A-levels - KES only school above national average
JUST one West Norfolk sixth-form centre achieved A-level exam results above the national average last year, according to figures published yesterday.
Students at Lynn's King Edward VII School saw results with an average points score per exam of 219.6 – against the national average of 207.5 – and the figures were good news for headteacher Michael Douglass.
"It is a fantastic result for our students and staff and I am delighted," he said.
The school has operated a sixth-form since the introduction of A-levels and, said Mr Douglass, tended to offer the traditional A or AS-level route of further education.
There are currently 250 students on the roll.
He pointed out that many teenagers staying on at schools or colleges were engaged in other types of courses, some of which were vocational, and their success rate was not part of the annual figures released.
"We are all aware we have to raise aspirations for students. Here in the school we have a mentors programme which is designed to raise them.
"In the county there has been the Aim Higher initiative along with a number of other schemes which are all helping for the future," said Mr Douglass.
The initiatives designed to encourage post-16s to stay in school are proving successful and the future is looking bright for the skills base in Lynn and West Norfolk, he added.
"There is a lot of positive work going on which is good news for the area for the future."
The average points score per exam entry in the county was 203.7, again below the national average, with three sixth-forms (College of West Anglia, KES and Downham High) coming in above the figure.
For younger pupils, only Downham High in the state sector saw more than half its students sitting GCSEs achieve results of five or more A* to C including English and maths with 51 per cent.
The national average was 46.7 per cent and the county average 45.2 per cent.
The independent Swaffham's Sacred Heart school achieved 58 per cent in the same sector.
Lynn's Springwood High came in the top five in the county for the amount of improvement of its pupils between Key Stages 2 and 4. The school posted a score of 1015.5, above the county average of 1002.1.
Both Litcham and Fakenham came in the top ten while MethwoldHigh School was in the bottom five with a score of 982.8.
The news comes in the wake of a report revealing four out of ten people living in West Norfolk have basic skills or less.
Nearly half the working population lacks skills equivalent to GCSE grades A-C.
The report, part of West Norfolk's Sustainable Community Strategy says the borough is one of the poorest performers industrially in the county with 42 per cent of the population functioning at basic skills level.
"Our nearest neighbour, based on our overall skills profile, is Hull. There is real need to improve the local skills base to help drive up what is a relatively low-wage economy," it said.
League tables printed in today's Lynn News.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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