Future for teenagers looks good; Pupils celebrate record results on Teesside.

Byline: JOANNA DESIRA

THE future looks bright for scores of students across Teesside who celebrated achieving a haul of top grades.

As many schools scooped record results lots of pupils were looking forward to the next stages of their life with high GCSE passes under their belt.

And there was good news for students who did not get the grades needed to study for A-levels as they were assured routes into higher education were still open to them.

Keith Leslie, director of apprenticeships at TTE Technical Training Group, said: "Apprenticeships are an ideal alternative for students who don't take the academic route. The practical skills and quality qualifications that can be achieved through an apprenticeship are second to none.

"An apprenticeship is also a recognised route in university and a number of TTE apprentices have gone on to higher education after completing their training with us."

Among the outstanding pupils were Acklam Grange duo Nick Jackson and Helen Carr.

Nick, 16, from Acklam, gained 13 GCSEs all graded A* and A with one B, and Helen, also 16, from Acklam, achieved 12 A* and A grades.

Nick is now looking forward to studying A-levels in further maths, physics, chemistry and biology at Prior Pursglove College, in Guisborough.

He said: "I was very pleased and it was easier because of the support from the school. My studying was quite difficult but I'm pleased I did it and I'm proud of my results."

Helen is going to Middlesbrough College to do A-levels in history, English literature, psychology, and ICT, and hopes to be a teacher.

She said: "I'm really proud of myself. I thought I'd do well, but not as well as I've done. My mum Joanne was really proud of me and gave me a big hug."

At Acklam Grange School 73% of pupils achieved five or more GCSEs A*-C, up from 70% last year and 45% of pupils achieved at least five A*-C including English and maths, an improvement of 2%.

Headteacher John Bate said: "We are absolutely delighted that the pattern of improvement has continued this year with these record results. I would like to acknowledge the commitment of our pupils and staff and the support of our parents. This is a tremendous start to the final year in our present school before we move into the new school of the future in September 2010."

Star pupils at Egglescliffe School, in Eaglescliffe, were Abigail Royal and Connie Vaughan with 12 A* and As, Lily Moore and Max Potter with 11.5 A* and As, Catriona Bruce, Lara Dunning, Oliver Giles, Emma Moody, Christopher Wall got 10.5 A* and As, and Thomas Boynton, Alvina Mughal, Emily Sharpe, Daniel Wells gained 10 A* and As.

Abigail, 16, from Eaglesliffe, said: "I was a bit disappointed with my A in English literature, but once I got over that I was happy."

Max, 16, from Norton, said: "I was over the moon, especially with maths - that was an A*. I wasn't sure I'd get that but I worked really hard."

Lily, 16, from Eaglescliffe, added her GCSEs to an A* she had already achieved in expressive art last year. She said she was amazed with her results and hopes to study law at university.

Thomas Boynton, 16, from Ingleby Barwick, said: "I've achieved this over the five years I've been at school. The good facilities and the helpful teachers have made it so much easier."

They all plan to stay at the school for A-levels.

Angela Darnell, Egglescliffe School head, pictured, said: "These results are so good because we have developed such a strong programme of intervention and support for all our GCSE students. Individual teachers have worked tirelessly with individual pupils and this explains such high quality outcomes."

At St David's RC School, Middlesbrough, Jamie O''Rourke achieved seven A*s and three As, Peter Hynes got six A*s and four As, Alex Hughes * Look out for full GCSE results starting in your Gazette next week gained four A*s, four As, and a B, and Sophie Roberts achieved five A*s, two As and two Bs.

Sophie, 16, from Brookfield, said: "I couldn't believe it, I'm still in shock. I put a lot of work in but I didn't expect to get so many A*s."

Stokesley School achieved its best ever results with more than 80% of students achieving five or more A*-C, 76.4% including English and maths.

Star pupils included Helen Wakefield with 11 A*s and three As, David Land with 11 A*s and one A and Alice Wakefield with nine A*s, two As and a B. High achievers at Yarm School were Hamza Qureshi, with 12 A*s, Richard Hall and Chuk Anyaegbuna, with 11 A*s, and David Elliott and Jane Perry, with 10 A*s each.

Top achievers at Teesside High in Eaglescliffe were Eleanor Berryman-Athey, 16, of Stockton, Rachael McKeown, 16, of Hurworth, and Chetna Sharma, 16, of Stockton, who all gained 11 or more A*s and other qualifications in additional Maths and ICT worth three top-grade GCSEs.

Freebrough College, in Brotton, exceeded its National Challenge target of 30% A*-C including English and maths, with 32% of pupils meeting the target, up 8%, and 55% getting five A*-Cs, an increase of 14%.

Ruth Haddon, headteacher at Huntcliffe School in Saltburn, said: "We have had an excellent first year in our new building and we are delighted to have achieved 61% of students with five A*-C including English and maths, our best ever results.

Ormesby School in Middlesbrough said its five A*-C results, including English and maths, had risen to 17% after a further look, and it would be appealing over a large number of Ds in maths.

Middlesbrough Council said there had been an improvement of 1.6% for five A*-C including English and maths to 36.8%, and the results at 5A*-C overall jumped by 4% to 64.4%.

In Redcar and Cleveland updated figures showed schools achieved a 49.1% pass rate for students achieving five A*-C grades, including English and Maths, a 3.3% improvement, and there was a 69.9% pass rate among students achieving five A*-C, a rise of 8.9% on last year.

CAPTION(S):

JUMPING FOR JOY: Nick Jackson and Helen Carr of Acklam Grange were especially pleased with their GCSE results after achieving 24 A*s and As between them Picture by DOUG MOODY BRILLIANT: Teesside High pupils Chetna Sharma, above left, and Rachael McKeown TOP EFFORT: From left, Alice Wakefield, David Land, and Helen Wakefield PROUD: St David's pupils, from left, Jamie O''Rourke, Peter Hynes, Alex Hughes and Sophie Roberts got top marks BRIGHT: From left, Thomas Boynton, Abigail Royal and Max Potter, all of Egglescliffe School, made their teachers proud coming away from the exam room with dozens of As and A*s between them PLEASED: Emma Lynsey, left, and Catherine Chapman of Stokesley School