Prestigious award for multi-talented student and young people’s parliamentarian
A multi-talented student and young people’s parliamentarian with a strong social conscience has received a prestigious award recognising her academic talents, as well as her work in the local community.
Shreya Bhardwaj, of St Wilfrid’s RC College, received the Pupil Academic Award at the Lord Glenamara Memorial Awards 2022, which took place yesterday (Thursday October 6) at St James’ Park, Newcastle.
The awards, which are managed by the Department for Education, are now in their tenth and final year of recognising pupils across the North East who have achieved academic excellence, as well as making significant civic contributions.
Mrs Denise Ritchie, Head of School at St Wilfrid’s South Shields, part of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, said she was incredibly proud of Shreya’s achievement, after successfully competing with the best students across the North East to take the award.
“We are delighted to see Shreya’s outstanding academic performance, as well as her commitment to social justice, recognised at the Lord Glenamara Memorial Awards,” said Mrs Ritchie.
“This is a very proud moment for Shreya, her family and the whole school community and demonstrates what our pupils can achieve with the type of hard work and commitment Shreya has devoted to her studies and extra-curricular activities.”
Bilingual Shreya, who is fluent in Hindi, achieved six grade nines in her GCSEs, including in all the sciences, Maths and History, as well as one grade 8 and three Grade 7s.
This made her the tenth highest performing GCSE student at St Wilfrid’s RC College and her A-Level predictions currently stand at A* grades in Maths, English Literature and History.
Shreya, who also enjoys playing cricket for two teams in the borough, singing with a choir and playing the piano, was also recognised for going out of her way to support other St Wilfrid’s students, as a reading club mentor to year seven pupils and a history mentor.
Shreya’s five years with the student council were also recognised with the award, as well as her work with the South Tyneside Young Person’s Parliament (STYPP), running yearly campaigns and events tackling a range of local and national issues.
Thanks to her work with STYPP, St Wilfrid’s College achieved a gold award and became the school with the highest number of voters in our Borough.
A keen volunteer who gives her time to assisting with UK Maths Challenge competitions, Shreya is also a GirlKindNE ambassador and a Holocaust Educational Trust student ambassador, who will educate students across the UK about the Holocaust.
Shreya took part in the Oxford Summer School this year, as well as the BVL Introduction to Law course, which aims to improve social mobility in the subject.
She was part of the BVL Modern Law Commission Project focusing on reform in AI law and has been mentored by a barrister in London.
Mrs Ritchie said: “Shreya is a shining example to other students at St Wilfrid’s and the wider North East region and we hope that many more of our pupils will follow in her footsteps in the years to come.
“We are excited to see what Shreya achieves next in both her academic career and her work in the local community and beyond.”