The girls’ faces broke into smiles and cries of joy as the students realised their hard work and determination had been justly rewarded with excellent results.
In a year where national concerns have been expressed about the pass rate in Maths, a brilliant 64% of the girls of Truro High attained the top 7-9 grades, reflecting the power of a girls’ only education in breaking gender stereotypes in the STEM subjects. It is no surprise then that so many of the girls from Truro High continue with the STEM subjects and head off to study related degrees such as Medicine, Astrophysics, Engineering and Veterinary Science at university.
It was a similar story in the Arts with girls achieving highly in Music, Art and Textiles. For example, all students who studied GCSE Music attained grades 7-9 and 67% of those who studied Textiles achieved Grade 7-9.
Headmistress, Mrs Sarah Matthews, said: “We are beyond proud of the incredible young people who collected their results today. Through the pandemic they have approached their studies with a growth mindset, academic determination and incredible resilience. Despite the disruption caused by Covid, they approached the examinations with calm focus, making the most of the support of their teachers and I am delighted that their efforts have been so richly rewarded. They deserve to feel a tremendous sense of pride.
This morning has been about celebrating all that hard work and looking forward to the bright futures that await all of our girls. We are so excited for their coming A-Level years, where we are sure we will continue to see them grow and develop in strength in our nurturing and encouraging Sixth Form.”
Truro High’s Sixth Form will swell to full capacity this academic year, as the school is full in most other year groups. It has grown by a third in recent years and experienced success in national awards, recognising the excellent education that allows the girls to attain results such as the ones seen today.
In a year when Department for Education data shows only 1.9% of students study 11 or more GCSE subjects, with the national average number taken being 7.7 subjects, Truro High is proud that 69% of girls took 10 or more subjects at GCSE.
Personal stories of success include Celeste and Esme, who both achieved an amazing 10 Grade 9s today across their subjects. Esme said: “I’m absolutely delighted with these results, and so happy and relieved that all the hard work paid off.” The girls were part of this year’s county championship-winning Under 16 hockey and netball teams, and they are looking forward to continuing their studies alongside their sport in the Sixth Form.
Also celebrating was Lottie who was overjoyed with her results which she attained alongside engineering electric race cars in the school’s Greenpower Engineering programme, enjoying the development of the cars as well as the thrill of the racing on tracks such as Goodwood.
Congratulations too to Mia, who collected 11 GCSEs all at grades 7-9. Mia was absolutely “over the moon” with her results and her mother Jo praised the school’s full programme of lessons and support during the pandemic, saying: “The constant provision of online school throughout the lockdowns most certainly helped the girls feel looked after and fully prepared for their GCSEs, ready to achieve great results.”
Mia is keen to pursue a future where she will make a difference in the world. A keep supporter of sustainability and protecting the environment, Mia already has plans to encourage the rest of the school community to support Oxfam’s ‘Second Hand September’, with plans for a community book swap when the school returns.
Feelings of joy and relief from Hazel too, who joined Truro High in Year 10 and today attained a set of GCSE results to be truly proud of. Her mother Lisa said: “The best thing we ever did was send Hazel to Truro High School”.
Whilst there were many girls collecting strings of top grades, Headmistress Sarah Matthews also reminded us that this is not the only measure of success and this should not be forgotten: “Whilst the grades 7-9 are the result of incredible hard work and should be wholeheartedly celebrated, there are girls here today who have absolutely worked their socks off with their teachers to move their grades up from a grade 4 to a 6 and these personal triumphs are every bit as wonderful. We strongly believe in a growth mind-set and we celebrate equally the students who have incredible achievements outside of the classroom in Dance, Drama, Sport, Music and service to the community. Every Truro High School girl is valued as an individual and we know these results are but one part of their excellence.”
