Top marks for axed school
SUNDERLAND HIGH SCHOOL CLOSED ITS DOORS ON A HIGH
A Wearside school which closed its doors in the summer went out on a high with top results.
The national GCSE and A-level performance tables published today show that Sunderland High School had the best results last year across the city.
Although the Government is drastically changing the benchmarks for schools to be measured by, the all-age independent school was top.
In October 2013, the Department of Education announced a new secondary school accountability system to be brought in from 2016.
It includes two new headline measures, Attainment 8 and Progress 8.
The school’s Progress 8 score calculates pupils’ progress from the end of primary to the end of secondary across eight qualifications.
Attainment 8 measures the achievement of a pupil across 8 qualifications, including maths and English, three of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects, which include sciences, computer science, geography, history and languages, and three further subjects from a range, which can be EBacc or other GCSE approved.
The national average Attainment 8 score was 49.9 ,with Sunderland scoring 48.2
When the GCSE results came out in August, headteacher at the Mowbray Road school, Dr Angela Slater, knew they were among the best they ever had.
She said: “Words cannot describe how proud I am of this group. This was an unprecedented year for the Year 11 students and for the staff who have supported them.”
Across Sunderland the results were improved on the previous year, but still below the national average.
Latest figures show 53.7% of students gained five or more A*-C grades including maths and English, compared to the national average of 57.4%.
Despite the changes in education, portfolio holder for children’s services, Coun Louise Farthing, said: “What remains clear is that Sunderland GCSE and A-level results overall are holding up to and in some subjects exceeding national averages, while in early years and primary schools there is a longerterm trend of improvements.
“Students, staff and parents can all be congratulated for the hard-work and dedication that helped achieve these results.”