News Zone
Top marks for Knowsley as GCSE improvement beats national average
Date: 21 August
Knowsley's rate of improvement for GCSEs is expected to be more than five times the national average.
For ten years running Knowsley's attainment has improved with provisional results released today showing 55% of students gaining at least five GCSE passes.
Students gaining five grades A*-C, including English and Maths is 30%, which demonstrates an improvement rate that is expected to be five times the national average.
The top performing school is St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High in Prescot where 51% of students gained five grades A*-C, including English and Maths. This is a 12% increase on last year’s results and meets the target set by the government for attainment levels by 2010.
Halewood College achieved a pass rate of 42% of students gaining five grades A*-C including English and Maths (60% for overall GCSEs) and the overall pass rate for five GCSEs at Brookfield High School in Kirkby is 71% making it the top performing school for this measure.
Cllr Graham Wright, Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services, said: “I am delighted to see that Knowsley students are surpassing all expectations once again. These students worked extremely hard to achieve this success – often overcoming significant barriers to learning. It makes me feel very proud, as yet again more of our young people will be progressing into further education, training and employment.”
Firm Foundations, an innovative package of ‘personalised learning tools’ has helped drive up this year’s results. This includes online learning, pod casts, revision programmes and the ability to download video clips to help young people to develop their own individual learning alongside one-to-one tuition.
It is offered to students to boost their GCSE chances particularly in maths and English and also encourages greater involvement from parents helping to develop a culture of learning in Knowsley.
Knowsley Council aims to build on the ten year’s of continuous improvement in GCSE results while also equipping young people to succeed in the workplace and improve their life chances.
Adding his congratulations, Damian Allen, Executive Director of Children and Family Services at Knowsley, said: “Driving up attainment levels has been a major focus for Knowsley and this year’s grades are proof that the initiatives in place are really working. In partnership with all our secondary schools, programmes such as Firm Foundations have helped contribute to this year’s successful results.
“But the real stars are the students for their hard work and commitment. Knowsley will continue to build upon these improvements to ensure future success for all learners. This year’s success will provide a springboard for the effective transition from our current schools, to the seven new state of the art, Centres for Learning, that will start to open between 2009 and 2010.”
During the last year Knowsley has had a major focus on improving the attainment levels of students at secondary school level, whilst seeking to transform the future of learning through major investments in the preparation and training of the school workforce.
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Further Information: Gemma Melling, Media Officer: 0151 443 3575
Notes to Editors:
The Firm Foundations programme is being delivered by the Council in partnership with schools and includes:
- 50:50 Challenge – students have access to online learning resources such as pod casts, video clips and worksheets at schools, city learning centres and libraries on Saturdays and after school. The aim is to pass the ALAN – adult literacy and numeracy – test which is equivalent to a GCSE pass in maths and English. Students will be eligible to receive up to £50 in vouchers for sitting and passing the test.
- Personalisation – personalised Learning opportunities for all with tutors including targeting pupils with the most need, both in terms of addressing under performance and pushing excellence.
- Super Sundays – these are intense revision sessions held on Sunday’s just before exams.
- Excel residentials - selected cohorts of pupils are given intensive coaching and tutoring in key subjects like Maths and English. However the two or three day residential will also involve other activities such as life coaching and character development.
The seven new Centres for Learning are part of a £150 million Future Schooling in Knowsley programme, to replace all of Knowsley’s secondary schools with world class, versatile purpose built learning environments.
For information about the future of schooling in the borough, including the development of seven new Centres for Learning, contact: 0151 443 4683.