THE head of Stanford-le-Hope's Hassenbrook Academy has paid tribute to students who received their GCSE grades today (Thursday, 12 August).

Mrs Sally Feeney said: "The achievement of our children has been phenomenal. They have succeeded in the most difficult of circumstances and we are extremely proud of them. We are delighted that we are handing over to college a resilient and accomplished group of successful young people ready for their next steps."

Among those students returning to he school today to get results was Tymek Rutkowski, 15, who is planning to study architecture, maths and physics at Havering Sixth Form. He said: "I'd like to go to university to study architecture in the future, I like creating and making things so would love to make a job out of this."

Harry Gardner, 16, was delighted with the results he received today. He said: "This year has been pretty tough with a lot of ups and downs, but the teachers here have been really supportive. It's definitely been a really big help with my motivation to study. I've always been able to get into contact with my teachers if I'm struggling."

Dominika Osinska, 15, was really pleased with her results and is also heading to Havering Sixth Form in September to study Spanish, psychology and chemistry.

When Dominika started at Ortu Hassenbrook Academy, she didn't speak a word of English, with Polish being her first language. She said she loves learning new languages and would like to go to university in the future to study psychology.

Chantelle Gasa, 16, is planning on doing science and maths at Harris Riverside to work towards a career in medicine. She said: "The people and the teachers at Hassenbrook Academy really kept me going during my time here."