A refugee living in Patchway has been named as the South Gloucestershire Community Learner of the Year for 2017.

Hecham Alsaiyad, 39, worked as a pharmacist back in Syria but the civil war in his country forced him to leave. He came to the UK under the refugee resettlement programme to make a new life for himself and his family.

Hecham, his wife and his three children arrived in November last year and have been living in the Patchway area ever since.

Keen to get on with his life, he enrolled on two English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and also spent many hours studying English at home in his determination to excel as quickly as possible.

He said: “It has been difficult at times settling into a new life but I have found that the people I have met have been friendly and very supportive.”

Getting used to being in another country and experiencing a different culture has thrown up some interesting observations for Hecham. He says the things he enjoys most about living here is the sense of freedom and openness and how well traffic is managed, with everyone following the rules.

Hecham also has aspirations to go to university and is interested in researching stem cell science. In the meantime, he is continuing with his community learning courses and looking for opportunities to access an international English language testing system course.

More: Chair of council presented prizes »

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Patchway Community School (formerly known as Patchway Community College) has become the latest secondary school to join the Olympus Academy Trust (OAT), where it joins Bradley Stoke Community School and Abbeywood Community School (Stoke Gifford), along with five local primary schools in Bradley Stoke, Filton and Stoke Lodge.

The Patchway secondary had been in discussions with OAT for some time, but the lack of funding for essential buildings maintenance work at the school had proved a stumbling block. The award, earlier this year, of in excess of £4 million of government and local developer money, ring-fenced for facilities and building work at the school, paved the way for the transfer to be completed on 1st September.

The name change from ‘college’ to ‘community school’ achieves consistency with the other OAT secondaries and avoids confusion about the age range that the school caters for.

Dave Baker, CEO of Olympus, visited the school on Friday 15th September, when he addressed a Year 7 assembly and presented Patchway headteacher Karen Cornick with a plaque to mark the school’s joining of the trust.

Mr Baker said:

“It has taken a long time to get to this point but there is a lot to look forward to with funding for improvements to the buildings as well as support for students to achieve.”

More: Trust staff "share expertise and provide mutual support" »

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Patchway Community College reports that 46 percent of its students achieved at least a Grade 4 ‘pass’ (equivalent to a grade C) in both English and maths in this year’s GCSE examinations.

Sixty-nine percent of students achieved an English ‘pass’ and 53 percent gained a ‘pass’ in maths.

Notable individual successes highlighted by the school include:

• Julia Barela 1 A*, 3 A, 6B, 1C
• James Burford 1 A*, 3A, 4B, 1 C, 1Dist
• Daniel Connors 1Gr9, 1A*, 1A, 8B
• Hannah Evans 1A*, 2A, 4B, 1C, 1Dist
• Christian Seaman 5A, 5B, 1C
• Meagan Beale 4A, 3B, 1C

Headteacher Karen Cornick commented:

“Congratulations to all of our students – we are really proud of their fantastic individual achievements!”

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Students at Patchway Community College have achieved record results in this year’s post-16 examinations.

Fifty-one percent of all grades were A*-B or equivalent and 80 percent were A*-C. The pass rate was 99 percent.

Headteacher Karen Cornick praised the hard work and commitment of students and staff:

“We are thrilled with this set of results! Our students have worked incredibly hard to gain these fantastic results and we are so proud of their achievements. Half of all grades were A* to B and this means that our students are going to top universities. Patchway Sixth Form is a really happy and successful place to study where it’s evident from results that students receive first class teaching which enables them to achieve the highest aims.”

Top achievers in the school included Emma Barrow, who has A* in sociology, A in history and Distinction* in health & social care, and is going to Bristol University to study education. She was delighted with her results and said: “I revised a lot and got loads of support from school.”

Three students will be going to Cardiff University in September, including Jack Hamblin who gained A* in psychology, A in biology and B in philosophy, describing the grades he achieved as “testament to the hard work and quality of teaching” at Patchway. He will be joined by Sam Hughes (AAB) and Portia Moore (AAC) who will both be studying law.

More: Students also off to Leeds, Exeter and Southampton »

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