LEAGUE TABLES

I am sure many of you saw the published league tables in the local press. I have no problem with league tables being published as long as they are a true reflection of what has taken place. Our A-level value added was absolutely superb last year and with a very large entry, i.e. one of the largest in the county, to have such value-added is immensely gratifying and a great tribute to the teaching expertise we have at St Peter’s. I have always been honest with you and I have said since August that our Year 11 performance last year was only satisfactory in terms of the 5 or more GCSEs, including English and Maths. I emphasise that many comprehensives would be delighted with the performance we achieved with last year’s Year 11. However, at St Peter’s we do not compare ourselves with other comprehensives we simply compare ourselves with what we want to achieve with our young people. Last year was satisfactory, whereas traditionally it has always been very good to outstanding. Hopefully, it will be the same this year. I must, however, comment on the ludicrous situation of the Baccalaureate.

This was introduced retrospectively. Our low score here reflects neither the students’ ability nor teaching expertise, but the breadth of exam courses available to our pupils.

We will be advising Year 9 on the nature of the Baccalaureate and you will shortly be receiving a letter from Mr Rush containing advice with regard to the future. The Baccalaureate will not be compulsory. We are also actively engaging the Secretary of State in discussion to overturn the nonsense that religious education cannot be included as a humanity. RE has always been in the state sector and, indeed, is part of the International GCSE Humanities Course, which the Government accepts. As a faith school we have to dedicate a proportion of our curriculum to religious education. Not allowing us to include it as a humanity actually disadvantages our school if you are using the English Baccalaureate in a league table setting. If you have any questions or worries about what was published in the league tables, do not hesitate to contact Mr Rush or me myself. We will endeavour to put your mind at rest. I simply want to assure you that St Peter’s High School will continue to perform at an incredibly high level, together with nine or ten other comprehensives in Gloucestershire. As they are in competition with the grammar schools, this puts these comprehensive schools amongst the very best in the country. We should be very proud to have schools of this calibre in Gloucestershire and delighted that St Peter’s is one such school.