Schools celebrating league tables success
Durrington High School head teacher Sue Marooney with pupils
TEACHERS and pupils across Worthing have had reason to celebrate following the publication of the national school league tables on Thursday (January 26).
Worthing independent school Our Lady of Sion came in the top 10 best secondary schools in West Sussex, placing in sixth place, one behind Lancing College.
More than 90 per cent of the pupils at the school, based in Gratwicke Road, achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE including English and maths, beating other Worthing-based secondary schools by a margin of 22 per cent.
Headmaster Michael Scullion said: “We are very, very pleased with the results, and it is down to the hard work and determination of our students and our staff.
“We think our key to success is that we create a very happy, hard-working atmosphere so students achieve their potential and more. We always try to make sure every pupil achieves their very best.”
There were 50 secondary schools in West Sussex which took GCSE exams in 2011.
Davison High School, in Selborne Road, came out on top in Worthing when looking at the percentage of pupils making progress in English and maths, with 81 per cent and 76 per cent of pupils respectively achieving what was expected of them nationally.
The national average is 71.8 per cent for English and 64.8 per cent for maths.
Chatsmore High School, in Goring Street, Goring, came the lowest in the league table out of the Worthing-based schools, with only half of pupils achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE including English and maths, seeing it place in the bottom 20 per cent of schools included in the table.
However, 70 per cent of pupils at the school did make the expected progress in English and 69 per cent in maths last year.
Durrington High School, in The Boulevard, Durrington, has steadily increased its percentage of A*-C GCSE grades since 2008, seeing it beat The Angmering School and equal the results at Steyning Grammar School and Worthing High School, in South Farm Road.
The school, based in The Boulevard, now has 60 per cent of students achieving five or more A*-C grades at GCSE – an eight per cent increase on 2008.
Almost four-fifths of Durrington pupils made the expected progress in English in 2011, with a figure of 79 per cent, and 70 per cent achieved what they should in maths.
Deputy head teacher Shaun Allison said the staff at Durrington are very pleased with this year’s results.
“We are delighted that the students are continuing to make excellent progress at the school,” he said. “It reflects on all the hard work the staff put into their job, and it is great that their efforts are really coming to fruition.”
Mr Allison added: “We always want pupils to excel in all subjects, but we still place the core subjects as most important. We are really happy with the progress, but we are always looking to improve year-on-year.”
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Weather for Worthing
Monday 28 May 2012
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