RIPLEY ACADEMY: Principal's praise for GCSE exam students

This group of students seem happy with their results.
Brendon Beardsley, Thomas Wheatley-Smith, Laurence Soult, Jordan Dormer. — This group of students seem happy with their results. Brendon Beardsley, Thomas Wheatley-Smith, Laurence Soult, Jordan Dormer.

Alfie Skinner was one of the top achievers with seven As and two Bs. He said: “I’m really happy. I wasn’t sure about what I was going to get. I didn’t think I’d done so well in some of my exams but there was a couple I thought I had done well in.

“It was just in this last week that I started to feel nervous as people kept reminding me that results day was coming up. I was very nervous and didn’t get much sleep. I went in with my friends Josh and Ben to get my results. I was surprised when I opened my results and I texted my dad and rang my mum, she said she was really happy that I’d done so well.”

Alfie is staying on at The Amber Valley Sixth Form, which is based at The Ripley Academy and is run in partnership with John Flamsteed School, in Denby.

Josh Lomas, 16, of Ripley, achieved four As and five Bs and said he was thrilled with his results.

He said: “I put a lot of hard work into the exams so I feel like it has all paid off now. There have been a lot of nerves so I just feel relieved now.

“I felt like my exams went well but as the summer went on I’d forgotten how I’d done so I didn’t know what to expect. I have managed to switch off a bit as I’ve been working with the National Citizen Service raising money for charity. We’ve been organising car washes and cake sales and so far we’ve raised about £250. That’s taken most of the summer up.

“Last night the nerves really kicked in but I did manage to sleep. I went into school with my friends and we picked up our results together. When I opened the envelope I was quite surprised, particularly with my Product Design grade which was much better than I expected.”

Ripley Academy pupils Alfie Skinner, Ben Proudler and Josh Lomas with their GCSE results.

Josh will be staying on at The Amber Valley Sixth Form and is hoping to attend university and pursue a career in accountancy.

Other success stories at The Ripley Academy included Ben Proudler who achieved one A*, four As, two Bs and two Cs; Archie Paskin with six As, two Bs and one C; and Alisha Brearley who scored one A*, two As, four Bs and two Cs.

Carey Ayres, Principal at The Ripley Academy, said she was proud of all of the GCSE students.

She said: “Our students have worked so hard to achieve these results and we are proud of each and every one of them.

“We wish them every success for the future and we are hoping to see many of them in two weeks when the new term starts at The Amber Valley Sixth Form.”