Friends overcome adversity to be ‘dead pleased’ with their results’

BEST friends at a North Yorkshire school have praised one another for helping them overcome barriers and achieve academic success.

Risedale Sports and Community College pupil Stanley Wilder, 16, who has cerebral palsy, celebrated achieving an A* and five other A grades on results morning yesterday.

He has put much of his success down to his friend Liam Jones who pushes him around in his wheelchair and helps him with his lunch. Stanley has been able to return the favour by mentoring Liam with his school work to help him achieve C grades in both maths and science.

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Stanley said: “Liam is a great friend and is always there to help me. We have a great fun together – even when we are studying.”

Liam added: “We have been friends since we first met and have a real laugh.

“Stanley has really helped me and we are both dead pleased with our results.”

Their school in Hipswell, Catterick Garrison, was placed in special measures three years ago but since then has seen its GCSE pass rates surge.

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Working in a federation with a successful school – Northallerton College – Risedale has also come out of special measures.

This year almost half the school’s pupils achieved the national Government benchmark of five good GCSEs, including English and maths, up from less than one-in-five students three years ago.

Risedale head teacher John Kelly said: “I am absolutely delighted for the students and the staff as this fantastic achievement reflects the hard work and commitment of everyone at the college.”

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