Months of waiting and wondering ended for thousands of students across Merseyside this morning as they discovered their GCSE results. However, when student Emma Moore opened her results this morning she instantly thought about a loved one that is no longer here.
When the ECHO arrived at The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco in Bootle this morning the school hall was already filling up as students came to collect their GCSE results. But opening her results this morning came with an added sense of emotions for Emma.
Emma Moore's tribute to her father
After being home-schooled for two years Emma began attending the school in January. But just before the 16-year-old started at the Netherton Way school, her dad passed away.
She told the ECHO: "He would definitely be proud of me. He always knew how much I struggled academically since I was young, so he would definitely be proud of me today."
Coming away with an impressive set of grades, Emma got fives in English Language and Spanish, fours in Maths, Biology, English Literature, Art and RE and threes in Chemistry and Physics. She is now set to study Journalism at Sefton Sixth Form College.
She continued: "His death has affected me a lot, but I just had to focus on my exams and know that he would want me to be good and do them well. He was my main support system. Knowing he would be so proud of me if I did well in my exams, it just motivated me to try my hardest, because even if I failed, he'd still be proud of me for trying."
While she was having to contend with going to school for the first time alongside the death of her dad, Emma explained how the adjustment to her new surroundings was made easier. She said: "I was really welcomed by the teachers. They were really easy to get to know, they accepted me immediately into their classes. They always provided extra support for me when I needed it. It was quite easy to settle in."
Other students overcoming adversity
Besides Emma, there were a number of other students collecting their results this morning who had managed to overcome adversity to receive the grades they wanted. Harry Flanagan said: "I passed everything except for RE. I worked really hard towards my English. In all my mock results I was only on a three, and I was trying my hardest to try and push for a four. I just couldn't do it. But then in the end, in my GCSE results, I got that four in English Literature."
His mum, Rebecca Flanagan added: "Harry's got dyslexia, so passing with a four is a massive achievement. That's all he needed to get him onto his next steps. He's going to be going to college. It means he doesn't have to continue the English GCSE on his next path. I'm just really proud of him. He's onto his next adventure, which is Hugh Baird College, and well done to Salesian Academy, because they produced two brilliant results for both my boys moving onto the next steps."
Meanwhile, Gabriel Alfonso, has only lived in the UK for the last three years, but has managed to come out with a mixture of sixes, sevens and eights this morning, and is set to start at Sefton Sixth Form College next month. He said: "It was completely shocking coming to a new country, it was different. But this school has been great to me. They've always helped me out. They've always shown that they actually cared for how I was doing. It was something that didn't happen in my other schools. But this school has been great. And moving here was made a lot easier by them."
School performance highlights
Painting a wider picture of the school's performance this year, St John Bosco said they have seen a particularly strong performance in English Language. This time around, they have seen the number of pupils achieving "strong passes" in English Language increase by almost two-thirds on last year's results. There was also a sharp increase in History and Art, with the school's marks more than quadrupling since 2023 for History.
