It was GCSE day today. A Levels went very well, but GCSEs went even better. Ours is a genuinely comprehensive school, which resolutely doesn't take league tables as the be-all-and-end-all, so we have an open 6th form and don't go for easy marks over good education. We do have some regard for the tables, one has to be pragmatic, and the pros and cons of these are a subject for a post I'm not going to write - if you know me, you'll know how easily I can get carried away on a subject I'm interested in, and this is (nearly) always a light-hearted blog.
But we did have the best results ever and, knowing how hard everyone has worked, I congratulate and appreciate all the staff and the pupils. Whatever we say about league tables, exam results do matter and our 16-year-olds have got a jolly good springboard for whatever they're going to do next.
It's not up to the standards of a selective school or a good private or public one, but Yagnub has been described as a big council estate with a nice little market town attached. And the surrounding areas are rural and not wealthy. Wealthy people mostly send their children to the fine local private schools. Weeza and Al went to two of them. We sent Ro to the village school because it needed support, and then we carried on with the state schools because we were pleased with them.
So, our results were 86% grades A-C, 71% with both English and Maths. English had 80% A-C and Maths 76.6%. That's our best results ever, gained through hard work not through easier exams, and I'm proud of those who put in such hard work.
And as for me - yes, I do think that the 22 years I've put in as a school governor have made a difference. I'm glad of the part I've played.
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11 comments:
well done to all involved - it takes sustained effort on all sides, doesn't it, for this sort of achievement
hope you treated yourself to a big glass of your favourite tipple
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"...fine local private schools. Weeza and Al went to two of them. We sent Ro to the village school because it needed support"...
Ouch! Poor Ro! I hope he survived being a guinea pig.
Seriously, though. Well done. I take it your big council estate is relatively well-intentioned towards education. But I have to say that our local area (Bristol) is putting up fanfares about how well all the new academies (in previously quite deprived thus non educationally interested areas) have fared this year. I've yet to hear of any schools that haven't "done exceptionally well" this year. Which is a little worrying.
So whilst I applaud the results from your school - and I'm sure you have been instrumental (if that's not too apt a word in the circumstances) in boosting ambitions and achievements, but I rather feel jaded about how exceptionally well every single school seems to have done this year.
Sorry.
Congratulations to you, the teachers and the students!
Ah, I should have explained. We lived in Lowestoft before moving here. In fact, the local primary school was excellent but the secondary schools were a different matter. They still are. Sad, as they used to be excellent and it has been since the introduction of comprehensive schools that they suffered.
Anyway, when we moved here Al and Weeza were already booked for schools in Norwich. But when Ro got to the age of deciding where to take him, we knew that Al's school wouldn't be right for him. Having been happy at the village school, we decided to keep with local schools unless and until we had reason to change.
Our results have gone up a lot more than the national average. They have been exceptional by any standards
I do think it's a pity that the papers are so discouraging to children, they're not allowed a single day to celebrate before journalists are sneering at them.
We don't have any extra money, by the way, much of that has been spent elsewhere. In fact, our finding for SEN and the 6th form was reduced. We do have things like BTechs which count towards the grades but it's the scores including English and Maths that one needs to look at.
I don't want to be a downer but the 107% pass rate in mathematics has a bit of an odd ring to it.
Am I being thicker than usual, Rog? My mental arithmetic isn't up to working out how many passed English or Maths but not both.
I am not familiar with the British school system, but understand that it's an important date in the year for all, students, teachers, parents. And I think you have all reason to be proud of your school and your work.
It is a fact, that one person can make a big difference. Without going into details, one school here, a humanist gymnasium, suffers greatly since a new head is installed three or four years ago. The numbers of students that leave, especially in the last three classes, have gone up significantly; even teachers try to leave. A change of generation, and the new people found shoes too big. Especially the humanist branch suffers, what is a real shame, and so people go to the monastery some kilometers away. I am still in contact with a Latin teacher from the gymnasium, and with all respect and reservation she allows the notion that the "climate" within the school, among teachers, changed a lot. What earlier was a system where everybody could speak without fear and was heared and taken serious now turned into a little North Korea, Hail the Fuehrer or get lost. The problem is that the stupid fool will stay in this position for the next 12 years to come. The good reputation of this school is already dented.
You're absolutely right, Mago. A poor headteacher, or one who is wrong for the school is a disaster. A good one can struggle if the staff aren't supportive or against a poor or obdurate governing body, but no school can do well without a good head. Ours is superb. So is his team.
I'm glad for the part you've played too, I am sure it has contributed to making our world better.
Wouldn't go that far, darling!
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