'One word sums it all up neatly – magic' says head of Harborough school at GCSE results day

The head of a Market Harborough secondary school has summed up GCSE results day in one word – magic.

Dan Cleary, the principal of Robert Smyth Academy, said he was blown away as 72 excited Year 11 students picked up their grades on Thursday.

“Our kids have got fantastic results across the board.

“It was truly a euphoric day as they came in to find out how they’d done.

“One word sums it all up neatly – magic,” said Dan.

“To see our students celebrating in the street, high fiving each other out on Burnmill Road, was unforgettable.

“I could hear the calls and screams of sheer joy up and down the street.

“It was one of those amazingly memorable days that makes this job all worth while.”

The dad-of-two said pupils had achieved the results that they “deserved” based on teacher assessments.

“We are really looking forward to welcoming them back now into our sixth form.

“At least our kids could approach results day with far more hope and certainty after the Government moved to rely purely on teacher assessments,” said Dan.

“All our staff have been thorough, careful and exemplary throughout this entire process.

“I can’t speak too highly of them all.”

The Burnmill Road school is now preparing to return for the new academic year from Monday August 24.

“Staff will come back in from Monday ready to make a sharp start and hit the ground running.

“We have been getting ready all summer to re-open.

“There will not be many schools anywhere in the country better prepared to re-open than us,” insisted Dan.

“We’ll have a one-way system in place and hand sanitiser as well as social distancing while we’ve also produced a special student handbook.

“Every student will have one full day in during the week as their dedicated induction day.

“We have to look after each and every one of them as we would do our own kids.

“They are returning to school – many for the first time in six months – in an extraordinary situation.

“We can’t just drop them in it at the deep end.

“We will be there to support them all the way – and help, too, with their mental health if needs be.

“We have about 1,000 students coming back and over 100 staff,” said Dan.

“It’s going to be all systems go here from Friday August 28 – and we can’t wait.”