A teacher at Hasmonean High School for Boys said he felt “utterly proud” that his entire group achieved the top grade in GCSE further maths.
All 18 of Dan Artman’s students who were entered for the extra qualification attained a level 9.
They “performed exceptionally despite being the guinea pigs,” he said, since it was the first ever year the school had entered pupils for the “challenging” GCSE.
“Some pupils barely lost any marks across the exams. To have 100 per cent getting level 9s in a non-selective comprehensive school is highly impressive,” he added.
Hasmonean maths students
and his appreciative students (Photo: Paul Lang)
Year 11 pupil Joshua Fluss scored 159 out of 160 marks available in the two paper, while seven of his classmates achieved over 150 marks.
Joshua felt “truly privileged to have had the resources, including an amazing teacher, available throughout the pandemic and in general” which allowed him “to achieve my aspirational grades.”
Yonah Quint was “elated to get a 9, especially finding out that I had almost got 100 per cent in each paper. Our class’s achievement in all getting 9s is in large part down to our incredible teacher, who enabled us to maximise our potential.”
His class achieved an impressive total of 27 grade 9s and four 8s in their ordinary GCSE maths exam.
Mr Artman said it was “career-affirming to teach this incredibly mature class of pupils who were excited to learn, and constantly asking questions. The first day I suggested the idea of the further maths GCSE, they were literally cheering with excitement.”
The results, he added, were “even more impressive after this cohort underwent so much disruption throughout their year 9 and 10 studies”.
“Many of our students come from large families so it was great that many managed to stay on track with their independent learning, and so many parents were supportive and were emailing me to check how they could do their best to help with their children’s studies.”
One pupil, Dan Weider said, “I can’t wait to continue my studies with Mr Artman at A-Level. It’s just a shame he’s an Arsenal fan.”
