Local schools post strong results this year

GCSE Results Day, always a time of great trepidation for those involved, has left the young people of Chiswick - as well as their teachers and parents - with much cause for celebration in 2014.

Despite a major overhaul to the GCSE system this year, schools in Chiswick and the surrounding area have posted strong performances, matching or even bettering the results of previous years.

Across the Borough of Hounslow, a record breaking 68.7 per cent of the 2,600 GCSE students were awarded 5 or more A*-C grades, including English and maths – up from last year’s figure and a whole  10 percentage points better than just four years ago.

Councillor Tom Bruce, cabinet member for education at Hounslow Council, said:

“This is another set of incredible results from local students, who – no matter what changes are made to the system – just can’t stop breaking records!

Chiswick School matched last year's record-smashing results at GCSE in a testing national climate. Over three-quarters (76%) of students achieved at least 5 'good' GCSEs, those marked between A* and C grades. This is well above a national average of 69%.

Nearly seven-in-ten pupils (67%) achieved 5 A* to Cs including English and Maths, considered to be the benchmark figure for academic achievement at GCSE. In a new record for the school, 23% of all entries from Chiswick School attained the elite A* or A grades.

Particularly impressive was how the school performed in English and Maths, two of the most academically rigorous subjects. As many as 81% of students at Chiswick managed to attain A* to C grades in Maths; this is the third year running that Chiswick School has exceeded 80% in this subject, a level which dwarfs a national average of 62.4%.

Nationally, there was a significant dip in A* to C attainment at English this year, yet English results at Chiswick School have actually risen. In 2014, 72% of students achieved grades of C or above in English compared to a national average of less than 62%.

As well as a strong performance across the board from pupils at Chiswick School, there were also some stellar individual success stories. Evie Chalmers (pictured, above right) raked in 7A* levels, including in English Language, Literature, History and Maths, as well as 4As and 5Bs.

Ladan Maolin (below left) received 6 A*s, 6As and 3B grades, while Katie Davies, Lucy Hull, Gabby Smith and Ben Cobb all managed 5 A* grades with all their GCSEs at B grade or above. Jasmine Ketch-Neumann (below right), as well as getting 4 A*s and 5 A grades, managed to achieve an A for her Extended Project Qualification, one of a number of Year 11 students at Chiswick School who opted to tackle the EPQ.

Tony Ryan, Headteacher at Chiswick School, toasted the work of his GCSE students:
“We really could not have asked for a better year group to work with, they have ‘rolled’ with the structural changes to assessment and have worked with us throughout in order to obtain these fantastic results."

86% of students at Gunnersbury Catholic School managed to achieve at least 5 A* to C grades including Maths and English, while all students managed to get 5 GCSEs or more above a C grade. Particularly impressive were the efforts of Dylan Coll-Read, who can lay claim to a gob-smacking eleven A* grades, as well as Connor Winzar and Arthur Morgan, who both achieved 10 A*s.

At Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in Kensington, GCSE results remained excellent despite reports of national variability. An unbelievable 57.3% of all GCSE entries from the school received an A or A* grade. A shade under a quarter (24.7%) of Vaughan entries received A*, compared to a national average of 6.7%. The proportion of students achieving at least 5 GCSE A* to C grades including English and Maths rose slightly to 93%.

Latymer Upper had another landmark year, with over two-thirds of students achieving at least 5 A*s while as many as 66 students managed 8 A* grades or more. All together, young people at Latymer managed to compile a scarcely credible one thousand A* grades between them.

Headteacher David Goodhew commented, “My warmest congratulations to this year's GCSE candidates on their fantastic results – collectively, they have achieved over 1000 A* grades! It is wonderful to see their efforts, and those of their teachers, so richly rewarded."

Girls at independent school Godolphin and Latymer in Hammersmith managed to improve on the school's already outstanding track record at GCSE level, with a full three-quarters of all exams taken being marked at the top grade possible, compared to 68.5% last year. A superlative 96% of all entries received either A* or A grades.

In a record for the Roman Catholic, all-girls school, 84% of students at Gumley House Convent School achieved 5 or more A* to C grades including English and Maths. A shade under nine-tenths of Gumley pupils managed to achieve a 'good' pass in English, bucking a national trend of drooping English results. Nearly 7 in 10 entries (68%) at Gumley were marked from A* to B, compared to 59% last year.

(Students at Latymer Upper School jump for joy)

At Catholic school St. Benedict's Ealing, Year 11 students posted strong results again after last year's record performance. One in five (19.9%) of all entries from the school achieved the top A* grade, while nearly half (48.7%) of all grades were marked A or above. 48 students at St. Benedict's can lay claim to 6 or more A grades, while 19 achieved 5 or more A* grades.

All-girls, independent Notting Hill and Ealing High saw 64% of all entries receive A* grades, smashing the school's record for A* achievement. 9 in 10 entries at Notting Hill were marked A or higher, while a stunning 58% of students received straight A* and As and a sweet 16 pupil managed to get the top grade in all their subjects.

Girls at independent school Putney High are also celebrating some outstanding GCSE results today, with 86% of entries receiving A* or A grades. A whopping 3 in 5 students managed to post at 10 A* to A grades, while as many as ten students achieved all A* grades.

August 22, 2014