Islington schools have an eye on success
St Aloysius RC College in Islington has been praised for being one of the most
improved schools in London.
The school was thanked by London Schools Minister Andrew Adonis and Mayor of
London Ken Livingstone at an event to celebrate the capital’s best ever GCSE
results at the British Airways London Eye on Thursday 19 Jan.
Pupils and teachers were even rewarded with a free trip on the London Eye,
kindly donated free of charge by British Airways London Eye.
London state school pupils led the rest of the country for the second year
running, thanks to the support of the London Challenge campaign.
The results in the Achievement and Attainment tables show that the number of
London schools gaining outstanding results at GCSE has doubled since 2001.
London continues to be ahead of the national average in 2005, with 55.2% of
pupils in Greater London getting 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades compared with an
England average for maintained schools of 54.7%.
They also perform better than the national average when the 5 of more A*- C
grades include both English and maths, 43% compared with 42.4% nationally.
The fastest improvements have been in schools and boroughs targeted by London
Challenge, including Haringey.
57% of pupils at St Aloysius RC College achieved 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades.
The average for Islington was 44.2%
Andrew Adonis also announced at the event that the next phase of London
Challenge will build and consolidate this success across the capital’s
schools. It will –
Schools Minister Andrew Adonis said:
“I welcome these excellent GCSE results which are a testament to the hard work
of pupils, teachers and parents in Islington, especially St Aloysius RC
College. London Challenge has already helped to bring about a step-change in
the quality of Haringey’s schools and parents can be confident that London
schools are going from strength to strength.
“More London schools are now performing at the highest levels. 105 London
secondary schools - one in four – now achieve 70% or more of their pupils
gaining outstanding results, with 5 or more good GCSEs. This is nearly double
the number in 2001.
“But we want to do more and want London schools as a whole to move from good
to outstanding. This lies at the heart of our plans for the next phase of
London Challenge.
“Some London schools face a combination of challenges, including high turnover
of staff and pupils, and large numbers of pupils who do not have English as
their first language. But through targeted support London schools are rising
to the challenge. We will now offer more intensive support to primary schools
facing the most challenging circumstances.”
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone also attending the event said:
"London’s continued prosperity depends on its young people being properly
skilled and motivated to enter the jobs market. These excellent GCSE results
are positive news for parents and children – and London as a whole.
“Some of the most significant gains have been in boroughs traditionally
attacked over their academic performance, with Hackney, Tower Hamlets,
Lewisham, Brent and Haringey seeing dramatic increases in attainment levels.
“Every school child should have equal access to a decent education and I
welcome the Government’s determination to build on and consolidate the success
of the London Challenge Programme."
Head of Maths Peter Collins from St Aloysius RC College said: “The GCSE
results are excellent news for pupils, staff and teachers. We have all worked
really hard to get where we are today. I’m so very proud of our pupils and
hopefully our success will continue.
“We had a fantastic time at the London Eye and it was great to meet so many
other successful schools from across London.”
For more information, please contact CEA@Islington's Communications Department: