‘Inspirational families help support students to success.’
Students at Bede Academy have been inspired to follow the career paths of family members after achieving success in their A-Level results.
The success of several students at the Bede Academy will see them follow siblings and parents into careers from accountancy to education and medicine.
Among the high achievers were friends Eve Turner and Leah Johnson who are looking forward to taking up prestigious level seven apprenticeships with two of the country’s leading accountancy firms after successfully completing their gruelling application processes.
Thousands of students applied for the opportunities with Ernst & Young and Deloitte, each of which only take five apprentices each summer. Head girl Eve is hoping her grade A in psychology and grade Bs in business and history will confirm her place with Ernst & Young, with a back-up offer at Durham University, whilst Leah has chosen Deloitte with her three A*s in maths, geography and business having had offers from both firms.
The friends began the application process last September and underwent five stages of assessments, interviews and work experience.
Leah is following in the footsteps of her brother Lewis, who also secured three A*s in his A-Levels at Bede Academy two years ago and is half-way through his apprenticeship with Deloitte.
“He has loved every part of it. I like maths and the business world and problem solving,” said Leah, who scored 261 out of 300 in her maths A-Level. “I hadn’t thought about the results too much until this morning when I looked at the grade boundaries and saw they were really high. I was worried that I wouldn’t get my grade so I’m happy with my results.”
Another student following in a sibling’s footsteps is Jayci Barclay, who wants to be a PE teacher like her sister Abbie, a former student of Bede Academy who now teaches there.
The sisters come from a sporty family led by dad Alan who played ice hockey for Whitley Warriors and spent countless hours taking his daughters to netball and hockey matches and supporting them from the sidelines.
Isabel Stephens is continuing her parents’ legacy in the medical sector having achieved an A in biology and the extended project qualification (EPQ) with a study of stem cell treatments for heart disease, as well as B grades in English language and psychology.
Her mum Claire Butler works in the NHS and her dad Michael Stephens is a nurse in infection control at the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle.
“I’m interested in forensic medicine and the biomedicine course seemed to have the most science in it,” said Isabel, who will study at Sheffield University.
Both parents said they were extremely proud of her and that she deserved her success. Michael added: “It’s been very tough, I certainly couldn’t have done the work that she has put into it. She absolutely deserves it.”
Grace Harrison, who achieved an A in business, a B in geography and a distinction star in travel, is ready to follow her chosen career path in the beauty industry after studying marketing and business at Newcastle University.
She has just secured a part time job with the American retail giant Sephora, which is due to open its first two North East branches in Newcastle and the Metro Centre in September.
“I really want to go into that industry, it’s always been a motivation for me especially on the product development, design and marketing side. My mum says that when we first went to Florida on holiday I was more excited about going to Sephora than Disneyland. I think it helped me get the job,” she said.
Arya Abbas and her family, who are from Kurdistan, escaped the war in Syria to come to Blyth. Arya started at Bede Academy in year 8 with no English and went on to achieve an A in chemistry and Bs in maths and biology.
“It was difficult at the start and I had to get used to it but I built relationships with teachers and asked for help after school and also joined in different activities,” she explained. “I took on the role of deputy head girl in sixth form. I did work hard since coming here so that the later years for GCSEs and A-Levels could be easier.”
Arya will study pharmacology at Newcastle University. “I was planning to do medicine then changed my mind. I like chemistry and how drugs work inside the body. I want to work in the field of medical research and eventually do a masters that will allow me to delve deeper into the field.”
Arya’s older sister Evlina, who is studying architecture at Liverpool, returned to Bede to watch her sister collect her results – and see an artwork she did for A-Level in 2022 that is still mounted on a wall at the academy.
With the stress of waiting for results over, mum Fiona Penman is looking forward to getting her dining room table back after daughter Charlotte Penman rounded off her studies with an A for her extended project qualification, a distinction* in travel and tourism and B grades in psychology and religious studies. Charlotte will study a degree in psychology at Newcastle University.
Fiona said: “She has worked so hard, we are very proud of her.” Dad John added: “We’ve never had to prompt her, she has always organised her own time and done her work, she’s been amazing.”
In total around 15 students are Bede plan to study nursing. The academy also has its first student who will study for their degree overseas. Martha Joseph has already joined Nebraska State University, where she won a scholarship.
