Standish Community High School

Standish Community High School is advertising for a Attendance Support Officer

https://www.standishchs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Recruitment-Pack-Attendance-Officer.pdf

Standish Student Ready for His Toughest Test Yet

Year 11 student Joe Halliwell is celebrating an excellent set of GCSE results while preparing to embark on the next stage of his journey that could see him become a Royal Marine.

While many students are considering college or sixth form, Joe has set his sights on a different challenge. He hopes to begin training at Lympstone Commando Training Centre near Exeter, the home of Royal Marines recruit training.

"It's five hours away on the train," Joe said, as he reflected on the next stage of his journey. "It's 36 weeks of what is described as the longest, hardest military training in the world."
Candidates can begin the process from the age of 16, making it one of the youngest military entry pathways in Europe. Before reaching Lympstone, recruits must successfully complete the demanding Candidate Preparation Course (CPC), a four-day assessment involving swimming, fitness tests and endurance challenges. "I've passed the initial tests," Joe explained. "Now I have a series of medicals and interview stages coming up."

Joe's inspiration came from a former Standish student whose story was featured in the school magazine.

"I was inspired by seeing Josh, who came to Standish, in the Standish Standard. He went to Lympstone too and won the King's Award. He was one of the youngest there but was put into a leadership role over men much older than him. Seeing him do it and do so well made me realise I could do it too."

Everyone at Standish is incredibly proud of Joe's achievements and wishes him every success in the next stages of the selection process. We look forward to hearing about his progress and following his journey as he works towards earning the coveted green beret. Congratulations, Joe, on your GCSE results, and best of luck for the exciting adventure ahead!

Sporting Successes for Standish Students

Every year at Standish, students surpass themselves with their outstanding sporting achievements and this year was no different. We caught up with a few of the boys who have recently signed academy contracts with professional sporting teams as they picked up their results.

This year, Sonny Astley is now planning on continuing his love of rugby by combining it with his further studies. Sonny – alongside Georgie McDermott – has signed for Leigh Leopards. Sonny, is now celebrating his nine GCSEs grades including a Grade 5 and 6 in his two English GCSEs.

George Sumner was also celebrating his GCSE results after securing ten GCSEs – including passing both English and maths with 5s and 4s. George has now signed a two-year scholarship contract with Wigan Athletic – with a professional contract attached already. “I’ve just started back for preseason. We’re training four times a week and sometimes double sessions. I’ll be studying three days a week too through Wigan and Leigh College.” George said. “It’s a BTech sports science course – it has modules for coaching, physio and refereeing too.”

George Butler was another sporting talent who received excellent results on Thursday. He achieved nine GCSEs including four Grade 5s and a Grade 6. George has split his time studying with pursuing his talent for trampolining – including securing a spot in the GB squad. “I’ve been doing it for nine years since seeing my cousin do it. The dream is to move from the Junior Squad to one day competing at the Olympics.”

Asked about his results, George added, “I’m very proud of my English Language result – I was a bit worried about it! I also want to thank Mrs Roberts for her help with my maths.” George has secured an apprenticeship at DL M&E Building Services in Westhoughton in Mechanical Electrical Design.

Another sporting success on the day was Oliver Holdsworth who was celebrating his results that have secured him a place at the Steven Gerrard Sports Academy for next year. Oliver, who had to balance his studies at school with his commitments for the Mercedes F1 Academy too, admitted it’s been tough to find the time for all his sporting interests and his academic studies at the same time. “There were times when I was revising for subjects at various racetracks around the country!” Oliver is already looking forward to representing the SG Academy’s football team, “I’ll have fixtures coming up against the likes of Liverpool and local ones like Chorley too!”

Mason Hesketh is another sporting talent who has secured a place at Burscough’s Football College to do a Level 3 Sports Science qualification. “It’s five days a week study as well as training and playing games and training too. There’s opportunities for football tours too – travelling to Dubai and America to play American college teams.”

Congratulations to all the students and their achievements!

Standish Student with Amazing Exam Achievement

Anyone who knows Standish knows that it is a school that places the highest possible value on academic excellence – it is one of the three aims of the school ethos to develop successful learners after all – but staff were simply stunned by the levels of achievements by one student in particular this year.

Neve Goulding achieved an astonishing set of exam results – scoring a perfect ten straight Grade 9s. When asked how she felt last night, Neve said, “I wasn’t too worried to be honest. Mostly because I managed to just not think about it very much until this morning!”

“I’m surprised to do so well in RE, but I must admit I’m proudest of my physics. I didn’t like it that much, so I had to really work at it!” When asked for some tips for future students wanting to emulate her success she said, “past papers! Just do as many as you can get your hands on! Also, I’d say start early and try not to get too stressed when it gets hard!”

Neve is going on to Winstanley to study biology, chemistry and maths but, when asked what her plans are to celebrate tonight admitted, “I don’t even know! I’m not sure it’s all sunk in yet. It doesn’t feel real!”

