Siblings celebrate exam success together at Schools with strong family ethos

SIBLINGS at a leading North East independent school are celebrating double exam success having achieved top grades at GCSE and A Level. 

Daniel Needham, a Year 11 pupil at Dame Allan’s Boys School (DABS), in Newcastle, collected an impressive full set of GCSE grades 9 – 8 today. He was joined by his older brother Ben Needham, who last week achieved four A*s in A Level Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science and secured a place at the University of Cambridge to read Maths.

Daniel, 16, whose mother Jackie Needham is a teacher at Dame Allan’s Junior School, has opted to take Biology, Chemistry and Psychology at A Level, with plans to study biomedical science in the future. He said: “I’m really happy with my results today, I worked very hard and it feels particularly rewarding after the difficulties we have all faced due to Covid.”

Fellow DABS pupil Aidan McDonald and his older sister Emily McDonald, from Killingworth, North Tyneside, also celebrated exam success together. Aidan today achieved eight grade 9s and one grade 7 (all A* - A) at GCSE, while Emily last week celebrated straight A* results in A Level Biology, Chemistry and Maths.

Their mother and Allanian Vicki McDonald, Bursar and Clerk to the Governors, said: “I’m so proud of them both, they have done exceptionally well. Having both children at the same school that I came to in the 90s and now work at feels really special.

“Dame Allan’s was a huge part of my upbringing and gave me the confidence to be myself, and I can now see that same confidence in both Emily and Aidan.”

High-achieving brothers Daniel and Andrew Scott, from Gosforth, also celebrated their exam success together. Daniel, in Year 11, received a full set of grade 9s at GCSE. He plans to take Art, Physics and Maths at A Level. Andrew, 18, last week collected three A*s in A Level Biology, Chemistry and Economics and will now study medicine at the University of Sheffield.

Dame Allan’s Girls’ School pupil Olivia Stanger-Crosby collected a raft of good GCSE results, including an impressive Grade 8 in Dance, and plans to study Dance, Drama and Psychology at A Level.

Her older sister and gifted dancer Maisie, who secured an unconditional place to attend the prestigious Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, last week achieved straight A* success in A Level Dance, Economics and Psychology.

Will Scott, Principal at Dame Allan’s Schools, in Fenham, said: “The fantastic achievements of pupils across Years 11 and 13 have given much cause for celebration at Dame Allan’s, and it’s always heart-warming to see siblings revelling in each other’s successes.

“A strong sense of family is felt across the four Schools in Dame Allan’s diamond structure, and in the wider Allanian network, and brings with it a wonderful unity that allows us all to celebrate the accomplishments of our GCSE and A Level pupils.”

Dame Allan’s are the only collection of schools in the North East to operate a diamond structure of education that sees boys and girls co-educated in the Junior School and Sixth Form, and taught independently between the ages of 11 and 16.