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When a ten-year-old Brazilian girl started at Islington Arts and Media School unable to speak a word of English, her family can have scarcely believed six years later she would be celebrating a host of A’s in her GCSE’s.
But that’s what happened when Isabella Finotti opened her results at the school in Turle lane, Finsbury Park, this morning.
The 16-year-old, whose first language is Portuguese, scored As in Geography, Art and French, Bs in Maths, English language and literature, chemistry, physics and Spanish, a C in biology and a D in drama.
She said: “It was hard because I had to have extra English classes on top of my normal work. Plus when I got home no one in my family spoke English so I couldn’t practice. But I worked very hard.
“My mum is really pleased, when I go home I’ll celebrate with her.”
Another success story at the school was Tasnim Rabbi, who got an A* in English Language, As in maths, English literature, French and art, a B in history, C in sciences and a D in music.
The 16-year-old, who wants to be a political journalist, said: “I was very relieved when I opened the envelope this morning. I did better than I expected. I told my brother - he is very proud.”
Budding photographer Jacob Jozefowicz achieved As in English language and literature, art and design and production design, Cs in history, statistics, sciences and a D in maths.
He said: “I think they are pretty good, but I was hoping to do a bit better.”
Ben Ifill managed an A* in maths, As in English literature and Language, geography and Spanish, B in sciences and drama and a C in music.
He said: “I told my mum and she is pretty happy. I can’t wait to go home and have sleep now.”
Sam Head, 16, got an A* in drama, Bs in English language and literature, French, statistics and Spanish and Cs in music and history.
He said: “I’m pretty chuffed, the hard work paid off - my dad’s really happy for me. Hopefully I can end up with a job in environmental science, because that’s an area that needs a lot of work.”
Overall the school recorded the best GCSE results in their history with 60 per cent of students getting at least five A* to C grades including English and maths - an increase of 18 per cent from last year.
Diane Osagie, head teacher, said: “I would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to students, staff and parents who have worked together to achieve these outstanding results through their hard work and determination. We believe we are one of Islington’s hidden secrets and can’t wait to share all our exciting future plans to ensure we are the best in north London.”
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