Brakenhale makes the grade

Published 27 Aug 2010 08:00 0 Comments

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THE dedication and hard work at one school which failed last year to reach Government targets for GCSEs has made the grade.

Students and staff at The Brakenhale School were celebrating a double success on Tuesday after results pushed them back over the 30% pass mark and out of hot water with the Government.

It proved to be the best year ever for the school in Rectory Lane, Bracknell.

A total of 36% of GCSE students at the school in Easthampstead got at least five A*-Cs in subjects including English and maths, a significant increase from 19% last year.

Headteacher Paul Salter said: “We are very pleased with the results because they are the best we have ever achieved and much, much better than last year.

“We’ve gone over the 30% mark, which we are very pleased about.

“Everyone is smiling and there is a good, positive atmosphere in the school.”

A total of 131 Year 11 students sat the exams, with 72% getting five or more A*-Cs in any subject, up from 30% last year. Pupils who did particularly well included Simon George, Alex Woods, Natalia Burczak, Sam Spicer and Jack Mellish.

Mr Salter said: “I think the staff and the students obviously worked very hard. We have done a lot of extra classes.”

The school in Rectory Lane ran a “night club” for students - a study session from 6-8pm. It also held classes on Saturdays and during school holidays to help boost pupils’ learning.

It also re-evaluated the courses that it offered, introducing a Btech dual science award.

Mr Salter said that the school will be reviewing the success of its strategy this year and building on the changes to hopefully improve results again next year, ideally increasing the proportion of pupils getting five or more A*s-Cs, including maths and English, to 40%.

Cllr Alan Kendall, lead member for education at Bracknell Forest Council, said: “We are all very thrilled because everyone has worked very hard to achieve this and obviously it has paid off.

“Everyone is very committed and I have seen a change with how they work with the Local Authority and other schools in the area. Congratulations to all those involved and all they have achieved.” Cllr Paul Bettison, leader of the council praised the efforts of the students, headteacher, staff and governors, supported by the council, and said: “Congratulations all round, it is great to see that they are on an improvement journey.

“It is good to see progress so far but we are not there yet and we’ve got a lot of hard work still to do.”

Across Bracknell Forest Borough provisional results show the number of pupils achieving five or more passes at the top A* to C grades including both English and mathematics has risen to 56.5 per cent. The national average in 2009 was 49.8 per cent.

This article appeared in Villager 26 Aug 10

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