Achievement celebrated at presentation evenings

Thirty-eight advanced level subject prizes were presented at St Bartholomew’s sixth form awards evening last Thursday, along with 26 special prizes for academic achievement at advanced level.
Among the awards was The Pembroke College Oxford prize, awarded to Phoebe Coleman. Seven special subject prizes included The Pinter Prize for English (Bethany Andrews) and The Lee memorial Prize for Modern Languages (Emily Fisher).
Other major awards included The Combined Cadet Force – Army Oliver Radburn, Navy –Ben Dowle and RAF – Alexander Weekes.
The House Championship Cup was awarded to Curnock.
In the headteacher’s report, Christina Haddrell said the school was celebrating a wealth of activities and achievements in all areas, including sports, dance, and music, alongside academic subjects, and despite a difficult year encompassing changes to the examination process.
“At a time when students up and down the country have been affected by changes to assessment and grade boundaries at GCSE and A-level, your overall results in the summer were, once again, excellent, reflecting hard work and the dedication of staff and support from parents,” said Mrs Haddrell.
At A-level, 55 per cent of grades were A* to B, while 80 per cent were A* to C. Twenty-six students achieved three or more A*/A grades and four students had progressed to Oxford and Cambridge.
At Kennet School, last Monday evening, the summer’s GCSE and A-level students picked up their certificates at the annual award ceremony.
The chairman of governors at the Stoney Lane school, Andy Smith, gave an introduction before headteacher Paul Dick reported on the highlights of the year.
He was followed by Newbury MP Richard Benyon, who gave a talk aimed at inspiring the young citizens of the future.
Mr Dick said: “He was effusive in his praise for the many successes of the school and, in particular, for the intellectual curiosity of the sixth formers, whom he visits from time to time.
“All concerned in the presentation evening, and the work throughout the year, were thanked on behalf of the pupil body by Guy Serkis, the head boy.
“All then had refreshments, courtesy of the parent teacher association, and discussed happy memories of the last seven years of education at Kennet School.”