• The largest number of students have been entered for A levels this year. 
• More students than ever before have got their place at university.
• The ‘value added’ (students who achieve higher than their expected grades) is the best ever. 
• Over 99% pass rate.  82% A-C  and 56% A*/A/B
• Thirty nine of the college’s fifty one A level courses achieved a 100% pass rate.

These superb results continue to uphold Richard Huish College’s position as one of the country’s top sixth form colleges.

The new A* grade was introduced this year to identify students who achieve over 90% in their exams.  There were 193 A* grades awarded this year.  99 students gained three or more A/A* grades including 4 students who gained at least 5 A/A* grades.  One student,  Sarah Thomas, achieved 5 A* grades.

All 16 students who applied to Oxford and Cambridge have secured their places.  Contrary to some of the recent news in the media, the vast majority of A level students at Richard Huish College got their first choice of university and there was a wonderful mood of celebration this week.   

Richard Huish College Principal, Dr Peter Avery said:  “We have every reason to celebrate; a great deal of hard work by very talented students and staff has produced a terrific set of results and a record number of students will move on to university this autumn. The A level route that we specialise in has again proved right for all of our Oxbridge students and for hundreds of others aiming for competitive course at other universities.”

It was a difficult selection process for the Jury but the following filmmakers were selected and their films screened at the event.  Theo Clark won the award for Best Film whilst Katherine Cook was awarded Best Film Score.  Elspeth North put in the Best Performance and Kelly Smith scooped the award for Technical Achievement.  Theo Clark was recognised as the Most Promising Young Filmmaker and received this special award from the Taunton Film Society.

After the event Course Manager for film and media studies, Gareth Jones said:  “Yet again our students have proven that Huish is probably the best place to study and learn how to make films in the South West.  The level of filmmaking on display this evening was exceptional.  Several of the winners and nominees this evening have just returned from filming the John Peel stage at Glastonbury where they provided the live feed; evidence of how respected and professional our students are”.

This sees the group through to the National Finals in London from 12 to 14 July (the first Huish team to have achieved such a feat) where they will compete against the other regional winners.

Buzzword won most of the categories of the Regional Finals against teams from Cornwall to Gloucester.  They won Best Trade Stand, Best Use of IT and Regional Company Programme.  Their teacher at Huish, Sue Thomas, also won Enterprise Teacher of the Year!

The company have written and produced a series of topical children’s books about individual characters such as Bee Friendly, Bee Safe and Bee Happy, with the aim of educating young children (aged 5-6) positively about bees.  They have also added to their product range with T shirts capturing the images of Bee Cool, Bee Safe and Bee Happy on the front. 

The books are available through their website www.buzz-word.net .  You can also join the Busy Bee Club online and there is lots of information about bees on the website. 

This achievement shows the commitment and skill of the students involved and in the words of the South West judges, they are “fabulous”!

We wish them all the best at the National Finals in July.

“My teachers have been brilliant… they are passionate and interested in their subjects and involve the entire class in the lesson…” Sophie, Huish student.

Come and see for yourself….

Richard Huish College has recently become a British Colleges Sport Focus College, and have been focusing on all aspects of football development this year including  Futsal, making links with  refereeing, as well as further developing  the long standing  elite boys football programme. Another goal is to increase participation and performance of the women’s game.

Cat, who plays for the women’s football team at the college, is also Somerset FA’s representative for this summer’s National FA Young Leadership Camp.  She not only runs her own U10 girls team in an FA Community Charter Standard Club, and has just passed her FA Level 2 qualification but is an excellent role model for many young people getting into football.

A spokesman for Somerset FA said “The development of Young Volunteers is essential to our future workforce and that is why this Young Volunteer of the Year Award is a great achievement to demonstrate the quality and commitment that young people have to football. [Richard Huish College] has also shown great interest to link college football and its students into the community and the football provision on offer.”

The College are delighted to have been recognised for their work in football and continue to develop the sporting opportunities available to students.

Competitive Sport Manager John Palmer said “The college award belongs to all those staff and students that have contributed in some way to the football programme on offer at Huish, and gives us added impetus to further develop next year. Cat’s award is a great personal  achievement which she fully deserves for all the time and energy she has put into helping others get as much out of football as she does”.

The quiz raised £780 for the charity, one close to the heart of the college.  Pictured is Pilot, who will hopefully complete his puppy walking phase in June. He has become a usual sight around the College, especially in the lessons of his handler, Liz Truman, Health and Social Care teacher. 

Leisure Studies students have helped to raise a large proportion of the money needed to sponsor Pilot and although he may be ready to move on to Guide Dog School soon his paws are already filled by Midge, an adorable German Shepherd puppy.

The fund raising event is organised by the Leisure Studies students as part of their final year A Level coursework.  They have twelve weeks to organise an event from initial planning to execution.  Amongst other things, they each researched a round of questions and checked the answers with the Master of Ceremonies, Martin Baldock, for verification.  Very popular with the competitors was the wizardry of the electronic scoreboard, devised by students Dean Reed and Terry Crocker.

When asked what they had learnt through organising the Quiz the students commented on the ability to work as a unit and take into account the needs of the other team members.  The students did exceptionally well at attracting sponsors and raffle prizes and their teacher, Barbara Barratt, praised the students for their organisational abilities.  This final unit brings together many of the practical skills the students have been developing over the last two years and sets these students up for a more independent approach needed in Higher Education and the workplace.

4 students have recently graded to orange belt and with their continuing enthusiasm and energy they should be moving on to more senior levels in the coming year. 

We are obviously very proud of their achievement.  Jacob Hill, Michael Wootton and Harriet O’Shea have achieved their orange belt and Skye Corvidae has achieved Yellow and will soon be ready for his orange belt as well.

Sensei Vince Lawrence (of United Dojos) says; “I am really pleased with the progress of these students.  They show a wonderful willingness and enthusiasm and this summer we are all going to a major national aikido event in Suffolk which will be a great experience for us all.”

Leanne, who is now in her second year of studying BSc in Accounting and Finance at the University of Bath School of Management, competed against 421 other students and undertook a number of online tests, interviews and assessment exercises to emerge as overall winner of the award, which was sponsored by Ernst & Young.

Leanne responded to her win, saying: “I am delighted to have won. Both Target Jobs and Ernst & Young were very helpful at every stage. My prize was a summer internship at Ernst and Young and a trip to Florida to attend the Global Leadership Conference. I feel this will help with future job aspects and it has been a great experience.”

When at Richard Huish College, Leanne’s programme included Accounting, Economics, Maths and Philosophy and she also took a prominent role in the college debating team, qualifying for the England Finals.

Claire Bennett, who was Leanne’s tutor at Huish, said: “Leanne was a student who tackled any challenge with enthusiasm and determination. She set herself high standards and those around her. She was also at the same time very supportive of her peers and a good team member.  She was meticulous in her approach to work which has clearly been continued with her current success.”

Leanne is pictured receiving her award from Michael Portillo (who hosted the awards) and Stephen Isherwood (Ernst & Young).

This season’s achievements rank with the best ever seen set in the context of an incredibly successful Huish hockey legacy.

This is an opportunity for you to find out what the college offers other than A levels:  Apprenticeships, training opportunities, adult and professional courses and degree level courses.