Stratton Upper School - '˜It's fantastic to see students leap forward'

Rob Watson, head of Stratton Upper School says his A level students are celebrating their strongest performance in the school's history.

“In a year where outcomes nationally have broadly stood still it is fantastic to see our students leap forward in this way” he said.

“These results are a real testament to the hard work and dedication of a fantastic group of students and a dedicated team of staff”

Nick Metcalf, who’ll be studying Physics at Warwick University became the first Stratton student ever to achieve 3 A* A levels with an additional A* for the new Extended Project qualification, building on the 4 4 A grade AS qualifications he achieved last year. “It hasn’t sunk in yet” said Nick who was also a Head Student, “ I’m so grateful to all the staff that supported me over the last 5 years” Across all his A level papers Nick was lost only 11 marks!

“Boys have done particularly well this year” said Head of Sixth Form Sarah Phillips, “Sam Newman, Michael Patsko, Alex Pittkin, and Jacob Tavener all achieved straight A grades with at least 1 A* each. Tom Roberts, another Head Student, achieved 3 A grades to achieve his dream of studying medicine”. “When I started A levels I didn’t know whether I was aiming for medicine or journalism, but through year 12 I realised how much I was enjoying science and knew I had to make medicine my goal” said Tom, who will study at Bristol.

“The boys didn’t have it all their own way though! Emma L. Saunders, Megan Prowse, Izzy Hyde and Amelia Kirk all swept the board with A and A* grades too!” They will study Optometry, Sociology, Bio-Chemistry and Psychology respectively.

Lauren Watson-Steel and Lee Northfield have been awarded full sports scholarships to study in America, Lauren for tennis and Lee for football. “This is an amazing opportunity that happens only rarely, so to have two students in one year group is fantastic, and a real endorsement of their talent, but also the quality of local clubs who can spot and nurture talent over many years” said Rob Clarke, Assistant Head of Sixth Form and PE specialist.

Increasingly there are opportunities to achieve degree level qualifications through advanced, work based apprenticeships. MBDA of Stevenage offered 5 business apprenticeships nationally, 3 of which were awarded to Stratton students, Jake Staynor, Ellena White and Ellenor Perretta, whilst Beth Cowburn begins her management apprenticeship with retail giant Tesco. “we are sure the success is down to the quality of teaching, but also the priority we give to preparing our students for the intensive selection processes of top employers” said Head of Business and Vocational Studies Mike Desborough

Outcomes for BTEC qualifications, A level equivalents with more emphasis on vocational work place learning, were also strong, with Ben Page, Dan Stone and Kelly Summers all achieving the highest possible outcomes of Double Distinction Starred.