Schools enjoy league table success

24 January 2013 Last updated at 13:44 GMT By Judith Burns BBC News education reporter Colyton is determined not to be an 'exam factory' Every one of the 117 pupils entered for GCSEs at Colyton Grammar School in Devon got at least five good grades including English and maths, achieving the best results for GCSEs in England.

This is a particularly strong result as pupils at Colyton do all their exams a year early, at the end of Year 10.

"We are very pleased", said head teacher, Paul Evans, adding that it had been "a challenging year for schools".

Mr Evans said that Colyton's overall results were actually slightly down on last year's when it came fourth in the GCSE table - but he said this just showed that this year results had been "depressed across the board".

In particular he said that there had been fewer A* grades. He commented that the school had experienced "an increasing discomfort with the quality of assessment" and had been forced to challenge the exam boards and ask for remarks, particularly in modern languages.

Mr Evans was keen to emphasise that Colyton, whilst being a selective school, does not have the most challenging entrance exam. It takes around a third of the candidates who apply to start in Year 7.

"If I'm honest the most able children in any school will do well. The real challenge is to make the next tier down do well too, and that's what I am particularly proud of here.

"I have staff prepared to go the extra mile and make sure the pupils do well without over pressurising them."

The advantage of taking GCSEs in Y10 is that pupils at Colyton spend three years in the sixth form. Most come out with four A-levels, plus general studies and critical thinking. He said the three year sixth form enabled them to deliver a "very much broader curriculum, we are not just delivering the specification".

"We are very conscious about not being an exam factory. By the time they leave the sixth form we have encouraged them to become very individual learners. They are encouraged to read around their subjects and very much to go off at tangents".

'Most improved'

Three hours drive away, another school was celebrating a different kind of league table success.

Bad weather meant morning assembly was cancelled at Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre in Redditch. Pupils went straight into lessons or, in the case of the current Year 11s, a science exam.

So head teacher Marian Barton, had not yet had a chance to tell pupils of their success in achieving the most improved GCSE results in England.

"We are absolutely thrilled, very excited - and I am sure the pupils will be really proud and delighted when they find out", Ms Barton told BBC News.

Some 80% of pupils who took GCSEs in 2012 achieved the benchmark five A* to C grades, including English and maths, up from 32% in 2009.

Ms Barton said she was particularly pleased with last year's results because of when they first arrived in the school, only 55% that year group had been predicted to achieve good GCSE grades.

The school prides itself on being very open and not at all selective. Some 20% of the intake are on free school meals, an indicator of poverty often linked with poor academic performance, and 20% do not speak English at home.

Last year almost two thirds of free school meals children at Trinity High achieved five good grades at GCSE, outperforming the national average for all children.

Ms Barton puts the improvement in grades down to "hard work" and an improvement in teaching.

Trinity was formed in 2001 after a reorganisation of local schools. Ms Barton describes the first few years as "rocky". In 2008 the school was included in the then Labour government's national challenge programme for poorly performing schools, which delivered extra funding but also threatened with closure if they failed to improve.

It became an academy in 2011. Since then Ms Barton says she has focussed funding on hiring highly qualified teachers and on extra support for pupils who struggle with English and maths, including one to one tuition for those in danger of falling behind.

Ms Barton says she is confident that next year's GCSE candidates will do as well: "We know we can maintain this improvement".

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One Economy Receives $125,000 Grant From the Verizon Foundation to Support Education and Leadership Programs at Three Delta Region High Schools

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – April 14, 2011 –

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, awarded a $125,000 grant on Thursday (April 14) to One Economy to support education and leadership programs at three Delta region high schools.

The grant, announced at a ceremony at the Governor's Conference Room at the state Capitol, is the second part of a $250,000 commitment the Verizon Foundation made to support One Economy's Digital Connectors program at Dumas, Osceola and Lake Village high schools.  Gov. Mike Beebe participated in the announcement.

Through the program, students will develop leadership skills and receive technology training that provides the skills necessary to compete in today's economy. Those students will then volunteer in their communities, offering more than 4,000 hours of service.

Verizon Foundation President Rose Kirk said: "As a native Arkansan, and an individual very familiar with the needs of the Delta region, it gives me great pride to continue this investment in Arkansas' youth. The Digital Connectors program will allow these wonderful young people to develop the leadership, technological and community-oriented skills they will need to be successful in whatever career they choose."

Alan Greenlee, One Economy's vice president of programs, said: "Digital Connectors recognizes young people's natural affinity for embracing new technology. Through Verizon's generous grant, we are able to create a new generation of technology ambassadors who will promote digital training and inclusion throughout the Delta region."

Supporting the use of technology in education is a key mission for the Verizon Foundation. In addition to supporting programs such as One Economy, the foundation also supports education through Thinkfinity.org, an interactive online program that provides thousands of free educational resources for use in and out of the classroom.

"Our industry is advancing at an incredible pace every day, so it's critical that today's students receive technology training, and receive it as early as possible," said Steve Smith, president - South Central region, Verizon Wireless.  "The benefit of this program is twofold; students receive valuable training, and in turn, they give back to their communities."

The Verizon Foundation uses its technology, financial resources and partnerships to address critical social issues, with a focus on education and domestic violence prevention. In 2010, the foundation awarded nearly $67 million to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation's largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered nearly 6 million hours of community service since 2000. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizonfoundation.org.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 94.1 million customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 194,000 and last year generated consolidated revenues of $106.6 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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