School 'pulls out all the stops' to ensure GCSE success

Year 11 pupils at George Mitchell School in Leyton have produced some of the school's best ever results.

The Farmer Road school in Leyton has seen its percentage for five GCSE's at A* to C, including English and maths, increase by 17 per cent, and is in the top one per cent in England for improvement in maths.

In total, fifty six per cent of students passed five GCSEs, compared to 48 per cent in 2014.

Headteacher Saeed Hussain, said: "We are extremely pleased.

"We continue to be very strong in core subjects such as English and maths, but what particularly pleased me is that we have excelled in many other subjects.

"In some subjects our grades are among the best in the borough and in the capital."

He continued: "Whilst we pulled out all the stops this year, due credit must go to our students who rose to the challenge and worked extraordinarily hard.

"Our success is their success."

For some students, achieving top grades was harder for them than others, as pupil's at George Mitchell battled bereavement and broken bones.

Aspiring paramedic Natalie Harcourt, 16, lost her grandmother weeks before sitting her exams.

She sobbed tears of joy as she opened her envelope to find she had achieved an A*, three As, four Bs and a C.

She said: "Nan would be annoyed with my Bs and Cs, but I know she'd be proud of me.

"I lived with my nan for the first four years of my life so my mum could work.

"We were really close and I fell to pieces when she died.

"I knew I had to keep going though.

"I'm so happy I've got the grades I need to go to college."

Three weeks before exams started, pupil Manawi Kahie broke his writing arm playing football.

The 16-year-old begged doctors to remove the plaster so he could sit his exams.

Today, he walked away with 11 GCSEs, including an A* and five As.

He said: "I was so gutted when it happened, but knew I couldn't just give up.

"I'm so happy with my results -now I can go to college."