Highlight of the Week

Resilient students achieve excellent A Level results

The Cathedral School was delighted to welcome its Year 13 pupils to school today to see their continued hard work, in very difficult times, rewarded. Recognising their determination and resilience which has been evident since they began their Senior School journey, their A Level grades are testament to this very special cohort.

The last 18 months have been unprecedented, and The Cathedral School is incredibly proud of its staff, pupils and the wider school community who have continued to work together and support each other during this most challenging of times.

Our students have shown great maturity and embraced all of the opportunities that these unusual times have presented including establishing DIRECT, a platform for discussion and reflection on how both diversity and inclusion are viewed in our community and how we can improve matters relating to them. They also helped set up our virtual hymn choir, a pupil mentoring scheme for our younger pupils and developed a bilingual chatbot to help those with concerns about COVID-19.

Head Girl, Saiba A and Head of House, Holly P achieved the highest possible results, each scoring 5A*. Saiba will study Law at University College London and Holly will read Engineering at Magadalen College, Oxford.

On news of her results, Saiba said: “I am really pleased and relieved with my results after such an unpredictable year. I am so grateful to all of the teachers for their continued support throughout the past two years. I have enjoyed my time at CSL thoroughly and I am looking forward to the next step.

Holly added: “After a hectic year, the sense of relief and happiness is amazing. Now all of the hard work of our year group and our teachers has paid off, we are looking forward to the next step in our lives.”

Six students will go on to read Medicine: Francesco B at Leeds, Sam E at Manchester, Meena G at Imperial College London, Ella K at Cardiff, Dylan R at Bristol and Louis S at Sunderland. Sian L has secured a place at Bristol to read Veterinary Medicine and Science.

Other top performers achieving exclusively A*/A grades include talented artist, Jenna T who will study Computer Character Animation at Teesside University, Head Boy and 1^st XV Rugby Captain, Walter T who will read Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London and Head of House, Alex R who will study Aerospace Engineering at Bath.

Achieving the same number of UCAS points, but with a different combination of grades, twins, Poppy Y will study Physiotherapy at Nottingham and Olivia Y will take a gap year.

Head of the Cathedral School, Mrs Clare Sherwood said: “I was delighted to welcome Year 13 students to school today to celebrate their very deserving A Level achievements. The last 18 months have not been easy, but this hardworking group of students has coped with the immense disruption, adapting to learn in different ways, in different locations and using different tools.

“Our incredibly hard-working teaching staff supported the students both pastorally and academically throughout the remote learning in the Lent term as well as administering and aggregating the rigorous assessment data to award their A Level grades. This drew on our thorough knowledge of our students, assisted by our small class sizes and regular progress reviews.

“I am incredibly proud of all of our Year 13 students for the hard work and determination they have shown during their time at The Cathedral School. We wish them all the very best as they take the next step on their educational journey.”

The Cathedral School Sixth Form offers excellent facilities and teaching, combined with outstanding pastoral care and a breadth of co-curricular opportunities, especially in music, sport and the arts.

Please visit us on one of our Open Days to see what makes the Cathedral School such a dynamic and high achieving place of learning. Our Whole School Open Morning (Nursery to Sixth Form) takes place on Saturday 2^nd October, followed by a Sixth Form Options Evening on 14^th October. To book a place, please visit www.cathedral-school.co.uk/opendays

For further information, visit www.cathedral-school.co.uk or contact the Registrar Ms Deborah Whitehouse on 029 2083 8504 or registrar@cathedral-school.co.uk