Headteacher says grades are 'fully deserved' as Sunderland school celebrates second year of improved results

Sandhill View Academy headteacher Joanne Maw stressed students’ results were “fully deserved” as the school celebrated a second consecutive rise in GCSE attainment.

The school continued its upward trend with 62 per cent of pupils securing a grade 4 (standard grade C) and above in Maths and English while 43 per cent achieved a grade 5 or above (high grade C).

Mrs Maw told the Sunderland Echo: “I’m really proud of the achievements of all our students and the results are a further improvement on what was achieved last year.

“We were expecting this cohort to do exceptionally well. It has been an exceptionally challenging and stressful year and the way our students have responded has been amazing.

“They fully deserve the grades they got.

“Today represented a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the hard work of staff and students as well as the tremendous support from parents that has led to these wonderful achievements.”

In the absence of final examinations, students had to complete coursework and ongoing in-class assessments and mock examinations to provide evidence to support their grades.

Mrs Maw added: “In addition to teaching, my staff have had to become examiners, markers and moderators.

“All our results have been through a rigorous process of moderation and the results are justly deserved.”

The schools top two performing students were Finlay Anderson and Leona Barker who both achieved an astonishing nine grade 9s (higher than A* grade)

After receiving his results, Finlay, 16, told the Echo: “I’m really happy with what I’ve got - you can’t really get much better than that.

“All my hardwork has paid off and I can’t wait to start my A Levels.”

Fellow top performing pupil Leona, 16, added: “After the year we’ve had I’m really happy with what I have got. It was a relief to see my results.”