STUDENTS have been raising their ‘hats’ to a classmate after he secured one of the highest scores in maths in the country.
Northallerton School and Sixth Form College student Joe Riordan was awarded what is known as a ‘9 hat’, after achieving one of the best marks nationwide.
He was joined in his celebrations by other teenagers who achieved impressive performances.
Principal Designate Chris Drew said: “The Year 11 students have achieved a very pleasing set of results with many outstanding individual achievements across a wide range of subjects. This is a strong base from which very many can now proceed to their sixth form studies with confidence.
“All credit goes to the students and their teachers for their hard work, dedication and tenacity. With the impressive A Level results we achieved last week, we look forward to welcoming a large number of our students back to two further years of study and commitment.”
Outgoing Executive Principal Keith Prytherch said: “I am absolutely delighted for all those who have performed so well in the new toughened GCSE examinations and the school is very much looking forward to building on their achievements next year and helping them succeed in the sixth form.
“This year has presented unique challenges for all and I would like to thank our families, our community partners and especially our hard working, dedicated staff for doing so much for all our exam candidates. I genuinely believe the school is now in a position to continually improve as students are adopting mature attitudes to their studies that will serve them well in the future.”
Joe Riordan is now looking forward to doing A levels in maths, further maths with physics and music and already plays in a group, although he says he has no plans to become a rock star.
“The music is a bit of a rest from my studies, so I think I’ll go for physics at university. I was surprised by the results but they were what I was aiming for.”
Twins Ryan and William Farnaby celebrated together after gaining a clutch of top grades, William in maths and physics and Ryan in English and William had some good advice for upcoming students. “The main thing is to listen and make sure you understand the subject rather than just remember what’s being taught,” he said.
Chloe Oliver, whose results included two 9s and seven 8s said: “I am really pleased with these, we did a lot of mock exams but it was hard work.”
Harry Thompson, who also did well, added: “I am pleased, I’m planning to do economics, PE and maths A levels but I would say to people to put the effort in because when it gets to this stage you really worry that you haven’t done enough. It is a great feeling to get what you need.”
Another outstanding student Beth Marshall is now planning to do maths, economics and history A Levels at Northallerton. “I did put a lot of work in but the most important thing is not to stress about it.”
Other students who achieved outstanding results include Travis McLean, Keith Treverick, Ashleigh Spencer, Jasper Rowell and Phoebe Grayson.