Three schools improve GCSEs

EXAM tables have shown three of the five secondary schools in the region have improved their GCSE results in the past 12 months.

Gordano School in Portishead, Clevedon School and St Katherine’s School in Pill recorded better results in the 2012-13 academic year, in terms of achieving five A* to C grades, including English and maths.

The North Somerset average dropped slightly although no mainstream schools in the district failed to reach the Government’s 40 per cent target.

Gordano School headteacher Gary Lewis said he was pleased with how the school had done but admitted statistics fail to truly reflect school life.

He said: “As a headteacher should I be chasing C grades or pursuing the best curriculum and experiences for all pupils?

“I’m glad Gordano’s GCSE results increased this year but I’m still frustrated tables overly emphasise one aspect of the school’s performance and omits the things that really make the school what it is.

“Our current production of Midsummer Night’s Dream won’t be measured in league tables, nor will the resilience of our 130 young people on the Welsh mountains this weekend in pursuit of their Duke of Edinburgh Award.”

Mr Lewis said a change for next year to include data on pupils’ best eight grades will be a fairer reflection of standards.

Backwell, Gordano and Clevedon schools all made the top-six for the whole of North Somerset, in terms of enabling their students to get five A* to C grades, including maths and English.

Results:

(The figures below show number of eligible pupils, percentage achieving five A*-C including English and maths in 2013 (2012) and percentage of pupils with five A*-C.)

Gordano School: 316 66 (63) 79

Clevedon School: 192 63 (61) 73

Nailsea School: 175 49 (55) 67

St Katherine’s School: 163 49 (48) 84

North Somerset: 2239 58.5 (58.8) 77.1