St Richard’s Catholic College in Bexhill welcomed former Deputy Head Boy, Major Edward Adams, to present GCSE certificates and awards to their Year 11 leavers, as well as giving the opening speech at Prize Evening on Thursday, 10 November. The Awards evening, which was held at the school, felt even more special than usual as it was the first time since 2019 that it had been held.

Since leaving university, Major Adams has served in various roles in the UK, Germany, Afghanistan, and Eastern Europe. He has also commanded a troop of 30 UK and American members of the International Security Assistance Force personnel at the height of the campaign in Afghanistan. He shared with pupils, staff and parents/carers the importance of maintaining a moral core in times of challenge or adversity. He reminded the audience that success comes in different guises and that kindness, resilience, and commitment are the key drivers in a life well spent. Major Adams explored with us all the importance of maintaining a sense of community, of working together for one another and doing the small things well and with great kindness.

Miss Cronin, Principal, drew the first part of the evening to a close congratulating the pupils on their record-breaking GCSE results (86% 4-9 grades, 73% 5-9 grades and 37% of all grades at 7-9). These results were exceptional with the cohort achieving a progress 8 score of 0.98 which placed the school 56th out of all 3,600 secondary schools for progress from KS2 to KS4.

In spite of two lockdowns, the pupils had worked hard and with resilience to ensure that they closed the gap in their learning and went on to achieve successful outcomes.  Staff were also thanked for their hard work during lockdown and supporting the pupils to achieve these tremendous results.

The young men and women were praised for their many and varied contributions to school life over the years and their generosity of spirit when it came to fundraising or campaigning for the marginalised.  Miss Cronin described them as the change-makers of the future highlighting that students "decide by your actions, intentions and ambitions whether this world is going to be a better place for the generations that follow you.' She continued: "I believe in the capabilities of all of you to be great change makers. Aim high."  Students were encouraged to join the school alumni and to stay in touch with the school community.

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Source: St Richard's Catholic College