West Buckland School’s students are celebrating
23 Aug 2024
West Buckland School’s amazing Year 11 students are celebrating today
West Buckland School have achieved impressive GCSE results, with nearly half of the grades being 9-7, reflecting their hard work, resilience, and the school’s supportive environment, despite the continued impact of the pandemic on their education.
Year 11 students at West Buckland School are reaping the rewards of their remarkable hard work and resilience. As the rigours of the English exam system return to pre-pandemic levels, very nearly half the GCSE grades our young people in this cohort have achieved are grades 9-7. These are part of a trend of improvement in GCSE results in the post-pandemic period and we congratulate every student on their achievements. These results affirm that students at West Buckland thrive within a supportive environment that encompasses a comprehensive and well-rounded curriculum. It is noteworthy that the pandemic continues to have an effect on the education of our students. For many in this cohort, significant parts of their early secondary school years were during the pandemic. West Buckland’s successful provision of online taught lessons at this time provided the platform for these students to achieve such standout results.
Head, Phillip Stapleton said,
” Starting a new school is tough but for these pupils the world shut down due to Covid after just one term. Despite the difficult start, they have grown in positivity and resilience to become a wonderful group of young people.
I am delighted for them all and wish to thank the staff for their efforts over those years but also the parents for their continued support. Most of all to the pupils whose hard work has been rewarded today.
I acknowledge the demanding effort required to achieve great grades in numerous subjects, and I congratulate everyone on their individual accomplishments, with special mention for the seven students who secured a full set of top grades (7-9), and all those who have reached and exceeded their potential whatever those grades are.
Importantly, they reflect the character values which have become central to the school’s ethos, developing into honest, respectful, kind, resilient and curious adults. They are prepared to apply knowledge and skills across a range of disciplines while maintaining a broad and balanced approach to life. The school is very proud, and they now are set to live exciting futures.”
Mr Matt Brimson, Deputy Head Academic and Head of Sixth Form, added:
“It is particularly gratifying to witness West Buckland students performing exceptionally well across a variety of subjects, from geography to physics, music to Spanish. The sustained efforts over the past two years have yielded exceptional results that will prepare them for the next stage of their education.
“We eagerly anticipate the return of most of our students in September as they continue into our Sixth Form, along with the many new students joining us from local schools and beyond.”
A range of subjects have achieved exceptional grades. Over half our artists, utilising exceptional facilities and support from their teachers, achieved the top two grades (8-9), including Jinx M-M who was one of the highest scoring students in England. An exceptional three-quarters of students in geography, music, Spanish and physics achieved grades 9-7. This success in such a diversity of subjects demonstrates the importance the school places on a broad and accessible curriculum.
Jinx was one of seven pupils who secured high grades in all their subjects. Together with Zina B, Mia B, Megan B, Sofia E-C, Karen T and Toryn P they have secured GCSE grades 7-9 across the board. Talented athletes Archie S and Toryn P gained 16 grade 8/9 grades between them while competing at a high level.
Many of those achieving a full set of top grades have done so while pursuing a busy and impressive extra-curricular programme. These students have continued to represent the school in sports, the performing arts and other activities during Year 11 and have shown excellent organisational skills in balancing these commitments with strong academic performance. Congratulations must also go to members of our boarding community some of whom have achieved exceptional sets of results, including Angie L, Michael Y, Shelby T and Vincent G.
The pass rate in the core subjects of English Language and maths has also been excellent: 94.3% in English and 100% in maths. The results in these subjects is testament to the time and effort of the West Buckland teaching staff both within the classroom and as part of our specific intervention and support programme.
Head of Middle School, Michael Burstow, extends his congratulations to all students for their achievements and highlights how their successes have been nurtured by compassionate and integral academic and pastoral care, which enables our students to flourish and evolve into accomplished leaders and independent learners. “At West Buckland, we offer personalised guidance that extends past GCSEs, enabling many students to achieve exceptional results and promising futures. It has been brilliant to see many of our students showing great resilience, overcoming challenges they may have faced and achieving GCSE grades which reflect their potential. This will certainly stand them in good stead in the next stages of their education and beyond. They have been a wonderful year group and we wish them all the best for their next chapter.”
The school does not rest on its laurels and continues to review its curriculum to provide more opportunities for our students. While most students take 9 subjects, some undertake additional examinations, including Chinese, additional mathematics, astronomy, or a higher project qualification with many of our top achievers this year taking 10 or 11 different subjects. From this September, our students can access three new GCSE-equivalent qualifications. We are offering combined science as an alternative to studying separate science subjects, as well as an international GCSE in Global Perspectives which develops learners’ global outlook and a range of transferrable skills. We are also offering the Cambridge National in sport science in place of the physical education GCSE. All three qualifications offer something different for our students and we are looking forward to inviting our cohorts for these new subjects in two weeks’ time.
Our next whole school Open Day is on Saturday 21st September at 9:30am and our Sixth form Open Evening takes place on Wednesday 16th October at 17:30pm. For further details, please visit www.westbuckland.com