More GCSE success for St Helen’s School in Northwood

Girls at St Helen’s School Northwood are today celebrating outstanding success in their GCSE and IGCSE examinations. 49 per cent of all grades awarded were A*, with 81 per cent at either A* or A. 11 of the 104 students who opened their results envelopes today were thrilled to achieve a “full house” of A* grades, with a further 31 students achieving only A* and A grades. St Helen’s girls are also bucking the national trend which suggests that girls generally underperform in Mathematics and Science: 91 per cent of the cohort achieved A* or A grades in IGCSE Mathematics, and 90 per cent of all Science grades awarded were at the same exceptional level. Headmistress Dr Mary Short commented, “These are fantastic results all round which reward the girls’ hard work throughout their GCSE courses. We are proud of our students; their results underline that girls at a single-sex school can excel at whatever they put their minds to. But behind all the statistics there are amazing individual stories of talent and success.” Vicki Oyesola, who has just returned from Botswana where she has been representing England at netball as part of the National Academy squad, achieved six A*s and five As in her GCSE examinations. Keen historian Maya Freiman, who has been involved behind the scenes at the Imperial War Museum as one of 23 Youth Advisers, and has additionally been an active member of the voluntary team at the Jewish Museum London, was delighted to receive 10 straight A* grades. Dr Short added, “The breadth of talent of Vicki, Maya and so many other St Helen’s girls, is astonishing. They are girls who will become leaders of their fields and leaders of their communities.” These results follow last week’s excellent A level results, in which 56 per cent of all grades awarded were A* and A, and over a third of the school’s leavers gained three or more A* and A grades.