Results day was a double cause for celebration in the Jordan household.
Not only did Bede Sixth Form principal, Patrick Jordan, get to celebrate a great result on one of his proudest college days of the year, but the family saw son Charlie make the grade as a Bede student himself.
“Honestly, I feel having my dad as the principal is better than not,” said the 18-year-old from Billingham who has taken the whole thing in his stride.
Though he admits, “it does increase the pressure a little” and he felt relieved to pass his A levels in Media and Religion, Philosophy and Ethics and BTEC in Music Technology this week. In fact, he did better than he thought.
Now planning to study music production at the University of Leeds, Charlie said: “I’m quite happy, particularly getting a Distinction Star in music technology.”
Of his time at Bede, he explained: “It’s certainly a bit of an ice breaker when people hear your dad’s the college head.”
But he said that’s the sort of college Bede is. He describes it as a bit of a community and a place where everyone knows each other.
“It’s not like at school where you have different groups, everyone just seems to get along here,” said Charlie.
Now having seen his second son successfully pass through Bede, dad-of-three Patrick said: “Both of my sons chose to study at Bede. I don’t think they even considered another college.
“I don’t by any means think that’s got anything to do with me or my role, or very little, but more likely the reputation of the college and the fact it is right on our doorstep.”
Patrick said to see his own children in college, along with their friends, feels pretty special and a reminder of the importance of what they do for every individual student.
“It’s not just Charlie being here, or Alfie a few years ago,” he said. “It is also their friendship groups, you know their parents, and then there’s the children of your friends that come here,” he said.
“There is a level of expectation that comes with them choosing to study at Bede that, as principal, falls in my hands.”
A former Bede student himself, he sees it as both a responsibility and a privilege.
And when they do well and achieve all they are hoping for, well that’s even better!
