Teenager from Kyiv, Ukraine, now living in safety in Newark has achieved amazing results in her GCSE’s at Magnus Church of England Academy

A 16-year-old who escaped war to arrive in Britain ten months ago achieved impressive GCSE results despite speaking little English when she arrived.

Varvara Shafranova, of Kyiv, Ukraine, relocated to a sponsor in Newark with her mother and older sister.

Having left everything that she knew behind her, Varvara joined a new school, Magnus Church of England Academy, in an unfamiliar education system and culture.

But she quickly adapted to her new surroundings.

In just one year of study, Varvara achieved fours in English, maths and science at GCSE and has now started at Newark College.

Varvara said: “I still feel a bit uncomfortable because all my life I lived in Ukraine and now from one day to the other it changed. But it has become better with time.

“It was so hard at first, my first day in school.

“I was scared and wasn’t able to understand people or talk to them.

“Now I feel better because I made some good friends, who taught and helped me so much in school, as well as teachers.”

Before coming to the UK via Poland, she spent last summer in Kyiv where she witnessed bombs dropping.

Her dad and grandparents are still in Ukraine, and she tries to talk often to them, however, she has lost contact with some school friends.

“I remember when I got my visa my dad was near me and I just started crying because I knew I wouldn’t be able to see him for a long time and I don’t know when I will see him again,” she said.

“It is hard to just live all your life somewhere and not knowing when, or if, you will ever see your family again.”

Varvara said she feels safer in England, but her trauma and panic are easily triggered by loud noises around her.

“It was so bad seeing my country in war, it was the worst thing in my life. I remember waking up at 6am hearing explosions and just start crying.

“The worst thing was just hearing the houses near mine exploding, seeing the smoke everywhere, people screaming, and you just start shaking because it was so close it could kill you.

“Every time I hear an alarm, I cover my ears and just hope I won’t die; it’s the only thing that is always in the back of my mind.”