FORMER Westville House School pupil Isla Slade is celebrating passing her Foundation Maths GCSE at the age of 11.

Isla, who is now in her first year at Ilkley Grammar School, sat the paper in November 2020, scoring 217 out of 240 to achieve the highest exam grade for the foundation paper, a Grade 5. She was encouraged to sit the exam during her final two years at Westville, where she joined several other children in attending a weekly after-school club for gifted mathematicians run by specialist maths teacher and deputy head, Mr Chris O’Doherty.

Mr O’Doherty said: “Our whole ethos at Westville is to provide a nurturing environment where those children we recognise as gifted in key subjects, such as maths, are pushed beyond the primary curriculum to tackle more challenging problems. We are absolutely delighted with Isla’s result. She is a very bright pupil and was really keen to take on the challenge of Foundation Maths GCSE. The fact she achieved such a high score is testament to her hard work and talent.”

Isla’s mum, Mrs Slade, said: “Isla is absolutely thrilled with her result. I want to thank Mr O’Doherty for his amazing support. Not only did he teach her the subject brilliantly but he also helped prepare her for the exam in a calm and stress-free way. The whole teaching environment at Westville really sets pupils up for success and it has certainly helped Isla settle into first year at secondary school and begin the next stage of her learning journey with confidence.”