16-YEAR-OLD Charlie Amos had to face adversity when studying for his GCSEs, but his hard work paid off when he received his results.
The Outwood Academy Bydales pupil was diagnosed with a brain tumour in April 2016, after suffering from headaches and dizzy spells, which affected his memory – specifically key dates and events.
Thankfully Charlie is well on the road to recovery and his hard work in relearning everything he had previously learnt saw him achieve passes in all his subjects. His determination also saw him awarded the ‘Georgina’s Star For Strength’ award. Recognising Charlie’s strength and courage, pupils in his year group voted for Charlie to receive this award.
Charlie said: “After being diagnosed it was a horrible feeling, I felt really down and full of tears all the time. It was just so unexpected. However, I had surgery on it and I’m all recovered now. The tumour is still there, they can’t get rid of it, but now I’m just back to where I used to be before.”
“I did have to relearn quite a bit, and I kept forgetting key dates and birthdays and things like that but I’m really proud of my GCSE results, I got a grade 5 in Maths, grade 5 in English Language, grade 4 in English Literature a C in statistics a C in Additional Science and a C in Science.
“All the pupils have been great, they’ve been there for me throughout since I got diagnosed. They’ve been really supportive of me and it’s been very touching to see.”
Also celebrating great results at the school were Olivia Russell, Caitlin Donoghue and Amy Hornsby. The trio scored the highest results in the school, passing all their subjects with A or A* grades along with the top grade 9 in the new GCSEs for Maths, English Language and English Literature subjects.
Amy, who will be studying at Prior Pursglove College in September, said: “I’m really happy! I got all A*s and grade 9 in Maths, which was really unexpected as I thought I’d done badly in that.”
Across the borough, the majority of students received passing grades in revamped English and Maths exams, with 61.5% receiving a grade four (a passing grade) or higher in both subjects with 66.5% getting a passing grade in maths – 7% higher than the national average.
The change in the grading system, which has seen number grades from 9 to 1 replacing letters, is in line with new, harder, exams in Mathematics, English Language and English Literature introduced by the government for the 2016/17 school year. The reformed subjects include an increase in content and external assessment.
The new exams and grade scales mean a direct comparison can’t be compared from the GCSE results in previous years.
Cllr Christopher Massey, Deputy Leader of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, said: “I would like to pass on my congratulations to all the students who received their GCSE results today. I would also like to add to the praise given to Charlie, his determination to succeed in his exams in the face of such adversity is an inspiration to everyone.
“I would also like to thank the schools, academies and the council’s education service for all their hard work. We expect these results will compare favourably with national levels of achievement however, we do recognise that a challenge still exists to further increase the attainment of young people in Redcar and Cleveland.”