Hodgson tops Fylde coast tables

Published today, the tables give an insight into how high schools and colleges are performing at GCSE and A-level.

And despite some controversy nationally, surrounding the accuracy of the data, local secondary schools were pleased with the results.

Hodgson Academy in Poulton topped the league tables for Fylde coast’s state schools.

Their lead follows the success of 2015 where 70 per cent of GCSE students gained the benchmark of at least five A star to C grades including English and maths.

Hodgson’s Principal Toni Roethling said she was delighted to be topping the tables for the fourth year in a row.

She said: “This is a remarkable achievement as we obviously have a diverse mix of students every year, with a different range of abilities across the subjects.

“We were so pleased that our students achieved another strong set of results in 2015. There were many individual success stories, but one of the most pleasing overall aspects was that 30 per cent of our students gained an A* or A grade in GCSE maths and nearly a third (32 per cent) achieved the English Baccalaureate.”

In Blackpool, Felicity Greeves, CEO of The Fylde Coast Academy Trust, which incorporates Mongomery, Unity Academy and Aspire Academy, said that although the results were pleasing, complacency was not an option.

She said: “We are pleased with the improved results at Montgomery but are not complacent and are focussing our work on ensuring each student makes better progress in all our schools”.

At another Blackpool school, the headteacher was pleased with performance but was cautious about what the league tables demonstrate.

Simon Eccles, who heads St Mary’s Catholic Academy in St Walburga’s Road, said: “We are very pleased with our GCSE results and proud of the achievements of our students at St Mary’s.

“League tables represent just one set of information which parents can use to find out more information about a school.

“They don’t tell the whole story however, for example our commitment to the education of the whole child, a fabulous enrichment programme and the excellent progress students make at our Academy.

“Our focus at St Mary’s remains a continual drive for improvement building on last year’s success.”

In South Fylde, St Bede’s Catholic High School in Lytham was particularly pleased by the school’s ‘best 8 value-added’ measure which demonstrated progress.

Headteacher Phil Grice said: “We are delighted with the GCSE results attained by our pupils which reflect their hard work, the dedication of our teachers and invaluable parental support.

“We are particularly pleased that the ‘Best 8 value-added’ measure demonstrates that St Bede’s pupils made significantly greater progress than pupils at most schools nationally.”

Reading the results at Saint Aidan’s High School in Preesall, headteacher Andy Smith was especially pleased by the school’s record English Baccalaureate figure of 46 per centre. It was one of the highest in the county.

He said: “I’m delighted to see this public confirmation of the results of the hard work which our staff and last year’s Year 11 students put into their GCSE exams.

“Many of them did better than even they thought they could and are now working hard on the next stage of their education.

“However, everyone at Saint Aidan’s knows that these figures don’t tell the whole story about our students and we are just as pleased to know that they left us as happy, well-rounded young adults who have had a huge range of opportunities given to them as we are to see the high grades which these figures reflect.”

And at Millfield High School in Thornton, headteacher Sean Bullen said he was pleased with the performance in the 2015 examinations.

He said: “Students achieved 66 per cent 5A*-C English and maths.

“In addition 80 per cent of English students gained A*-C in English, while 78 per cent gained A*-C in Mathematics.

“Following on from four awards at the recent Gazette Education Awards Ceremony, and a prestigious visit from Sir Michael Wilshaw, chief of OFSTED, I would like to congratulate the 2015 Year 11 students at “Team Millfield”.

“We are very proud of them, and we wish them every success in their future.”

Pick up a copy of today’s Gazette for results.