THERE WAS a mixture of relief, pride, and excitement for the future at Dunoon Grammar School on Tuesday, August 5, as pupils received their SQA exam results with many achieving top grades and plotting diverse future paths.
The Dunoon Observer visited the school on results day and spoke to both staff and pupils about their experiences, hopes, and hard work.
Head teacher, David Mitchell, praised this year’s cohort and the school community for another strong year of results.
He said: “We are absolutely delighted with our results this year, all our young pupils’ hard work has paid off.
“Obviously, there are young people who’ll be disappointed in their results and we’ve been working with them to look at alternative pathways, so we’re trying to cater for everybody.
Mr Mitchell acknowledged the emotional weight of results day for families as well as pupils, adding: “It’s extremely stressful for pupils waiting for the post or the texts but its also stressful for the parents waiting.
“We always find out a little before the pupils, which gives us a chance to analyse the results.
“It’s a stressful thing, particularly being a head teacher, because you want everyone to achieve their potential.”
But he said the school is well placed to support those who may have fallen short of expectations: “I’m very lucky at the Grammar that we have a great team who support our pupils.
“Our senior leadership team were in on results day to speak with young people, and were opening the school again on Tuesday, August 12, 1-2pm and Wednesday, 2-3pm, for pupils to come in, change options or just have a chat.”
He added: “For those who haven’t achieved what they thought they were going to get, this is only the first chapter of a bigger journey and it’s important to remember that theres no wrong path.
Among those celebrating was Blair McPhee, who achieved straight As in his National 5s including computing, English, drama and physics.
‘It went pretty good’, he said.
“We were waiting and then it came through in the email, honestly just a big relief rather than elation.”
He now plans to take all but one of his subjects to higher level and is exploring a variety of options after school, including filmmaking, computing, or engineering: “I’m thinking about Stirling University for the sports, but I love Edinburgh, so Im thinking about there too.”
Jessie McFarlane, heading into sixth year, earned three Bs and a C in higher art, classical studies, history, and English, a big improvement from the previous year.
She said: “I struggled a lot last year, but I tried my hardest and didn’t know what that was going to look like.
“Once youve done them once, its so much easier going in again.”
She has received unconditional offers for a foundation year at both City of Glasgow College and Glasgow School of Art, and has creatively arranged to undertake both in the coming academic year.
She continued: “To get all Bs and a C is a great result for the amount of effort I put in.”
Fourth year, Christer Toremar, was also celebrating straight As in a range of subjects including maths, physics, and chemistry.
He added: “I just woke up and got the news from my mum straight away.
“None of the exams I really found terribly difficult, except history that one was hard. Im just relieved.”
Christer plans to stay on until sixth year and is considering studying chemistry after school.
Footballer, Layla Finnegan who balances her studies with playing for St Mirren’s women’s side at both academy and senior level, also achieved straight As, including in biology, chemistry and PE.
“It went amazing. I was so scared Id only just got a B in maths I fully convinced myself of it.
“But Im dropping maths now because I really don’t like it.”
She plans to stay on until sixth year and hopes to combine university study in sport and exercise science with her football career.
She commented: “I’m hoping to go professional, but we’ll just have to see.
“I started really late, around 12 or 13, so it depends how far I can go.
“I’m extremely happy with my results, I cant say anything negative about straight As.”
Abbie MacPherson, going into sixth year, is another top performer, having now earned straight As for two years running including English, maths, chemistry, biology and physics and has her sights set on medicine.
“The nerves were awful, I didn’t sleep.
“My mum, who’s a charge nurse, had just come in from night shift.
“When I showed her the results she was crying I cried too.
“She’s really excited that I want to go into medicine.”
Abbie plans to take chemistry, physics and maths at Advanced Higher this year and is hoping to study in either Aberdeen or Dundee.
Abbey Anderson, the schools outgoing head girl, is also celebrating, after securing a place at Abertay University to study sport and development with a view to becoming a P.E. teacher.
She said: “I always knew I wanted to teach P.E., and having that goal made everything easier.
“Because I had an unconditional, there wasn’t too much pressure on results day, but I still did my woodwork and sports leaders course and passed both.
“Hopefully I become a P.E. teacher maybe come back here and teach.”
In closing, Mr Mitchell extended a heartfelt message to the entire school community: “A massive thank you to all the staff for their hard work over the year, and to the parents for their continued support, but most of all, thank you to our young people for their continued hard work.”
