Ambitions for the future helped to get students through their secondary school years.
Students from New Rickstones Academy, in Witham, collected their GCSE results this week as part of their pathway on to the career of their dreams.
Freya Warboys, from Heybridge, has had her sights set on a career in medicine since she was in Year 7.
Today, she is one step closer to realising that dream after picking up seven grade 9, one grade 8 and one grade 7 in her GCSEs.
She is looking to study chemistry, biology and maths at A-level.
She said: “Since Year 7, I have had my head down and had university in the back of my mind. I have always been working towards that.
“I was so pleased with my results. After everything that has happened, I was very pleased to get them.
“The school has constantly reassured me as I get quite anxious and overthink things. If I got overwhelmed, my teachers sat me down and helped me to cope.
“I really want to go into a career in medicine. I am looking forward to how new everything is going to be at sixth form.”
For Archie Bevan, from Braintree, it was motivational talks from his teachers which helped him to achieve two grade 9, five grade 8 and two grade 7.
He will study A-level physics, geography, maths and further maths with plans to then go on to university.
He said: “Around Year 9, I was not on track to achieve these results. You do not realise how close you are to the end of school until you are literally in Year 11 and you have only got a year left. But, my teachers motivated me and encouraged me and that helped a lot. They said it had to be half them teaching and half my effort. I would have felt guilty if I had not put in the same amount of work as my teachers. I did not want to come out of school thinking I could have done better. Since then, these results have been my target.
“I am very happy that I knuckled down. I am happy with my results.
“While learning during lockdown was hard, it did improve my personal skills, like being able to be organised with revising. The school helped a lot with online lessons and livestreams every day. Teachers always emailed back within an hour, too.”
Ryss Mills, from Witham, achieved three grade 9, one grade 8 and five grade 7 and will now study maths, further maths, physics and classical civilisation.
He said: “My results have not really sunk in yet. They were better than I had expected.
“I put in quite a bit of work and the teachers were willing to give extra lessons and extra teaching during lunchtimes if we needed it.
“Lockdown was quite stressful as there was no separation between home life and school life, but the online lessons were helpful.”
