Students returning to school for the first time since lockdown felt “overwhelmed” as they picked up their GCSE results.
As with other educational establishments across the country, students at Lynn Grove Academy in Gorleston were given the choice to either receive their results via email or pick them up in person - and more than half decided to collect the dreaded envelope.
Annabelle Ives, 16, said: “I just wanted to do it properly, to open it with an envelope.”
She was “very happy” with her results.
“When it got changed to teachers’ grades, it felt better,” she said.
Planning now to attend East Norfolk Sixth Form College, where she will study law and business, she said this year has been difficult.
“We didn’t get to leave the school the way we wanted to,” she said.
Principal Alison Mobbs said: “We haven’t seen these guys since March so it’s very exciting for us to see them again, and yes some of them have grown in lockdown.”
Some 79pc of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in English and 76pc of pupils achieved a grade 4 or above in maths.
The academy, a member of Creative Education Trust, also achieved 71pc grade 4 or above, 46pc grade 5 or above and 13pc grade 7 or above in English and maths.
Ms Mobbs added: “We have so many reasons to be proud of this year group. They embraced the spirit of Lynn Grove Academy from very beginning.
“They are a group of hard working, determined and enthusiastic young people and these excellent GCSE results reflect that.”
Chloe Darnell, 16, passed all her subjects and hopes to get an apprenticeship working in administration at James Paget hospital.
Returning to the school, she said, felt “a bit overwhelming”.
Siobhan Jaye, 16, will go to East Norfolk to study English literature, art, dance and psychology - and hopes to be a dancer.
Shayla Graham said: “I did a lot better than I thought.
“The plan overall is I’d like to become a midwife,” she added.
At Ormiston Venture Academy, Julianna Mercado achieved nine grades at Grade 9 to 7 or the equivalent, and will move onto the next step in her dream to become a pilot, having secured a coveted scholarship to Gresham’s.
Principals at Caister Academy, Acle Academy, Flegg High Ormiston and Cliff Park Ormiston Academy also praised their pupils’ achievements.
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