Telford school celebrates best ever report
A Telford school once under threat of closure is celebrating its best ever report from education watchdogs, which praised students for performing “well above” the national average.
The Lord Silkin School has achieved a 'good' rating following a recent visit by Ofsted, with inspectors highlighting the positive relationships between staff and pupils and the rapidly improving standards at the Stirchley school.
The report said students' attainments had risen in almost 'every key indicator' and that the school 's status as a specialist centre for maths was seeing pupils achieve “strong outcomes”.
It said: “Crucially, the proportion of students who leave with five GCSEs at grades A*-C is now above average. All students who left school in 2010 and 2011 did so with at least five GCSE qualifications, this being well above the national average.
“The school has made good progress in making improvements and good progress in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement.”
Inspectors were also impressed by the behaviour of students and how pupils were taking more responsibility thanks to an active school council.
The report marks an astonishing turnaround for the school which three years ago was on a list of under-performing schools which may have faced closure, however it has since achieved record-breaking exam results and is now Telford's most improved school.
This year, 81 per cent of students achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A-C, making the school the fifth best performing in the local authority area. In 2007, only 38 per cent of students achieved the same grades.
Welcoming the report, headteacher Trevor Goddard said: “We are thrilled to have this official recognition of all the hard work which has been done by students and staff at the Lord Silkin.
“To go from where we were three years ago, to being the most improved school in Telford & Wrekin and receiving a good rating from Ofsted, is great news not just for us but for the community in which we are based.
“Of course, the work doesn't stop here. We are an inclusive school where every child counts, so we will always be working hard to improve both the academic standards and the quality of education, care and support our students receive as we prepare them for adult life,” he added.
Proposals are currently under way to rebuild the school on a neighbouring site as part of the Telford & Wrekin Future Schools plan. The new facilities for the community in Stirchley will include a new primary and secondary school plus further education opportunities for those aged 16 and over. The development will incorporate the existing Grange Park Primary.
