Results Day 2010

Best ever!

Imagine this reaction repeated 70 times over, in an enclosed entrance hall, because it was bucketing it down outside. Squeals of delight, lots and lots of tears of joy and, in some cases, disbelief that it had all come right in the end. Teenage boys saying it was worth all of the nagging. Double joy for many, when we spoke to them and pointed out that a "D" on once course stood for Distinction, not a Grade D - so therefore they had more top grades. One of the best bits of this job is seeing this reaction from students on results day.

For a small minority, the stark reality that what we had told them all along was true and a passing flicker of "I wish I'd listened" on one or two faces. A lesson learned that hopefully they will take away.

For the school, significant progress from last year, due to the exceptional effort and hard work of the adults in school, who have gone above and beyond, worked themselves into the ground and taken the rough ride that our job sometimes is, all done with good humour and enthusiasm, because seeing reactions like this is worth the uphill slog during the year.

Some massive successes for individuals. One student who arrived with us in Yr8, who came from the African sub-continent, who had never seen lightswitches or anything electrical when he arrived in the UK, spoke no English - has gone out of school with a raft of 'good' GCSEs, which he has worked so hard for. Other students who arrived in the final year with no English have left with some qualifications which hopefully will allow them to continue their education.

And some poignant moments.

A young lady who was so terrified of opening her results she sat for 15 minutes in the entrance hall, sobbing and staring at the envelope. In the end I had to go and reassure her that there was nothing to worry about and to open the results. Bless her, she was over the moon.

One student though who has been a model student, the most polite, mature and engaging young man a teacher could hope to work with, who has worked so hard, given above and beyond expectations, given his time to school and represented us as a fine ambassador - his results were excellent, and he was thrilled - but it was a bittersweet moment, as he and his family have been denied the opportunity to stay in the UK as their asylum status is being revoked. I'm hoping that might change, but I fear that will not be. Breaks my heart.

So largely, a fantastic day, but with reminders along the way that we should grab every opportunity that is available to us because we don't know what life is going to throw our way, and that we should treasure what we have, because the vast majority of us are luckier than we know.