Wakeman School hopes GCSE success will save it

The headteacher of a Shropshire secondary school with the axe hanging over it today said she hoped its record-breaking GCSE results would save it from closure.

Wakeman School in Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, saw 61.5 per cent of its pupils gain at least five A*s to Cs, including English and Maths, which was 16 per cent higher than the results for 2010.

A total of 76 per cent managed at least five passes at A* to C when English and Maths were not included. Karen Moore, headteacher at the Wakeman School, said she was delighted with the achievements of the pupils in what has been a difficult year.

"It shows we have kept our focus on what we need to be doing, offering the right sort of support and teaching. It is all credit to the parents and children as well," she said.

Shropshire Council's cabinet is set to meet on September 7 to decide on whether the school should shut its doors and Mrs Moore said she hoped the school's strong performance would be taken into consideration when the decision is made.

"We hope that they sit up and listen – the powers that be need to do that.

"What more do we need to do to prove that we are a good school? These are our best GCSE results ever."

If the proposal to close the Wakeman is approved next month by members of Shropshire Council, the school will close its doors at the end of the academic year in August 2013.

Earlier this month, a six-week public consultation on the future of the Wakeman came to a close, with 28 representations being received by Shropshire Council.

This was in addition to 55 representations that were provided to the local authority in a previous consultation period.

The headteacher's comments come as Aggie Caesar-Homden, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for education and skills, congratulated pupils across the county for their achievements in this year's GCSE results.

She said that early indication had shown that Shropshire schools were likely to exceed national averages across most indicators.

"We appreciate how hard the students have worked to gain their results and congratulate them on their achievements," Councillor Caesar-Homden said.

She added that they recognised the support the highly professional teachers, support staff, governors, volunteers, parents and carers, had given the students.

By Chris Burn