GCSE Results Day 2019: Iceni Academy

The head of Methwold's Iceni Academy has paid tribute to the school's community for pulling together in the face of tragedy to deliver GCSE success.

The school was rocked late last year by the death of English, media and drama teacher Andy Speake, and fundraising has been taking place in his memory since.

But, despite that, 56 per cent of its students achieved at least a grade 4 in both English and Maths, with 65 per cent reaching the mark in at least one of them.

And several of their students are also in the running to be the first recipients of the Banham Scholarship, which will provide them with a fully funded place at Thetford Grammar School for A-levels.

Principal Stephen Plume said: "This is another set of impressive exam results for Iceni Academy and there are many individual success stories.

"We are particularly proud of the hard work put in by this year group to exceed all expectations, despite a variety of challenges.

"Thank you to all of the staff both at Iceni and at the Trust and to parents, carers and the wider community for your help and support.

"Your help and support, particularly when we lost our colleague Andy Speake at Christmas, made all the difference."

Mr Plume said there had been particularly strong results in English, Maths, Science, Humanities and Languages, while French and German saw pass rates of nearly 90 per cent.

One of the top performing students was Colin Mantle, who is heading off to study for his A-levels at Hills Road in Cambridge, having scored 9 and 8 grades across a wide range of subjects.