Published: Thursday, 28th August, 2008 06:00
Girls do well in Reading's GCSE results
By Annabel Williams
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READING and Wokingham boroughs are most definitely on the up when it comes to GCSEs and girls across the town are leading the way in league tables.
This year and for the first time, the percentage of youngsters getting five or more A*-C graded GCSEs including English and maths in the Reading borough spilled into a majority at 51%.
Last year, this measure was 47% in Reading and 47% nationally.
It is the third year in a row for improvement at GCSE level in the town, and the amount of youngsters scooping five or more good passes also increased from 58% last year to 61%, improving from 45% in 2005.
Some 30.6% of the town’s grades were As or A*s, nearly half as many again as is the case nationally at 20.7%, and 70.2% of the borough’s grades were A*-C, compared to 65.5% nationally.
In the Wokingham borough, the hard work paid off as they too achieved the best results in their area.
This year, 71.3% of students gained five or more A*-C passes compared to 65.7% nationally and 66.4% in the borough last year.
The number of students achieving five or more A*-C including English and maths also improved from 61.%, compared to 57.6% last year.
Nearly all the borough’s pupils got one or more GCSE pass, 99.6%, compared with 98.5% last year.
WBC children’s services leader Cllr Norman Jorgensen said: “Year-on-year our results put the borough as one of the top local education authorities in the country.
“It can be hard to improve the very high standards in GCSE results but this year we have improved again and we have seen the best ever set of results.
“However, this doesn’t mean that education isn’t still going to be a priority for this council.”
In the Times’ table of top schools, secondaries had to be rated on the proportion of A* and A*/A grades combined, putting Kendrick School in Reading in fifth place.
Girls were most definitely on top in Reading as The Abbey, an independent girls’ school, was sixth while the boys at Reading School could only managed 43rd.
Other schools from the area included Queen Anne’s School in Caversham at 66th, Langley Grammar School in Slough at 97th, Marist Senior School in Sunninghill at 111th, St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School in slough at 150th, Herschel Grammar School in Slough at 172nd, Ranelagh CofE School in Bracknell at 217th, The Oratory School in Woodcote at 242nd, The Holt School in Wokingham at 258th, The Downs School near Newbury at 265th, Claires Court School in Maidenhead at 363rd, Maiden Erlegh in Earley at 387th, Charters School in Sunningdale at 393rd, Langtree at 461th, Kennet School in Newbury at 462nd, The Forest School in Wokingham 469th, Pangbourne College at 487th, Waingels College at 490th, Little Heath School in Tilehurst at 495th, The Piggott School in Wargrave at 496th, Park House School And Sports College in west Berkshire at 528th, Edgbarrow School in Bracknell 571st, Newlands Girls’ School in Maidenhead at 590th, Theale Green Community School at 601st, The Windsor Boys’ School at 666th, Desborough School in Maidenhead at 704th, Cox Green School in Maidenhead at 710th, Baylis Court School in Slough at 739th, The Emmbrook School in Wokingham 786th, St Crispin’s School in Wokingham at 793rd.
THERE were record-breaking results at Reading Blue Coat School in Sonning, with 14 out of 92 pupils gaining straight A* and A grades.
Two boys, Luke Eaton from Caversham and Ross McAdam from Lower Shiplake, gained 10 A*s each, and Luke said “ I’m shaking, I can’t really believe it, ten A*s, wow.”
Overall, 71.6% of grades achieved were A* or A grades, a school record, and there was an overall pass rate of 99.2%.
Some subjects were particularly strong, as the geology group gained 22 A*s from 23 pupils, while 62% of maths GCSEs were awarded an A*.
New headteacher, Michael Windsor, said “This is a fantastic way for me to start at the school. The boys have clearly worked hard and this outstanding set of results is a credit to them.”
At The Forest School in Wokingham, nine students passed with strings of A* and A grades, including Morgan Haxby, Stephen Howling, Matthew Hughes, Richard Matthews, Will O’Rourke, Liam O’Toole, Mark Petch, James Povey and Ben Ramsay.
YOUNG sportswomen at Queen Anne’s School in Caversham achieved top marks.
England lacrosse silver medal winner Hannah Nugent, 16, from Henley, was awarded seven A* and four A grades, maintaining her academic standards while competing with the silver medal-winning team in the Prague Cup in June.
Also keeping her focus on exams while training hard was 16-year-old swimmer Kristina Paige, from Reading, who gained ten A* grades and one A.
In addition to being a national medal holder, Kristina competed at the senior British Olympic trials.
The pair contributed to a 100% pass rate for Queen Anne’s girls, 69% of whom achieved A* and A grades.
There were 100% pass rates at A*-B grades in each of the sciences – physics, chemistry and biology, just under 100% at A*-B for English and English literature, and 89% of girls attained A* and A grades for maths.
Headteacher Julia Harrington said: “Congratulations go to Hannah and Kristina for doing particularly well at combining outstanding academic achievements with exceptional results in international sports at the highest senior level.
“Queen Anne’s girls continued to achieve superb results at GCSE, and our excellence in science has shone through again, proving how much the girls are benefiting from and enjoying our new state-of-the-art science building.”
PADWORTH college students excelled themselves by scoring a 100% pass rate, while 78% of all entries achieved A*-C grades.
Principal Linde (COR) Melhuish said: “I am delighted with this year’s GCSE results – they are testimony to the determination and hard work of our students and our committed staff.
