Head teacher Dr Andrew Richardson was on hand to congratulate students collecting their GCSE results at Sheringham High School, where top performers included head boy Peter Awad and head girl Alice Alexander, who bagged six grade 9s and five grade 8s between them.

Eastern Daily Press: Sheringham High School student Chris Francis, who gained three grade 9s and four grade 8s among his 10 GCSEs. Photo: SHERINGHAM HIGH SCHOOLSheringham High School student Chris Francis, who gained three grade 9s and four grade 8s among his 10 GCSEs. Photo: SHERINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL (Image: Archant)

Alice, who travelled to Sheringham every day from her home at Wroxham, put her success down to 'fantastic' support from staff.

'I also started revising in January and used lots of different revision techniques,' she said.

Also celebrating was 16-year-old Chris Francis, who achieved three grade 9s and four grade 8s among his 10 GCSEs, scoring more than three grades above his personal target.

He said: 'I was overjoyed, it was unexpected really as I felt I could have done more revision, best my best scores were the ones I put the most work into.'

Chris, who plans to stay on at Sheringham Sixth Form to study for A levels in maths, further maths, biology and physics, said his 'top tip' was to just 'get on with it'.

'I think I would say the best thing is to revise as you go along and stay on top of your hobbies,' he added.

Dr Richardson said students were taught a range of learning and revision strategies, with the acclaimed Building Learning Power (BLP) technique built in to every lesson from year 7.

'I think 'over-learning' is the most important thing,' he explained. 'And it is not just about what you learn, but also how you learn. We encourage students take stock of what they have been taught that day or that week and, in that way, turn short term memories into long term memories.'

While overall the school achieved 63pc of grade 4s and above in English and maths, which was down on last year's 75pc, Dr Richardson said the results were good for this year's cohort, with Sheringham High continuing to add significant value from students' starting points.

'We are especially pleased at the A*/A/9/8/7 grades too, and that 60pc of those entered scored the full EBACC qualification,' he said.

He praised staff and students, including more than 100 14 and 15-year-olds who took their GCSE English exams a year early.

'We are also very pleased that many students will be joining our sixth form which had some cracking A Level results this year and which has attracted a lot of interest from Year 11s at Sheringham, and from other schools,' he added.