Meet Our Heads of School

This term, we were able to appoint our Heads of School for this academic year and we are delighted to introduce our Head Boy and Head Girl, Henry Dean and Charlotte Harris, and our Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl, Zion Yeung and Naomi Chatfield. We are so incredibly proud of these wonderful individuals and how hard they have worked over their time here at Plymouth College. This opportunity to represent the school is well deserved for Henry, Charlotte, Zion and Naomi and we are honoured to have four pupils that speak for the student voice. Find out more about Heads of School:

Henry Dean Hi there, I’m Henry and I’m really excited to now be this year’s Head Boy at Plymouth College. I’ve been at the school since Year 7 and I’ve loved being a part of the team all the way through. I’m currently living in Plymouth as a day pupil; however I was a member of boarding from Year 7 up until Lower Sixth, whilst I was living abroad, which I absolutely loved. My future plans are to hopefully study Business at university, which is something I find fascinating and then potentially join the Royal Marines or pursue business further. I’ve played rugby along with other sports at the school since I joined, and I am now Vice Captain of the First XV. Some of my best experiences were during my time in CCF where I learnt many useful skills and often took on exciting new tasks. I can’t wait to see what this year has to offer.

Charlotte Harris My name is Charlotte Harris and I have been granted the role of Head Girl at Plymouth College. Having been at the school since Year 8, it was such an honour to be given the opportunity to take on a leadership role and give back to Plymouth College in any way possible. In Upper Sixth, I am applying to study Medicine, with hopes to travel to Australia for my gap year. I represent Plymouth College in both girls’ sports inside and outside of school, alongside being involved in music and drama. I am excited to see what this academic year brings at such an unprecedented time, but hopefully it allows us as Heads of School to make innovative and positive changes for the future.

Zion Yeung I’m Zion Yeung and I’m really excited to be the Deputy Head Boy at Plymouth College. I’m from Hong Kong and currently board at the school since joining Plymouth College in 2019. I am planning to head to university at the end of next year. Although I don’t participate in any team sports, I’m a gym enthusiast. I love going to the school gym and working out. Some of my best memories at Plymouth College have been the boarding life and Sixth Form community because the students all have wonderful personalities and they are very caring. I’m really looking forward to what this year has in store.

Naomi Chatfield I’m Naomi Chatfield, I have been a boarder and pupil at Plymouth College since Year 7. I’m so glad that I am now able to give something back to the school in my new role as Deputy Head Girl. In the future I hope to study Engineering after my gap year as a Sail Training Volunteer. I love being outdoors and some of my best memories are from our trips to Whiteworks, DofE canoeing expeditions and representing the school in Ten Tors 2018. I’m looking forward to all the challenges and joy this upcoming year will bring.

ACADEMIC

Over the summer holidays, our Upper Sixth pupils celebrated their A Level and BTEC results. With a pass rate of 99%, 42% achieving A*- A and 70% A*- B in the A Level or equivalent grades awarded, our Class of 2020 achieved fantastic grades. Mrs Hayward was delighted with this year’s results and said: “I am incredibly proud of our Sixth Form pupils and have been struck by the positivity and resilience shown by each and every one of them this year. They have worked incredibly hard throughout their time at Plymouth College and although the summer term wasn’t what any of us could have imagined, I’m delighted to see them move on to exciting new chapters at top universities and employers. The results speak for themselves and our excellent teaching both traditionally and virtually since March, ensured that every pupil fulfilled their academic and intellectual potential. Our Upper Sixth ‘Hub’, that was set up when COVID forced schools to shut, provided dedicated resources and tools to prepare them for life beyond school and it’s a pleasure to see them leave Plymouth College as rounded, confident young men and women.”

There were some notable performances by a number of pupils (in fact too many to mention all by name) including outstanding performances from all of our Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) candidates - with all achieving the top grade. Topics included medical robotics, criminal law and physiotherapy.

Emma Andrews balanced her commitment to school in her role as Head of School with her academics and achieved two A* and one A grade. Joe Sair achieved two A* grades one A grade and goes on to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Leeds. Angolan swimmer Henrique Mascarenhas will study Chemical Engineering at the University of Bath following his results of A*BB. Henrique joined us for his A Level studies to benefit from our partnership with Plymouth Leander and balance this with his academic commitments. Chloe Olford who has represented Great Britain at biathle, goes on to study Physiotherapy at Southampton after achieving A*BB in her A Levels. Chloe joined us for A Levels and we are delighted to see her achieve such great results; “Coming to Plymouth College for my A Levels was the best decision I’ve made. My teachers have been amazing and the support I’ve had over the last two years has allowed me to pursue my dream career”.

The Sports Baccalaureate Programme has also had another successful year. The course is Level 3 Extended Diploma BTEC-based course. Notable performances include Harry Edwards, Sam Mills-Shute, Alexander Rose, Tim Neuss and Reid Jones who balanced the demanding course alongside numerous other commitments both in school and externally (representing county and country in numerous sports, being Head of School and sports captains for the school). All listed achieved the top level of award - D*D*D*. Destinations and courses for our Sports Baccalaureate pupils are diverse - ranging from Sports Development Coaching at Plymouth Marjon University and Sport Performance at the University of Bath, to courses in Business Management & HR. In recent years, Plymouth College has achieved an outstanding success rate in securing offers for students applying to medical school. Those going to study Medicine this year include Oscar Boyhan-Irvine who will study at Cardiff University, while Lucy Armitage will study Veterinary Science at the University of Bristol. Morwenna Dunstan has also secured her place at Norland to study Early Years Development and Learning, following her dream to become a Norland Nanny.