“As a non-selective school, we are committed to enabling each individual student to fulfil their academic goals and I believe that these results reflect the college’s inclusiveness and the strong learning and achievement culture which motivates and supports all of our students.”
THERE were straight A grades for brothers at The Oratory School in Woodcote.
Jean-Christophe Arnold found out about his A* and A grades in his GCSEs a week after brother Will was awarded straight As for his A-levels.
Jean-Christophe, from Pangbourne, gained A* grades in biology, chemistry and Italian, with As for geography, history, physics, English, English literature and maths.
The youngster will return to The Oratory to begin A-levels next month, while Will heads for Bristol University to read biology following four A grades in French, biology, chemistry and art.
The brothers played cricket together in The Oratory’s first XI in a year when the school won Independent School of the Year for Sport.
There were A*s too for twins Benjamin and Peter Morrell, both boarders at the boys’ school for 11 to 18-year-olds, and for Christopher Redfern from Reading, who all took GCSE music a year early.
The three performed organ solos in public this year, just a few months after beginning lessons.
There was virtually a 100% pass rate for GCSEs, with nearly 40% of boys achieved A* and A grades.
Headteacher Clive Dytor said: “Congratulations to all our students who achieved A* and A grades in particular and to the boys who performed top marks a year early.
“The percentage of boys with top grades is even better than last year and is proof of the hard work by our pupils and staff.”
THIS year, 74% of students achieved at least five A*-C grades at Chiltern Edge School in Sonning Common, 7% more than last year.
It is the latest good news for the school, after its notice to improve from Ofsted was lifted in March.
For the second year running, all 44 drama students achieved A*-C grades.
Shining stars at the Reades Lane secondary include Helen Dalgliesh, who achieved 12 A* and A grades, Naomi Szulc, Dominic Aubrey-Jones and Chloe Parker with 11 A* or A grades each, and scoring 10 top grades each were Alisha Metcalfe, Lucy Mills, Rory Mills-Williams, Lucy Partridge and Dora Radesevic.
Headteacher Paul Leonard said: “I am extremely proud of the achievements of all of our students.
“This is our third year of outstanding results which are the result of excellent teaching, great commitment from students, and brilliant support from parents.
“The recent OFSTED inspection highlighted the considerable strengths of Chiltern Edge.
“These results confirm and support their findings. Chiltern Edge, which takes 70% of its students from Caversham, is an excellent and high-achieving school.”
BRADFIELD College saw its largest ever GCSE year group achieve the best ever GCSE results.
The cohort of 137 equalled the record number of A* and A grades awarded to last year’s group but showed even more consistency across the top A-C grades.
Students with strings of A* and A grades included Felicity Brienza from Maidenhead, Annabel Cole, Liam Hess, Ellie Piper and Thomas Marsh from Newbury, Max Fane from Aldworth, Richard Hartz from Stanford Dingley, Nicholas Phillips from Peppard, Will Welsby from Upper Basildon, and Dougie Wilson from Bradfield Southend.
Headteacher Peter Roberts said: “This is a particularly exciting year group, about to embark on to the sixth form stage.
“They have shown great enthusiasm and ability in sport, music and drama, besides the academic success we celebrate today.”
GIRLS from The Abbey School in Reading celebrated one of the most successful GCSE years ever.
The 105 year 11 girls achieved a 100% pass rate, with half of all results being graded A* and 89% at either A or A*.
Altogether, two-thirds of pupils obtained all As or A*s.
There were four students who scored among the top ten marks in the country for their subjects - Helena Blake for food technology and Lydia Murphy, Laura Paraskeva and Elodie Mason for textiles technology.
Eleven girls obtained ten or more A*s including Emilie Bergstrom, Susannah Baldwin, Harriet Jones, Rachel Lobley, Polly Marino, Antonia Qamar, Shona Sandhu, Siân Smith, Nicola Watling, Emma Wilkinson and Emily Wyatt.
The school was particularly delighted that Jennifer Shrimpton, a pupil who has been seriously ill over the year and has undertaken most of her work at home, with on-going support from the school, has succeeded in getting A*s for all nine of her subjects.
Twins Katherine and Victoria Savage were thrilled at getting all As and A*s, with Victoria planning to do A-levels now Katherine will do the new International Baccalaureate which the school is introducing this year.
Headteacher Barbara Stanley said: “We are delighted with the outstanding results which show excellence across the whole range of subjects. This reflects the dedication and hard work of staff and girls alike.
“We enter the new school year confident that we have yet another excellent sixth form.
“Whether girls are studying for the International Baccalaureate or A-levels, I know that their results will be just as good as the ones we were celebrating last week.”
THERE was another great set of results Langtree School in Woodcote.
Some 69% of students secured five or more GCSEs at grade C or above and, for the second year in succession, 64% of all students achieved five or more GCSEs at grade C or above including English and maths.
Headteacher Rick Holroyd was keen to praise the efforts of students and staff alike, and said: “These results reflect a consistent level of high performance at Langtree and students and staff are to be congratulated for all the hard work they have put in to produce these outcomes.”
Mr Holroyd was also keen to celebrate the improved performance of the boys in the school: “It is especially gratifying to see how well the boys have done overall.
“Boys’ achievement was up again this year and this is very pleasing as the performance of the boys has been a key area of focus for us as a school over the last two years.”
Amongst the successes of the year group, particular individual noteworthy performances came from Alex Smith and Joanna Maskens, who both secured six A* and five A grades, Sam Dickens achieved seven A* and three A grades and Sam Fitchett celebrated five A* and five A grades.
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