We have had a really good day at the school. Results far exceeded anything we could reasonably expect and there were a lot of very happy young people in school.

Headline figures are that at Level 4 English we achieved 82% and maths 85% this is impressive. What has really caught us by surprise is performance at the new 'strong' pass of L5 where English achieved 70% and Maths 64%. We genuinely believed that 62% would be just out of reach.

We will let parents know more when we can be more certain of the data and have seen our progress score, which is a more honest measure. In every faculty there were terrific results. Of 23 departments 4 look to have been on the strong side of good and 16 are clearly well beyond the boundary for outstanding.

Well done to the youngsters for working so hard for these. Well done also to the families who did so much to support them. There were a lot of very happy adults who hadn't slept so well in school today too.

We should pat the teachers on the back for tackling these reformed GCSEs with such professionalism this year. It was especially stressful for them and they really delivered.

Everyone's talent is obvious but the difference is in the very hard work over the year, particularly on evenings when you're tired and it feels like real drudgery. Great days like this make it seem worthwhile.

Congratulations everyone and enjoy the bank holiday.