School leaders vow to improve on poor grades
Two Shropshire schools which were named as being among the worst in the country today vowed to improve their GCSE results over the next year.
Government figures released yesterday showed Sir John Talbot's Technology College, in Whitchurch, is in the bottom 30 state schools nationwide, with only 28 of its 108 pupils achieving five or more A*- C grades in subjects including English and maths.
It was joined on the list by Phoenix School in Dawley, Telford, which is in the bottom 200 schools with an A*- C pass rate of 38 per cent.
But the school's headteacher said the 'dip' was a result of the debacle following the government's decision to change the way the exams are marked.
Today Shropshire Council officials, who were brought into run Sir John Talbot's in December after fears of falling standards, said they will continue to ensure improvements are made.
Boosting
Karen Bradshaw, director of children's services, said: "Following these latest results which saw the school being below the national and Shropshire average, the council remains absolutely committed to boosting standards and helping the school raise attainment levels."
Phoenix School head teacher Neil Stonehouse said grades were affected by the national GCSE English row which saw many pupils awarded a D grade when they were expected to get a C.
He said: "Examination results at Phoenix School have improved year on year for the previous six years. The examination results in 2011 were the best in the history of the school.
"Unfortunately, last year there was a dip as a direct result of the national GCSE English debacle. Grade boundaries in English changed.
"As a school we were very disappointed, but I felt particularly saddened for the individual students whose results were in effect downgraded."
By Joseph Masi
