All smiles as students make the grade

Many jumped for joy once they found out they had made the grade after weeks of nail-biting waiting.

Helenswood saw a drop in its pass rates at grades A* to C compared to last year.

The percentage of students getting five A* to C grades including English and maths was 60 per cent, last year being 63 per cent.

Similarly those getting five A* to C grades overall was 71 per cent, with last year's figure being 75 per cent.

Nevertheless Helenswood's headteacher Lucy Monk was full of praise for the students.

She said: "They are testament to the hard work and dedication of all staff and students, who well exceeded their targets."

Mika Burgess achieved five A*s and four As, Farihah Islam, five A*s and three A grades, Leah Humprhies, four A* and three A grades, and Ashleigh Begg got three A*, three A and two BTEC distinction grades.

Filsham Valley was one of five schools across the county to see an improvement in its GCSE performance of more than 10 per cent on last year.

The school, together with Hillcrest and The Grove, was also among 19 schools in East Sussex to see their best ever results in terms of the number of students achieving five A* to C grades, including maths and English.

The percentage of Filsham Valley students getting five A* to C grades including maths and English was 44 per cent. And 85 per cent got the same number of top grades overall.

Last year this figure stood at 66 per cent, in 2008, 49 per cent.

Hillcrest saw its five or more A* to C percentage including maths and English rise from 34 per cent to 38 per cent.

The figure for students getting five or more A* to C grades overall leapt from 75 to 88 per cent.

The Grove increased its percentages to 43 per cent and 95 per cent respectively.

Two years ago the fortunes of Filsham Valley, Hillcrest and The Grove were very much different as education consultants Ninestiles Plus, headed by Sir Dexter Hutt, were drafted in by the county council to take over the three schools because of poor results.

Hillcrest was placed into special measures in November 2008 and was once labelled the worst school in Sussex.

Some of The Grove's top performers included Lucy Dye, who got 17 As and one B and Hayley Graham, who achieved nine As and three Bs.

Lucy said she was 'surprised' at her grades, expecting a mixture of As and Bs.

Jack Mann got nine As out of his 17 GCSEs and Summer Hubble eight A grades.

Summer said: "It's fantastic as I did better than I hoped for. The teachers were really helpful and we wouldn't have achieved our results without them."

The school's headteacher, Fiona Calderbank, praised The Grove's 'continued trend of improvement'.

She said: "Thanks to all the staff and students who have all worked their socks off."

Hillcrest's Zoe Franklin, Holly Fuller, Charlotte White, Daniel Lock and Simon Vince each achieved 16 GCSEs at A to C.

Daniel said: "I am relieved at my results. It's been nerve-racking up to this point and I'm glad it's ended well."

Theresa Phillips, headteacher of Hillcrest, said: "This yearnine out of 10 students have achieved at least five GCSEs at grades A* to C, compared with only two out of 10 two years ago.

"The number gaining five A* to C grades including English and maths is two and a half times more than two years ago.

"This remarkable turnaround is due to the dedication of the staff and the hard work of students."

Filsham Valley student Rebekah Andrews got two A*s and nine As, Lauren Crouch, six A*s and five As, Naomi Cruikshank, seven A*s and seven As, and Michael Dalton, two A*s, five A grades and seven Bs.

Amy Fasey achieved five A*s and four A grades.

The school's headteacher, Jenny Jones, said: "We confidently predicted these results which is particularly satisfying. They represent the superb attitude and commitment of our students supported by exceptional staff."

At William Parker Sports College 76 per cent of students got five A* to C grades overall with 38 per cent getting five A* to C grades including English and maths.

Tom Veness got four A* and seven A grades, Sercan Kobazoglu, three A*s and seven As, Tom Coekin, 11 A grades, George Atkinson, nine As, and Andrew Graham one A* and seven A grades.

Headteacher John Court said: "It is fantastic to be able to congratulate so many young men and see them rewarded for their dedication and hard work."