A Ukrainian student who didn’t know much English when she joined our school has successfully completed her first term at Imperial College London.

Nastia Kliuchnyk, who is reading Physics at the university, credited her achievements to the support she received at Springwood High School, which she attended from Years 9 through to 13.

“I joined Springwood at the end of Year 9 because I had been displaced from my home country, Ukraine, due to the war,” she said. “I was obviously very shaken by this, as well as being in a new environment, so that put a lot of pressure on me, but I persevered regardless.

“As a refugee, I couldn’t speak much English when I first started at Springwood. However, through constant support from the school, I was able to succeed in my GCSEs. This built a foundation for me to continue with my achievements in my A-Levels.”

With impressive A* grades in both Maths and Physics, and an A in Further Maths, her results placed Nastia among the highest achievers at our school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

She continued: “Despite not being a high achieving student before I moved to the UK, I really enjoyed studying at Springwood. Most importantly, it’s all thanks to the teachers working there.

“I don’t think I could have succeeded in my A-Levels without the help of the Maths Department and the Physics Department at Springwood. In particular, I’d like to thank Mr Adcock, Dr Angus, and Mr Coote for supporting me throughout that difficult journey.”

Now the talented young physicist is settling into undergraduate life.

She added: “Before joining Imperial, I was under the impression that I would be constantly studying and not have any time to myself.

“I was proven wrong by the amount of support Imperial provides to ensure the students have a healthy study-and-life balance. And although the course is hard, it is still intellectually stimulating and rewarding.

“I am not quite sure what I want to do, but, seeing how many opportunities Imperial presents, I am sure I will find myself on the right career path in due time.”