott Lazenby, two A*, three As, two Bs and GNVQ merit; Alex Murphy, two A*, two As, two Bs and GVNQ merit and Thomas Boyd, two A*, one A, four Bs and GNVQ merit.

At Erith School, in Avenue Road, Erith, pupils were said to be stunned with their success. The school achieved an overall pass rate of 97 per cent with 34 per cent of pupils gaining at least five passes at the top four grades.

Among the high achievers were Sian Chalkley, six A*, four As and a B; Daisy Childe, one A*, seven As and two Bs; Lauren Wallace, seven As, three Bs and a C; Lucy Boultwood, one A*, five As, two Bs and two Cs; Emma Boxall, two A*, three As, a B and three Cs and David Hoang with two A*, two As and four Bs.

Headteacher Toby Hufford said: "Everyone's hard work really paid off this year. We have matched last year's pleasing results."

Cleeve Park School, in Bexley Lane, Sidcup, also achieved its best ever results.

The pass rate overall was 97.25 per cent with 46.7 per cent gaining at least five passes in the top four grades.

Twenty-six pupils gained 13 passes in the top four grades. Among them Olunfunimilayo Akinyemi had eight at A* or A grade, Sarah Hate had six A* or As and Jonathan Emmony and Paul Slater each achieved five of their 13 passes in the top two grades.

In addition 33 students who took maths or design technology a year early achieved grades B or C.

Headteacher Lynton Karmocks-Gold congratulated everyone for their hard work and dedication.

At St Columba's RC Boys School, Halcot Avenue, Bexleyheath, the success continued with a pass rate of 86 per cent, and a 54 per cent pass rate in the number of pupils with five passes at A* to C grades.

At Blackfen School, Blackfen Road, Blackfen, its pass rate for five passes was 100 per cent and 54 per cent for the top four grades.

Pupils were congratulated on achieving the school's highest ever pass rate.

Among its star pupils were Ceri Alabi, two A*, five As and two Bs; Charlotte Baker, two A*, four As and four Bs; Rita Chan, one A*, four As and five Bs; Rhonda Crane, four As and seven Bs; Kit-Young Law, one A*, seven As and two Bs; Samantha Morley, one A*, five As and four Bs; Arnika Paranjape, three A*, five As and two Bs and Naomi Seal with one A*, four As and five Bs.

Only the Bexley Business Academy refused to give its GCSE results for this year.

It would only say that over the three years of its existence, the improvement in the pass rate for five A* to C grades was just under 30 per cent, which chairman of governors Tim Garnham described as one of the best value added improvements in the history of British education.

Just on the Sidcup fringes, Kemnal Technology College achieved a 61 per cent pass rate in boys with five A* to C grade passes and a 95 per cent success with five passes at any grade. Top achievers were Theo Coleman-Brown with one A*, five As and three Bs; Chris Waghorne, one A*, four As and two Bs and Jack Muscatt with one A*, three As and three Bs.