Our Class of 2025 Year 11 cohort have always been a particularly musical bunch, and we are delighted to share the highlights from some of our girls who have successfully balanced their studies with participation in co-curricular music.
These musical superstars all achieved grade 9 in GCSE Music as an extra subject alongside their core subjects as a twilight subject. Our GCSE twilight subjects, which include Astronomy, Geology and Classical Greek, are studied in addition to timetabled GCSE options and allow girls to diversify their studies and pursue extra academic qualifications. The additional demands and challenges of studying an additional subject are the perfect foundation for the higher demands of A Level study.
Kaiyan is an exceptional cellist and STEM superstar. Kaiyan achieved nine 9s and two 8s in her GCSEs and balanced her studies with participation in String Academy, Senior Strings, Chamber Club and Senior Ensemble. Kaiyan is delighted to be commencing her studies at our Sixth Form in September.
Kaiyan commented: “Music was like an outlet for me. When I was doing exams and feeling stressed, I’d go to orchestra. Everyone would say, ‘Let’s play music today,’ and I’d get to do something I enjoy. But also I enjoy studying – I like learning new things!”
Natalie, who is a talented vocalist and was named BBC Young Chorister of the Year in 2023, achieved nine 9s and one 8. Natalie has recently been accepted onto the Junior Royal Northern College of Music programme, and hopes to continue her studies at a prestigious conservatoire in the future.
She commented: “I’m feeling ecstatic. I think the school gave us so much support and encouragement that revision felt almost fun. They gave us so many resources and definitely the skills to be able to do it. I ended up actually really enjoying the exam season. I thought it was really nice to have an outlet in music. I do a lot of music, so it was nice to have that to go back to as well as just the academic work. It was really enjoyable.”
Chloe was delighted to achieve eight 9s, one 8 and one 7 in her GCSEs whilst balancing rehearsals for Senior Choir, Senior A Cappella, the Gig and Swing Bands and Senior Ensemble – go Chloe!
Chloe’s father commented: “I’ve been overjoyed with the opportunities that Chloe has had here at the school. The school has laid a really good foundation for her academically, socially, and also in terms of her extracurricular opportunities. I consider her five years in school so far, and the extracurricular opportunities she’s had, in particular, have enriched her educational opportunities beyond what we could have expected anywhere else. Her achievements today are not only a reflection of the excellence she’s received but also, I think, have been enhanced and enriched by the opportunities she’s had outside of the classroom.”
Rebekah is another student who balanced her studies with co-curricular music, achieving nine 9s and one 8 whilst attending Senior Strings and Gig Band regularly – a true Girl of Steel through and through.
Sheffield Girls’ Director of Music, Ms Usher, commented: “I am delighted to see how well our Year 11s have done this year. So many of them remained committed to the musical life of the school throughout their studies and have often been seen around the department creating music during their spare time for enjoyment and to relieve the stresses of academic pressure. The holistic and academic benefits linked to music are well publicised and we enjoy watching our pupils reap these benefits here at Sheffield Girls’.”
Co-curricular opportunities form a fundamental part of our character education programme, Girls of Steel, which encourages girls to not only thrive academically but pursue a diverse range of passions, interests and hobbies outside of the classroom. The academic success achieved by our pupils who regularly immerse themselves in the co-curricular life of the school is testament to the enduring success of the programme, which was highlighted as our significant strength in our recent ISI inspection report.
Natalie, Kaiyan, Rebekah and Chloe are just a handful of pupils who have achieved phenomenal results today alongside regular participation in co-curricular activities, be it music, sport, drama, debating, robotics, gardening and more.
