Suicide of GCSE girl

A talented schoolgirl about to take her GCSE exams has died after taking an overdose at school.

Tina Dziki, aged 15, is thought to have committed suicide by taking antimalarial drugs.

She was found unconscious by groundsmen at Dunraven School in Streatham - one of the most successful state schools in south London - at 8am on Monday and taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting in a coma.

Tina, who was Polish, was pronounced-dead at 11.10pm. Her mother and step-father were at her bedside when she died. Her natural father flew to Britain from Poland yesterday.

Scotland Yard said detectives from Streatham were investigating the death but it was not believed to be suspicious.

In a note found at the school, Tina, from Peckham, told of several problems, including worries about her forthcoming exams.

School head Richard Townsend said today that the entire school was devastated by the death.

He said: "Everybody is very shocked and saddened by what has happened. Tina was a very bright student who was taking a couple of exams a year early, but appeared to be happy."

The school said the pressure of exams did not appear, on the surface, to have been the issue.

However, the death will raise again the question of whether teenagers in British schools, who are among the most heavily examined in the world, are subjected to too much academic stress. Counsellors and educational psychologists were called into Dunraven School yesterday and were still there today, helping distressed pupils and staff.

Mr Townsend said: "Everybody is trying to come to terms with this. We just want to get across that everybody is really shocked and very sad."

More than half of Dunraven's pupils achieve at least five good GCSEs which is well over the average for the borough.

In 2001 it won an Evening Standard award for outstanding achievement in challenging circumstances.

A post-mortem examination into Tina's death will be carried out tomorrow.