As ever the destinations and courses of our class of 2020 are a true testament to the broad range of talents and interests of our leavers. Pupils will be studying at institutions across the country, including York, Edinburgh, Cardiff and University of Arts London, reading subjects as diverse as Law, Politics and Fashion. Our mission at Plymouth College is to educate, enrich and empower every one of our pupils, where they benefit from a bespoke education that delivers excellence both in and out of the classroom. We are immensely proud of all our pupils this year, and wish them well and look forward to hearing about the next chapter in their lives.

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Following outstanding A Level results, our Year 11 cohort overcame the challenges of lock-down and celebrated fantastic GCSE results.

In an unprecedented year, results were awarded on the basis of the teaching staff’s professional judgement of the pupils’ prior performance in their academic studies. This, combined with their knowledge of the pupils as individuals, formed the grades awarded from Plymouth College (known as our Centre Assessed Grades).

Following the Government’s ‘U-turn’ with regards to the planned moderation of Centre Assessed Grades, all results were formed from a combination of the CAGs and of the standardised score from the examination board - whichever grade was higher. It has been a challenging time for all and we are incredibly proud of the resilience and dedication of our pupils and staff. Amongst results, there were a number of excellent achievements by pupils that have embraced the holistic education that Plymouth College offers. Academic performances were many and varied, with a number of our pupils achieving nine or more A* or equivalent grades, with stand out performer Rocky Dutta, achieving exclusively A*/9 grades. There were also outstanding results for Ben Abbott, Eugenio Fatti, Daniel Coles, Megan Shorey and Aidan Bath. Twins, Poppy and Sasha Sathasivam and Danielle and Georgia Trathen combined their wide sporting and creative interests with excellent academic results, achieving an impressive 33 A*/A or equivalent grades between them. In addition, four of our pupils completed the Higher Project Qualification project with all four being awarded A* grades. This independent learning project will benefit the pupils immensely in their further studies and this year’s subjects included ‘How can science stop or slow ageing?’ by Rocky Dutta and ‘Market leaders in the film industry’ by Lex Irish. Our young sportsmen and women, have delivered outstanding results, alongside their sporting successes, with notable achievements including Abagael Black (who represented Great Britain in fencing), and from swimmers Sophie de Groot (British Championships and Olympic trials, 2021), Sophie Freeman (European Junior Finalist, 2019) and James Hart (British Championships and Olympic trials in 200m butterfly, 2021), all of whom have managed their academic studies at the same time as maintaining a gruelling training regime and excelling in their chosen sports. Success looks different for everyone and at Plymouth College we encourage and support all pupils to exceed their potential, whatever that may be, including Lex Irish who combined his notable contributions to drama with an outstanding set of GCSE results. There are simply too many talented pupils for us to name and we are delighted for them all. Mrs Hayward said: “Despite this being such a unique year, I am delighted for our Year 11 pupils and the results reflect the hard work they have put in during their time at Plymouth College. They have shown such strength in character over recent months and I’m incredibly proud of each and every one of them. As our Upper Sixth pupils head off to leading universities next month, I’m looking forward to welcoming our Year 11s back, alongside those new pupils joining our Sixth Form from other local and international schools. I’m sure they are excited about starting the next chapter in their lives”.

ACADEMIC

Design Technology It has been a busy first term back for DT at the Senior School! Our new Year 7 pupils got straight into practical work by making bespoke LED push torches using the laser cutter, our Year 10 pupils made use of their practical skills and the Sixth Form A Level pupils started their idea generation for projects. Science In Science, we have seen fascinating experiments and activities across Biology, Chemistry & Physics. Even with a few of our pupils learning online from home, that hasn’t stopped us involving everyone in practical lessons.

In Biology, our Year 10 pupils have been learning about osmosis in cells and looking at onion skins that have been treated through the microscope. Our A Level biologists have also been busy making serial dilutions to discover the concentrations of different liquids as well as looking at the anatomy of the heart using dissection. We’ve also had fun and interesting practicals in Chemistry and Physics. In Chemistry, our Sixth Form pupils have had fun whilst completing their core practicals for their A Levels including the oxidation of ethanol whilst our Year 8 physicists have been studying topics such as electrostatics and having fun with a Van der Graaf generator!

ACADEMIC

Art In Art, we have seen some wonderful pieces of work created in Graphic Design, Art and Design and Photography.

History In History, our classes been practising their debating skills, including our Year 8 class who have learned about Guy Fawkes and recreated the trial to weigh up the arguments and decide guilty or not guilty! Music In Music, there have been a lot of extracurricular activities from the school choir and the orchestra! The choir had a busy term practising for the virtual Remembrance Service and the Christmas Carol Service whilst the orchestra have had a busy time practising their instruments in their socially distanced bubbles with Mr Hiscock and Mr Bennett. Classics Our Year 7 classes have loved Classics this term and have learnt all about Greek Gods and Goddesses by dressing up and learning their Greek and Roman names!