Arriving in Stoke from Romania in 2020, Maria spoke little English but today has celebrated a fantastic set of results. With seven equivalent grades 5 and above,  including an 8 and 9 in English Language and Literature. 

Maria moved to the UK with her parents and siblings in 2020,and joined Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent  in the midst of the first lockdown, a challenging time for students across the UK. 

“It was a bit difficult at first. I didn’t know English very well, or any of the teachers or students. In Romania, we didn’t really work with Google Meet and Google Classroom, so it was new, everything was very new. I only really knew English from watching films and TV. It is a second language for me.”

When the academy opened up to students after months of online learning, Maria met her peers and teachers for the first time. She even chose her GCSE subjects over the phone from home. 

With no previous academic records, and understanding her challenges with the English language, Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent supported her by placing her in lower ability classes to begin with, giving her the best chance of accessing the curriculum. But within two weeks her performance in class placed her amongst the most gifted students in the academy. 

“I was in the 5th set for Maths. And in my second week I had an assessment. That was on Friday. By Monday I was in the top set. I guess my Maths skills from Romania helped. After mocks in Science and English, I moved to the top sets for those too.”

With the help of a student buddy, friends, and the staff at Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent, Maria soon became known for her unbelievable work ethic and determination as well as being voted as ‘The Most Amusing’ by her peers in Year 11. 

“When you move to a brand new country, brand new school, brand new home, and you don’t know anyone…at first you do try. But then you can kind of think, is it worth it? I think that’s how I felt at one point, being in third set for English, low set in Science, low set in Maths. That I might not try. But then I thought no, this is my future. And I just really wanted to achieve the best that I could.” 

Mr Ahmed, Head of Year 11 at Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent said of her progress “Maria has shown true grit and determination to achieve outstanding grades in her GCSEs, this will open a lot of doors for her as she continues her studies in college next year, and I’m sure her strength of character will take her far in life.”

Maria became a popular member of the academy community and is quick to praise the staff (especially her Head of Year Mr. Ahmed) and peers for helping her to settle. She described the atmosphere at the academy as warm, sociable and happy. Maria’s goal is to study Psychology at University.