 TOP CLASS!
SIXTH-FORM applicants looking to study out of the borough may want to rethink their decision after Hackney took gold, silver and bronze as the most improved education provider for 14 to 19-year-olds.
Government figures released last week based on key stages four and five showed that Hackney was the most improved local authority in the country in 2009 for GCSEs – and at post- 16 it ranked as the nation’s second most improved authority per student and the third most improved per subject.
52.2 per cent of students in Hackney achieved the benchmark of five A*-C GCSEs including English and maths, beating the national average of 50.7 per cent for the first time. The figures showed an improvement of nearly 10 per cent on last year and the average figure received a massive boost from Mossbourne Academy’s stunning results.
It is the borough’s only academy where students have taken GCSEs and 86 per cent of pupils at the school in Downs Park Road achieved the benchmark.
Meanwhile, Hackney is the second most improved authority in A-level point scores per student, with an average of 625.4 per pupil – up from last year’s 552.3. The national average this year is 739.1.
Hackney is also the third most improved authority in average point score per exam entry, with an average score of 210.5 – equivalent to a C grade – and up from 197.8 in 2008. The national average is 211.7.
This year’s tables include a “progress measure” for the first time, showing what percentage of pupils in each school made the progress they were expected to between leaving primary school and completing their GCSEs.
Both BSix Brooke House Sixth Form College and Cardinal Pole school came among the top five per cent of post-16 institutions in the country for adding value to pupils’ education.
Cardinal Pole’s head of sixth form, Graham Surety, said: “That means we took students with a C or D grades predicted at GCSE and got them A or B grades. We significantly improved the value of their education by coming here.”
The school in Kenworthy Road broke the 700 points per student barrier for the first time in Hackney, with an average score per student of 707.2, only half a grade below the national average of 721.1. The school scored better than their main competitors outside the borough where many kids go if they decide not to stay at school in Hackney.
La Swap College in Camden had a score of 679, City and Islington College scored 644 and Leyton College scored 628. “The thing that’s interesting for Hackney children is that figures show those who go out of the borough do less well than those who decide to stay,” added Mr Surety.
“The grass isn’t always as green. They think that they will go to some new college, but they struggle to fit in. You have less than a year until you take anA/S and they have to get used to new teachers and make a new set of friends.
“Figures show that our students fare less well than the indigenous students in those boroughs and it’s a false premise to want to leave, especially since our schools are performing much better.”
BSix in Kenninghall Road, Lower Clapton, was the sixth highest performing college out of London’s 46 colleges, based on an average points score per student of 219.2 – a figure above the national average of 211.7.
Principal Ken Warman said:
“I was really pleased as the colleges above us in the table are selective and can ask for whatever grades they want. We don’t do that and have even beaten some of the other selective colleges. Last year we had a record number of applications for a place at BSix and we are four times ahead of the figure we had this time last year.
“People are getting the message they need to get in early and it’s a sign that the borough’s and our reputation is getting better and people are talking about it.”
Students at Hackney Community College achieved a 13.8 per cent improvement on last year as the average point score per student rose from 463.2 in 2008 to 527.1 in 2009.
Principal Ian Ashman said: “We’ve concentrated on improving teaching quality and aspects like students’ punctuality across the college, which has clearly had a positive impact.”
Alan Wood, chief executive of
The Learning Trust said: “These are truly phenomenal results. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of students, staff and the wider community, Hackney is one of the most improved areas of the country at KS4 and post-16, an achievement that should make everyone involved immensely proud.
“For the first time, we are ahead of the national average at key stage four and we have once again narrowed the gap between ourselves and the national average at post-16.”
Article courtesy of Hackney Gazette Thursday 21st January 2010
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