Having recently seen a very successful set of A level results locally, last Thursday, it was the turn of GCSE students to open up their envelopes. All three of the local schools have reported a good year, despite changes to the examination system, with 70% of students achieving five A*–C grades, including English and Maths at Norton Hill, 52% at Somervale and 60% at Writhlington. Can you spot your loved one receiving good news? Photographs by Gary Goold and Roxanne Thomas.

Partnership celebrates joint GCSE success

Thursday, 21st August saw students celebrating across the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, as students from both Norton Hill and Somervale Schools collected their GCSE results.

Once again, the 2014 GCSE results at Norton Hill School are being classed as outstanding, with significant gains in Mathematics, English and Science. 70% of students achieved the important measure of five A*–C grades, including English and Maths, some 10% above the national rate. In Science, students celebrated with 93%, achieving two C grades or above at GCSE. The number of A*–A is again above the national rate, with twenty students achieving all A* and A grades. The top performer, Rebecca Thompson, scored eleven A* grades – a stunning achievement. Other notable performances included Hannah Francis and Natalie Cross (8A* and 3A), Mary Appleton (8A*, 2A and 1B), James Wheadon (7A* and 4A) and Lewis Young (6A* and 5A).

Headteacher, Alun Williams, said: "It is a real privilege to share in the joyful celebrations displayed when the students open their envelopes and realise that all the hard work has paid off. It has been a fantastic year for Norton Hill and the outstanding results are testament to the dedication and hard work of the students and staff. I am particularly impressed by the performance of the high fliers who have really excelled, but also those youngsters who, despite not targeted with the very highest grades, have made stunning progress and surprised even themselves."

In other measures, the school performed exceptionally well with the capped point score significantly above the national average and 81% of students achieving a C or above in Maths and 77% achieving a C or above in English. The EBAC measure – the percentage of children obtaining a C or above in English, Maths, Science, a language and either History or Geography, was again twice the national rate at 40%. In non-core subjects, there were some superb outcomes – Music, German, Spanish, IT, Business, Drama, Art, PE, and RE all achieved A*–C figures above 75%, with some of the subjects listed achieving over 90% A*–C.

Somervale School has built on its outstanding progress at GCSE over the last three years with another good year of results. The A Level students impressed with the best results in the school's history recently and last week it was the turn of its sixteen-year-olds. 88% of students achieved 5 A*–C passes, with those achieving 5 A*–C, including English and Maths, at 52%. Three of Somervale's highest performing students included Sam Clark, who achieved twelve A*/A grades, Charlotte Hill, nine A*/A's, and Leah Battle, eight A*/A grades. The Maths Department led the way in the core subjects, with 70% A*–C and in the option subjects, Music was the highest performer with 100% A*/C pass rate. In Science and Information Technology, over 90% of students achieved at least one A*–C or its equivalent, a rise of over 25% in Science on the figure in 2012.

Headteacher, Alun Williams, was particularly pleased with the rise in the percentage of those students achieving A*/A grades. He said: "These results are a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the students and the support of their teachers and parents.

Students are continuing to stay on into the Midsomer Norton Sixth Form in record numbers, which shows their confidence in what the schools have to offer."

The vast majority of Year 11s from both Somervale and Norton Hill will be progressing into the Sixth Form.