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Joy after college’s dramatic turnaround
DELIGHT ... for Nick Hurn, headteacher of St Wilfred's RC College.
THIS year’s school league tables have completed a “stunning” turnaround for one South Tyneside school – just 13 months after it was put on the official ‘failing’ list.
St Wilfrid’s RC College in Temple Park Road, South Shields, was put into special measures back in October 2010, and told it must improve.
Earlier this month, the school was taken off the failing list, when Ofsted inspectors declared that it now offers a good quality of education.
And now the school is celebrating after 91 per cent of its pupils gained five or more A* to C grades across all subjects, with 72 per cent of St Wilfrid’s pupils achieving the minimum C grade in at least five subjects, including the core skills of English and maths.
Nick Hurn, who has been executive headteacher at St Wilfrid’s since October 2010, said: “We are thrilled. Our pupils are talented and dedicated to learning. They have done themselves and the school proud.
“With the poor Ofsted back in 2010, we were starting at such a low base, but these figures show how far we have come.”
How did your school do? View the full table here.
He added: “It is remarkable that the staff have rallied round so quickly, to get results up to the stunning level that we have.
“The results show we are among the top performers in South Tyneside, and we want to keep improving and do even better next year.”
Mr Hurn said hard work has been at the heart of the school’s transformation, adding: “Without a doubt it has been down to the hard work and professionalism of everyone involved.
“We were under the cosh for the whole of 2011, being in special measures. We have had to be on the ball at all times to turn things around. The pupils have excelled and we have also had a lot of support from parents.”
Mr Hurn said most schools take about 18 months to come out of special measures, but St Wilfrid’s was rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted after just a year.
The latest inspection took place in December.
The inspectors published their findings in January, and said: “The school has made exceptional progress in tackling the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection.
“Inspirational leadership, together with good support, has created a climate of collective responsibility for sustaining improvement.
“The exceptionally strong focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning has brought about very strong improvements in students’ outcomes, and the much-improved progress they now make.”
Pupils were also praised by inspectors for their behaviour and focus.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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