Fairfield High School (FHS) students are celebrating a strong set of GCSE results in the year of the coronavirus lockdown.

Many students were awarded high grades based on their hard work and achievement over five years in the school.

Others reached standards well above those that might have been expected when they started at FHS. The school has an excellent record in boosting pupil progress; in 2019 it was among the best 650 schools in the country.

Fairfield is proud to recognise the success of all students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, those with English as an additional language and young people in care.

Students across England were unable to sit exams in the summer after schools shut to most young people in March. Grades were awarded after a rigorous assessment process by leaders in school to ensure grades were fair.

FHS is committed to ensuring that the students who are leaving this year are able to follow suitable courses from September. The school has kept in close contact with these students throughout and will be working with them over the coming days to help them confirm their next steps.

Some will go on to V6, the joint sixth form provision for Fairfield and Colston’s Girls’ School, while others will take up places at other colleges and sixth forms in the city.

Principal Nick Lewis explains:

“We are extremely proud of our Year 11s, whose time at Fairfield has been cut short by Covid-19. We are determined that their future plans will not be derailed by the coronavirus crisis. Our staff have really gone the extra mile to support them.

“Well done to all the students who have achieved the grades they were hoping for. Perhaps more importantly, I want to congratulate all our young people who have shown such maturity and resilience during this emergency. I wish them all the best for the future.”

Head student Alice Towle echoes the Principal’s comments:

“Our teachers have been fantastic, checking up on us by phone and email. The post-16 transition co-ordinator knows where everyone is planning to go for sixth form in September and will be speaking to people again after they have received their results.”

Alice, who is one of Bristol’s youth mayors, said it was a pity that her year group had missed their exams, seen their Prom postponed and been denied the chance to experience results day in school together.

But she said the current generation of 16-year-olds could be proud of the way they had supported one another and coped during the past difficult months.

“We have done really well,” she said. “At Fairfield, we have had a great five years. The school genuinely has a community feel. There is mutual respect between students and staff and the sense of belonging is really special.”