Girls’ school still the region’s best

ALTRINCHAM Grammar School for Girls is celebrating being named the best state-funded secondary in the region.

It tops the list of Greater Manchester high schools according to the Real Schools Guide 2020.

The comprehensive new guide, compiled by Reach’s data unit, aims to give a far more comprehensive picture than traditional league tables.

It takes into account 51 different data points – including not just GCSE results and Attainment 8 scores but also factors like Progress 8, pupil-teacher ratios and absence rates.

It is published as a print product but parents can also go online to browse the full data, compare different schools, and find links to contact details and recent Ofsted reports.

The guide, now in its eighth year, has been praised by ministers and education experts alike. Former schools minister David Laws called it ‘public-service journalism in the best tradition.’

This year’s results put the Altrincham Grammar School for Girls (AGGS) on top as the best school in Greater Manchester for the second successive year. In second place is Bolton Muslim Girls School, while third is the Loreto Grammar School, in Trafford.

AGGS is part of the Bright Futures Educational Trust. It was one of the first schools in the country to be designated a National Teaching School and is a lead school in a number of subjects, including mathematics, science and modern foreign languages.

Principal Stephanie Gill said: “We are delighted to have been named as the top performing state-funded school in Greater Manchester again this year.

“This accolade belongs to our students, who have performed so well. But it could not have been achieved without our wonderful staff, whose support and guidance has enabled our students to achieve their potential – both within the classroom and in the many extra-curricular activities in which they participate so successfully.”

The school has 1,362 pupils on roll, aged from 11 to 18, and was rated outstanding in its last Ofsted inspection. At a subsequent ‘quality assurance review’ in 2016, inspectors said the school remains ‘firmly within the outstanding grade,’ adding: “It is worth noting that this is the fifth consecutive review that has found the same outstanding indicators.”