The warm sun reflected another strong set of results at Beaminster School as students celebrated a successful GCSE day. There was an impressive set of achievements across all ability ranges with well over half the entries gaining A*- B grade equivalents and nearly three quarters at A*-C equivalent on the new, demanding, 9-1 scale.

Beaminster Headteacher, Keith Hales, said: “The new 9-1 grading criteria is not directly equivalent to the A*-G system, but the government is targeting 70% for 4+ grades. With English, Maths, Science, Humanities and Languages all achieving this we are delighted by our outcomes. The year group had a positive and focused approach to their examinations and these performances are a real credit to them, alongside the hard work and skill of staff in carefully preparing the students for these new examinations.”

The outstanding individual performance was Alfie Webb who achieved an impressive clean sweep of ten grade 9’s, whilst the following students also deserve particular congratulations for gaining over seven A-grade equivalents – a grade 9, 8 or 7. Ben Leather (4x9, 2x8 and 4x7), Amber Wright (2x9, 6x8 and 1x7), Jack Raybould (1x9, 4x8 and 4x7), Tom Dulwich (3x9, 2x8 and 2x7), Tom Kiddle (7x8 and 1x7), Oliver Will (3x8 and 4x7) and Tom Stapleton (2x8 and 5x7).

Mr Stevens, Head of Year 11, was equally delighted. “It has been a real privilege to see the students mature over the past two years and earn themselves such great opportunities for the future. We look forward to welcoming back a strong cohort of students to do A-Levels with us next year and, with our exciting link to Yeovil College continuing in September, students will have the best possible options available to them here at Beaminster School.”

Students at the Sir John Colfox Academy, which was rated ‘GOOD’ by OFSTED last year, achieved even better results this summer, with 72% of all students passing both English and maths. Strong GCSE results followed up an outstanding set of A’ Level results, released just one week ago.

Acting Head teacher, Michael Hoffmann said “This group of students have done themselves, their parents, and the school, proud. All of our students have secured a place at their chosen school or college next year and we are so pleased for the students, who deserve these excellent results.; the new reformed GCSE’s are a genuine challenge, and this makes these outcomes even more pleasing.’’.

With 79% of the students passing their GCSE in English and 75% passing maths, the school’s GCSE attainment is strong, and is above the national average. The expressive arts results were particularly good, with results that look set to be significantly above the national average in music, drama and the performing arts. Practical subjects such as food preparation and nutrition have also done extremely well.

There were many outstanding individual performances from students. Daisy Parsons, who achieved seven grade 9’s (the top grade in the new number system) and three grade 8’s, said, “I’m so happy, I just can’t believe just how well I have done”, and many students felt the same. Louis Sliwa, who achieved four grade 9’s, was also delighted by a set of excellent grades in all eleven subjects. Other notable results include Daniel Martins, who achieved one grade 9, five grade 8, three grade 7, Gus Johnson who achieved two grade 9’s, three grade 8’s, three grade 7’s and Lucia Price who achieved 3 grade 9’s, 4 grade 8’s and 2 grade 7’s and 1 grade 6.

Tom Neill, Assistant Head at the academy, praised the pupils for their application. “These students worked incredibly hard. They were highly focused on achieving their very best, and they put in extra time after school and over the holidays. This made all the difference”.

Michael Hoffmann went on say that, “The key to these results are the excellent working relationships between teaching staff and parents and students; without these, none of this would be possible. The dedication of the teachers here cannot be underestimated, and they continue to work tirelessly to help all of our students at the academy.

The new government benchmarks now focus on the number of students achieving 4+ (a standard pass) and 5+ (a strong pass), with particular focus on ‘the basics’, i.e. English and Maths.

The Woodroffe School has achieved another remarkable set of GCSE results, with 83% of students gaining more than 5 standard passes including English and Maths.

In English, 87% of students achieved a standard pass (4+), with 76% achieving a strong pass (5+). In Maths, 89% of students achieved a standard pass (4+), with 71% achieving a strong pass (5+). The combined ‘basics’ figures were very impressive indeed, with 84% of students achieving a standard pass in both English and Maths, and 64% achieving a strong pass.

Woodroffe is unusual in that the majority of students continue to take a Modern Foreign Language at GCSE. This means that our eBacc scores are always high, and this year it was no different with 45% of them achieving the eBacc. Entries for separate sciences are also always high and this year the standard pass rate was 100% in all three subjects.

For a fully comprehensive school, this represents outstanding performance and one which confirms the school’s Ofsted Outstanding status. Coupled with last week’s excellent A-Level results, this has been a superb year for the school and its students.

There were some excellent individual performances with a host of students gaining impressive sets of grades, including a good number of the new harder to attain grade 9s: Rudi Ellis-Jones gained seven 9s, one 8 and two 7s; Holly Thompson achieved seven 9s, one 8 ; Iris Parkin five 9s, and two 8s; George Bond four 9s and five 8s; Lauren Taylor two 9s and five 8s; Mathew Bartlett four 9s and one 8; Georgie Howarth-Yates two 9s and three 8s; Rachel Dowding two 9s and three 8s; Maisie McCarthy one 9 and five 8s; Jessica Leat one 9 and five 8s.

Mr Adam Shelley, Acting Headteacher of The Woodroffe School said, ‘This is an excellent set of results and I am absolutely delighted that so many of our students have done so well. The students have worked incredibly hard and I applaud their commitment and determination. They have achieved high grades across a broad range of disciplines. I would also like to recognise the dedication of the Woodroffe staff who have worked very hard to ensure that our students achieve excellent results.

“I am delighted to say that the vast majority of students will be joining the sixth form where I am sure they will continue to do well. A-Level results were also impressive this year and serve to underline the overall excellence of the school.”

Adam Shelley

Acting Headteacher

The Woodroffe School