More than 60% of GCSE students at the Chester Catholic High School have secured five or more A*-C grades including English and math.,

The school was the first in Cheshire West and Chester to ‘opt in’ to the new Progress 8 measurement last year. This year all high schools will be compared using Progress 8, which means that parents can see how much progress the students make from the start of their time at high school, through to the end of the GCSEs.

Headteacher John Murray explained: “We had a very good positive score last year, and expect to beat that this year. The final calculation won’t be available until later in the year, but we are confident that this year group has made even better progress than last year’s record breakers.”

The top students this year were Hannah Bissell (10A* grades) and Ciara Sinclair (10A* grades). The close friends were delighted with their achievements, and Ciara was even more pleased when she found her further mathematics grade was graded even higher at a starred distinction. There was another starred distinction for Charlotte Charlton, who secured 8A*s and 2As.

There were 9A*s for Megan Jenkins and Joshua Jones, while Jess Baddeley, Anya Walton and Guy Whale each picked up 8A*s. Other students with notable results included Ben Chaddock (7A*, 4A), Emily Pickering (6A*, 3A, 1B), Trishna Mistry (6A*, 4A, 1B) and David Chesters (6A*, 4A). There were three A*s each for Ruairi Boyle (3A*, 8A), Jonathan Cook (3A*, 5A, 2B, 1C) and Rebecca Rees (3A*, 3A, 4B), while Eleanor Matheson (2A*, 3A, 2B, 3C), Amy Shone (2A*, 3A, 4C), Christian Fox (2A*, 5A, 2B) and Georgia Price (2A*, 6A, 2B) each picked up 2A*s, along with their other grades.

More students than ever picked up at least one A* grade, and these included Jessica Brown (1A*, 6A, 2B, 1C), Emily Burton (1A*, 3A, 1B, 5C), Harrison Byrne (1A*, 4A, 4B, 2C), Joe Byrne (1A*, 5A, 4B, 1C), George Craggs (1A*, 4A, 4B, 1C), Etienne Deans-Louis (1A*, 3A, 2B, 3C), Lily Homes (1A*, 2A, 3B, 4C), Ruth Jones (1A*, 8A, 1B, 1C), Macy Parr (1A*, 7A, 2B, 1C) and Michaela Stoltzer (1A*, 2A, 2B, 4C).

Vice chair of governors Jane Johnson was in school to support the staff and students, and also to have her proud mum moment as daughter Molly picked up her grades (4A, 2B, 3C).

Jane said: “This school has teachers and support staff who will always go the extra mile to support the students. The intervention strategies are very good, and I am very proud to be a governor here.”

Head of year Dylan Green added: “These have been a wonderful year group throughout their time at the school and I am delighted to see them doing so well. Many of them were coached by sixth form students during their GCSEs, and now they will be going on to sixth form and be the coaches for the next year group.”