Fareham schools celebrate best year of GCSE results on momentous day

Many of the borough’s schools beat the national average in terms of achieving the ‘Gold Standard’ - which is rated in five A*s to C including English and maths and this year’s percentage was 66.9 per cent.

Henry Cort Community College in Hillson Drive was celebrating yesterday after they secured their best ever GCSE results.

The school recorded a great result with 67 per cent of students scoring A*- C, an eleven per cent increase on last year’s results.

Matt Saunders, 15, from Whiteley, was taking his GCSE’s a year early as the child prodigy has been part of the year above him every year since he was five.

He was ‘delighted’ with his results which saw him get two A*s, seven As, one B and a distinction.

He told The News: ‘It feels good. I was delighted to do so well.

Despite his successes, he admits he was ‘a little gutted’ not to finish top of the class in Maths, however, he did come second after scoring 92 per cent and an A*.

His mum, Karen Saunders, said she was ‘so proud’ of her son, who is set to go on to Bay House School in Gosport to study maths, physics, further maths and product design.

She said: ‘Matt put a lot of work in for the exams so I am really happy for him as he’s done very well and has put a lot of work in.’

Karen said that Matt had struggled with the school environment due to his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

She added: ‘I’m so proud of him and the school have done well to get the best out of him.

Harry Batt was also a high achiever at the college with the 16-year-old scoring nine A*s and one A in a fantastic set of results.

He was confident ahead of picking up the envelope but had to be coerced by his teachers into unveiling his fate.

Harry, from Whiteley, said: I’m gutted that I didn’t get the full set but I’m still over the moon to have done so well.

‘I would never have thought that I would have scored so many A*s.

‘The whole thing really took a while to sink in for me. I don’t think it will for a long time!

‘My nerves this morning probably didn’t help.’

He’s off to Barton Peveril Sixth Form College in Eastleigh to study English language and literature, history, law and sociology.

Brookfield Community School (72) in Sarisbury Green, Meoncross School (97) in Stubbington and Cams Hill School (71) in Fareham all beat the national average for gold standard.

Jamie Young, from Fareham, scored an ‘amazing’ set of results at Cams Hill.

She got two As, three Bs and two Cs after being predicted all Cs by her teachers.

The 16-year-old said: ‘It’s been a really intense morning but it feels amazing to finally be on the other side where I now how I did.

‘My mum was crying on the phone to me so that made it a bit more emotional.’

Jamie is off to Highbury College in Portsmouth to study a Btec in travel and tourism.

Libby Barrable, 16, from Fareham was another Cams Hill student struggling to contain her emotions after getting 7 A*s, three As and one B.

She said: ‘I’m so chuffed about it.

‘I was shaking so much this morning as I just could not believe it.

‘I would never have thought last night that I’d get to this point and have done this well.’

Libby is now off to Peter Symonds College in Winchester to study A-levels in maths, geography, psychology and chemistry.

Leah Ilsley, from Gosport, headed into Fareham Academy this morning feeling ‘very scared’ about collecting her results.

However, she was soon ‘over the moon’ after she found out that she had got three A*s, three As and three Bs.

She said: ‘It was really scary coming in, I just wanted to go home.

‘I was shaking when I opened it and then I burst out crying.

‘My first reaction was that I just could not believe it when I saw the grades.’

Leah is set to study a Btec in sports science at South Downs College in Waterlooville.

She added: ‘I would like to become a physiotherapist so hopefully this will be the first step down that path.

To celebrate her and her friends’ achievements, she was planning to head to a barbecue later in the day.

TWO friends at Fareham Academy were left in ‘shock’ after they both bagged two stunning results.

Ryan Crooks, 16 and Ross Tinney, 16, both from Fareham, were blown away after they opened their envelopes to be the school’s ‘best boys’.

Ryan had his mouth open as he discovered he had got seven A*s, two As and two Bs while Ross was left with a huge grin on his face as he got six A*s, two As and two Bs.

Ryan said: ‘I’m in complete shock. I never thought I would get this many A*s!

‘It feels just fantastic. Like all my nerves have just been blown away.

‘I wasn’t feeling that confident this morning but now maybe I should have been feeling less nervous!’

He’s now off to Barton Peveril College in Eastleigh to study A-levels in maths, physics and chemistry.

Ross said: ‘I was pretty nervous this morning but now it all just feels so real for me. I can’t believe I’ve done so well.’

He will be attending South Downs College in Waterlooville in September to study physics, maths and geology.

Adele Deasy, headteacher at Fareham Academy lavished praise on her star performers.

She said: ‘They are the two highest performing boys this year and I am so very proud of them.

‘They have both done very well and I wish them all the very best for the future.’

FOR Kayleigh Barton, her results proved too much for her as she broke down in tears on reading the grades.

The 16-year-old from Whiteley was too stunned with seeing that she had got six A*s and three As that she couldn’t contain her emotions.

Kayleigh, who came in specially early to collect her results from Henry Cort Community College in Hillson Drive, said that she had been feeling particularly extra nervous yesterday morning.

She said: ‘I came into the school feeling very nervous about it. I just found myself completely shaking.

‘I think the waiting proved to be the hardest part for me.

‘It just made my nerves a lot worse.’

Upon opening the envelope, Kayleigh burst into tears in front of her parents.

She added: ‘I just could not hold it all in.

‘I just never expected to have done as well as I did.

‘Of course, now I feel so happy about it as all the waiting is now all over and I can just celebrate and enjoy the moment.’

Kayleigh is now set to start her A-levels at Barton Peveril College in Eastleigh next month.

She plans to study biology, chemistry and maths.

Kayleigh added: ‘My hope is that these subjects will help me get into a potential career in healthcare.

However, before she gets back to the books, Kayleigh is heading to Reading Festival this weekend with a group of friends.

She said: ‘It’s been a long summer of waiting so I can’t wait to go and put this all to the back of my mind and just have a good time.’