Teachers at Elms Bank in Whitefield have expressed pride in all of their students as they achieve GCSE success.

Many students found the pandemic particularly challenging as it has impacted their routine, face-to-face contact with teachers, support staff and other professionals involved in their education.

Catherine Dent, assistant headteacher, said: “We are exceptionally proud of all of our students, who through the most challenging year, have continued to work hard and continued to aspire to achieve the best results they can.”

“This particular year sees young learners from our new pathway, Nurture, achieve examination results.

“These young people have found education problematic throughout their school career and yet they have shown true resilience and worked through this to achieve results that have blown us away.”

Elms Bank sees the first Grade 5 English mark by one learner and leaders have thanked the “true dedication” of their whole staff team as well as the families of their students who provided support.

Catherine added: “We wish all our students all the very best in their education following Year 11, many of them progressing to a range of colleges.

“We know they will be hugely successful and we are very proud of each one of them.”

Thirty-nine of Elms Bank’s pupils studied for a wide range of educational qualifications, as well as GCSEs, vocational qualifications, entry level and functional skills across 11 subjects.