We also caught up with Alexander Glenn, who scored a similarly amazing nine grade 9s and two grade 8s. Even more impressive when he was told that his two grade 8 grades were very close to the grade boundaries and may well be worth looking at a remark! “Either way I’m really happy,” Alexander remarked. “I was quite calm last night but I wasn’t expecting to do this well!” He’s planning on going to Runshaw to study maths, economics, Spanish and further maths too.

The students’ achievement is only really put into perspective when you consider that the prestigious Grade 9 is only awarded to the top 2-3% of the students in any given subject in the entire country each year. To score a top grade in even in a single subject – let alone several - speaks to their talent, determination and hard work.

These two success stories are just a couple of the many amazing achievements being enjoyed by our students today – there were several other students celebrating achieving multiple Grade 9s across the majority of their subjects this year – too many to even mention! Everyone at Standish would like to congratulate all of the Year 11 students who are celebrating their successes!

Exam Success is a Family Affair

It’s always a pleasure to celebrate the twin successes of siblings at Standish, but this year we get to go one better and celebrate an amazing treble! In fact, between the Mayalls, Burtons and Whitters this year, the siblings have amassed a staggering 69 GCSEs and B-Techs between them – including an impressive five Grade 9s!

Triplets, Jack, Tom and Sam arrived to pick up their results together. When asked whether they were supportive as a group or competitive, Jack said, “a bit of both to be honest!” Tom said he was planning on studying maths, physics and engineering or maybe chemistry. “I’m really proud of my chemistry result: I got a Grade 9!”

Twins Sonny and Zak have a similar approach to sibling rivalry. Sonny said, “I do enjoy beating him at stuff when I can but I’m also really happy when he does well. He’s done brilliantly in his English!” Zak added, “I’m delighted to have passed my maths – I was a bit worried about it last night!” Zak is planning on going to Runshaw to pursue a career in graphic design.

We also spoke to Heidi and Henry, with Heidi admitting, “he’s much more competitive than me! But I’ve got to say I’m very proud of him!” Henry, who said that he couldn’t sleep last night due to nerves, added, “I’m most proud of my Spanish result. It’s my highest but I had to work at it – it wasn’t easy! I want to thank Miss Brass too for all her support.”

Everyone at Standish would like to wish all the students and their families a massive congratulations on their success.

Fantastic Results for Standish Community High School’s Head Prefects

Head Prefects, Freya and Henry, as well as Deputy Head Prefects, Annabel and Louie, all capped off a fantastic five years at Standish with a glittering set of exam results.

All four students have represented the school with distinction over the last school year – and finished off their time at Standish in style with a wonderful set of GCSE results – including five Grade 9s, nine Grade 8s, five Grade 7s, fourteen Grade 6s, three Grade 5s, one Grade 4 and two B-Tech Distinctions – an amazing thirty-nine GCSEs between them!

Henry, who is the final sibling of three to come through Standish, said he was most proud of his further maths result. “It’s better than I thought! I was quite nervous last night!” He’s planning on going to Runshaw to study maths, economics and history.

Louie has now secured a place at the prestigious Chethams School of Music to play violin. “It was a full day audition playing several pieces and sitting music theory tests as well as interviews.” He wanted to thank Mrs Christopherson in particular as he was very proud of his two Grade 9s in English Language and literature. “After college, I’d love to play in an orchestra professionally.”

Annabel admitted she was very nervous the night before but wanted to thank Mrs Carter, her Head of Year, for all her support over the last five years. “I’m going to Winstanley to study law, media studies and sociology”.

Freya, who was our senior student librarian too, said, “I’m most proud of my maths result. I want to thank Miss Winstanley in particular.” Asked about balancing her voluntary work in the library with her studies, she said, “I think it helped actually. It’s given me a lot of real-world skills – customer service skills really – that has added to my GCSE results. It definitely helps me in my current job!”

Everyone at Standish would like to thank all four students for all their work as fantastic ambassadors for the school. Well done to you all!

GCSE Results Day 2026 at Standish Community High School

Standish Community High School is proud to celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2026 as students receive their GCSE results that mark the culmination of five years of hard work, commitment and determination.

https://www.standishchs.org.uk/standish-community-high-school-celebrates-the-success-of-the-class-of-2026/

Congratulations to former Standish student Aimee on achieving an outstanding A*AA in Biology, Chemistry and Maths at Runshaw College!

Aimee will now be heading to Lancaster University to study Medicine and Surgery.

She recently got in touch to thank our staff who supported her during her time at Standish, saying that the encouragement, guidance and belief shown in her helped her achieve her goals.

We are incredibly proud of Aimee and wish her every success for the future!

Congratulations Aimee Glenn!

A* A A

From Standish Community High School

Destination: Lancaster University to study Medicine