Grade 9s galore for GCSE students from Blyth, Bedlington and Ponteland on the back of public speaking success

Students who have already achieved success on the public speaking circuit are now celebrating a clutch of top GCSE results.
By Ian Smith
Published 25th Aug 2022, 16:27 BST
Updated 25th Aug 2022, 16:27 BST
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Arwen Jenkins from Blyth, Imogen Golding-Douglass from Bedlington, Ben Patrick from Ponteland and Nasif Chowdhury from Newcastle, who attend Dame Allan’s Schools, excelled in English literature with all achieving a grade 9 or 8.

The teenagers had competed in the national final of the English Speaking Union (ESU) Churchill Public Speaking Competition at the University of Cambridge.

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Dame Allan’s principal Will Scott said: “Arwen, Imogen, Ben and Nasif have excelled in their final GCSE year and made the schools very proud with their success on the public speaking circuit.

Talented public speakers Arwen Jenkins and Imogen Golding-Douglass collected a raft of exceptional GCSE grades at Dame Allan’s Schools.Talented public speakers Arwen Jenkins and Imogen Golding-Douglass collected a raft of exceptional GCSE grades at Dame Allan’s Schools.
Talented public speakers Arwen Jenkins and Imogen Golding-Douglass collected a raft of exceptional GCSE grades at Dame Allan’s Schools.

“Their fantastic results today are reflective of the hard work they put into their schoolwork and the balance they achieved between their academic studies and their co-curricular debating and public speaking success.”

Imogen, a Dame Allan’s Girls School pupil, got nine grade 9s at GCSE and plans to take English literature, French and history at A-level, with hopes to study law at university.

“I’m so proud of myself and absolutely delighted with my grades,” she said. “I plan to continue public speaking as I think it’ll be really helpful in the future; I’d love to study law and perhaps be a barrister one day.”

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Arwen, 16, said she was ‘exceptionally proud’ of her collection of 9 – 7 grades and has chosen to take English lit, French and psychology at A-level.

“I worked very hard for the exams and they were stressful at times, but I’m so pleased with the results and excited to start the Sixth Form,” she said.

She has become a Young Member of the ESU, and together with Imogen will mentor others at Dame Allan’s Schools and encourage younger pupils to get involved in public speaking.

Boys’ School pupil and chair of the public speaking team Ben, 16, celebrated an outstanding full set of grade 9s at GCSE and plans to study politics, maths and history at A-level.

The ESU Churchill Public Speaking Competition is the largest contest of its kind, attracting some 400 teams from across England and Wales.

Related topics:GCSEPontelandBlyth