Shropshire secondary school league tables: Great work, but look at more than exams
Judge us by results – but also look at other good work going on in schools. That was the message from Shropshire headteachers as the secondary school league tables were published.
Judged on the measure of attainment – the average achievement per pupil in eight subjects – the top school in Shropshire was The Priory, in Shrewsbury.
Newport Girls High School was the best performing school in Telford & Wrekin.
Shropshire's second placed school was The Corbet in Baschurch, followed by the Community College in Bishop’s Castle.
In Telford & Wrekin, Haberdashers Adams Grammar School in Newport was second, with Thomas Telford School in third.
The school figures relate top performance in GCSE exams, presented as points per pupil, as well as A-levels. Detailed data available on the Department of Education website also shows how schools have performed in terms of progressing the attainment of students.
Michael Barratt, principal at The Priory, said he was delighted with the school’s performance in the league tables, but insisted that the figures are not the sole judge of successful schools.
He said: “We were very pleased with our results in 2018, with respect to the attainment and progress of our young people.
“They reflected the hard work, commitment and dedication of staff and students. Of course, whilst results are important, they are only one dimension of school life, and must be viewed as such.
“As hard as we work on our academic results, simultaneously we focus on developing confidence, independence and resilience in our young people.
Choices
“We want them to pursue their interests – be they academic, physical, creative, to develop their communication and teamwork skills, and in particular to appreciate the value of kindness and generosity to others.
“Ultimately we judge ourselves on whether our students leave the school with different choices and pathways in front of them.
“Whilst academic results do determine such choices to an extent, these other aspects of school are also very significant for them.”
Phil Adams, headteacher at The Corbet School in Baschurch, praised both staff and pupils for their efforts.
He said: “All members of the school community were very pleased indeed and that is how we feel about the school. It it is a really successful school, the pupils make really good progress in their time at this school and when they leave they go on to do really well in whatever they choose to do.”
He added: “For our pupils in this school there is a very good ethos of working hard, wanting to achieve, but also trying to maintain that school – life balance.
“I cannot praise our pupils enough. They are very serious, very determined, they want to do well but at the same time they do keep things in perspective, which is very important.”
Proud
Mr Adams said the people of the county should also be proud of their state schools.
He said: “Parents should realise that actually the state schools in Shropshire do provide a really good, high quality of education for their children.
“That is something we should be rightly proud of.
“There is not just us, there are a lot of good schools in the county providing a really good level of education, making sure that children can make the next step in whatever they choose.”
Reuben Thorley, headteacher at The Community College in Bishops Castle, said: “We are extremely proud of where we are and the performance of all students, and the way the staff have worked with all students to get that performance out of them.”
Asked about the secret to the college’s success Mr Thorley said: “We are very focused on the community aspect of the school.
“We focus a lot on inclusion. We try and include every student in everything we do.”
Mr Thorley took over from Alan Doust in September and he praised the good work of his predecessor.
He said: “Alan and the staff have done a great job, over the last few years the school has gone from strength to strength and is in a really good position now.”
The remaining top 10 Shropshire schools were Mary Webb School and Science College in Pontesbury, Meole Brace School, Oldbury Wells School, Church Stretton School, Idsall School in Shifnal, William Brookes School in Much Wenlock, and Sir John Talbot’ Technology College, Whitchurch.
In Telford the top performing schools were The Burton Borough in Newport, Madeley Academy in Telford, Holy Trinity School in Telford, Hadley Learning Community in Telford, Haberdashers Abraham Darby in Telford, Ercall Wood Technology College in Wellington Telford, and Charlton School, also in Wellington, Telford.
