Bridgnorth schools celebrate top results
Secondary schools in Shropshire are celebrating after receiving some of the top results in the country.
Oldbury Wells School, in Bridgnorth, was ranked second in the new government provisional examination tables, named Progress 8, published this week. The news follows the release of GCSE results published in the summer and pupils celebrated with about 900 cakes, one for every student.
Students Joel Bridgwater, Ellie Sankey and Alisha Ostler cut the first celebration cake, with more than 800 portions shared among staff and the rest of the school.
Deputy headteacher Lisa Thomas said: "We selected Joel, Ellie and Alisha for this honour because they were the three students in 2016 examinations with the highest progress scores.
"We asked maths teacher Mr Hudson to help them with this task because his maths class was the highest performing class in terms of the progress it made."
The full tables will be formally released as league tables in January. The new achievements measure is called Progress 8, which scores schools on how well all of their pupils do across a range of academic subjects.
Progress 8 looks at the progress pupils make between Key Stage 2 tests taken at the end of primary school and their performance in a specified mixture of eight subjects at the end of secondary school.
Schools are given a score based on how their pupils have progressed compared to the national average.
Head teacher Sarah Godden said: "We strive for every individual student to be successful at Oldbury Wells and believe we must champion the success of every child, so this new measure really suits us.
"Every pupil counts in the new scoring system, whether they are a pupil who finds their academic studies a struggle, or if they are an A* student."
Meanwhile, students at Bridgnorth Endowed School are celebrating after 71 per cent achieved a C or above in English and Maths, and came fourth in the county in Progress 8.
Head teacher of Bridgnorth Endowed, Phil Loveday, said: "Students achieving a grade C and above in English and Maths is vital for their dreams and aspirations.
"I am pleased that 71 per cent of our students achieved this challenging expectation.
"The Ebacc is a measure that shows how strong a schools curriculum and teaching is across a broad range of subjects. For the Endowed school to be the best in Shropshire with double the national average of students achieving this is wonderful.
"To perform above the national average in the government's new Progress 8 measure and to be amongst the best in Shropshire is brilliant."
As a local authority, Shropshire is not included in the Telford area, as it is a separate education authority. For more information visit compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk
