The head teacher of Derby Cathedral School has praised the efforts of its GCSE students for overcoming the challenges that COVID placed before them at the start of their secondary school career.
Jenny Brown said there was “a lot of happiness in the room” on results morning, with the school reporting an improvement in grades of 5+ in English and Maths and for Grade 7+ English and Maths.
This year’s cohort missed a year and a half of schooling from Year Seven until the start of Year Nine, with Derby Cathedral School also moving to its current building, in Great Northern Road, ready for their return.
Among those whose education was affected was Lian Mason, 16, but the teenager, who picked up seven Grade 9s and three Grade 8s, said while having to learn online at home during lockdown was disruptive, it did have an unexpected bonus.
She said: “During COVID we had to go online alongside the teachers’ video lessons, but I found there were loads of online resources, with access to papers and past questions, all of which were really useful and I think made a difference for our generation.
“But it’s still been very stressful. I didn’t settle last night, I was thinking about the results a lot. I was really worried because it all comes down to that one exam but I did the hard work and I’m very happy with what I’ve got.”
Her mum, May, said: “I had total faith in her. I told her whatever the result she should take what she would get and take the next step.
“I didn’t worry about the effect of COVID. The online lessons that the teachers did were incredible so I wasn’t worried.”
Lian’s fellow GCSE student, Joshua Rayner, 16, came away with a Grade 9 in Maths and six Grade 8s, followed by two Grade 7s and a Grade 6, and also remembers the effect COVID had on his learning.
He will return to the school in September to study maths, further maths, physics and computer science, with an eye to going to university to study computer science or physics at university.
He said: “I feel very happy. I did better than I expected, because the exams were tough, but I tried my hardest and I got there. I couldn’t sleep last night and I was very nervous this morning.
“I think I deserved my results. I think COVID was a big thing, the first year of lockdown was terrible, but the video lessons helped us and I worked through it.”
And Owen Jones, 16, who achieved four Grade 9s, five Grade 8s and one Grade 7, said while lockdown learning was helped by technology, the challenge came from not being in the same room as teachers and friends.
He said: “I’m happy with my results because I’ve done better than I thought and it means that I will be able to come back and do psychology, biology and chemistry at A Level because I want to be a vet in the future.
“It was a bit of a struggle not going into school because when you’re there and you need help from a teacher they can come over to you. It did become easy to study at home but the hardest part was not seeing people, so we needed to stay connected.
“It hasn’t really affected my GCSEs, though. I focussed on studying hardest for the subjects that I really needed and I didn’t worry about them afterwards because there was nothing I could do to change it.”
Many of the students will join Owen at the school’s Sixth Form, which was launched last year, but Jenny said wherever they go, today has been a good day for the school.
She said: “We’ve been delighted today with the happiness in the room with students receiving the grades they deserve and there are plenty who have what they need to go onto the next stage in their study or apprenticeships and we’re delighted for them.
“This cohort were impacted by COVID for the first few years of their secondary school experience and it was very disrupted, so we’re even more proud of the efforts they have put in to overcome those significant barriers.”
