Examination Results

Results of this year’s examinations have been received bringing with them lots of individual stories of success and celebration.

All over St Helena there are families who are very proud that the hard work of their young people has resulted in some outstanding examination successes.  The good news for the Island’s economy is that almost a half of this year’s school leavers have now achieved GCSE ‘C’ grades in English and Maths.

Director of Education, Colin Moore said:

“Two years ago no students achieved a C grade or better in Maths.  This year almost half of the year group achieved a Grade C or better in Maths. This highly impressive performance reflects the hard work of the students and their teachers.

“In English Language all of the pupils entered for GCSE level achieved a C grade or better. The Directorate’s target was for 30% of students to gain 5 GCSEs A*-C, including English and Maths, and I am pleased to say that this target has been achieved.

“It is important to also recognise the achievement of our young people who follow vocational courses and once again we have some individual success stories that we should all be proud of. The economic developments related to the airport mean that we have an immediate need for a highly skilled workforce. This year’s achievements are just what the Island’s developing economy needs. In some respects this represents ‘Lift Off’.

We now have the evidence that our young people really can take advantage of the opportunities they have ahead of them.

“I am sure all of the Island’s community will want to join me in saying a very big well done to all of the young people and their teachers who have worked so hard over the past couple of years.”

Chairperson of the Education Committee, Councillor Christine Scipio-O’Dean added:

“We all know that Education is one of the highest priorities for the Island. I am delighted to offer my congratulations to all of the students who have worked so hard and achieved these excellent results. This represents real progress for the Island and means that any future investors can have confidence that St Helena has young people with the talent, skills and qualifications to succeed.”

Headteacher of Prince Andrew School, Paul Starkie said:

“We are delighted with the results our students have gained. They have worked very hard and their efforts have been rewarded. There have been some excellent individual successes and all our students have proved what is possible with effort and commitment to study.  I know I speak for every member of staff here at Prince Andrew School when I say how extremely proud we are of each and every one of our students. Vanessa Tissington, Secondary Raising Attainment Partner was thrilled to see the results prior to her departure and asked me to personally convey her congratulations.

“To those former students who are entering work related opportunities, we wish them all the very best in the future. We are also absolutely delighted by the number of students returning to Prince Andrew School to continue their journey with us. Our dedicated and committed team of teachers and support staff are very much looking forward to welcoming them back in September.”

Primary Schools are too receiving their results for the Primary School end of Year 6 assessments, also known as Key Stage 2 SATs.

Compared to last year the overall results show a slight fall in the number of children achieving level 4+.  Level 4+ is the benchmark set for children leaving Primary Schools in England.  This slight fall was not unexpected since the actual tests are different from those that were administered in 2012.

This year, new assessments were introduced in Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation. 

Commenting on the Key Stage 2 SATs results, Colin said:

“The Year 6 children worked very hard throughout the year and there are some examples of really high achievement.

“Making comparisons with last year is quite tricky because new tests have been introduced.  At this stage we do not know what the overall trend is in terms of how schools in England have performed and so we have further analysis to undertake.  There are some indications that our experience of a slight dip in performance reflects what is happening in parts of England but it really is too soon to draw any conclusions.

“It does show however that the Directorate still has a lot of work to do to improve standards in Primary Education. We have a very dedicated team of teachers and support staff who will rise to the challenge and I am delighted that we have a dynamic and enthusiastic Primary Education Adviser, Victoria Stapleton, who is busy supporting our Head and Class teachers.”

Victoria added:

“Our 2013 SATs results show we still have some way to go to improve the children’s progress and attainment but I feel confident that the schools, education team and community will work hard together to achieve this.”

The overall figures of the Primary Schools’ exams along with the full analysis of this year’s public examinations will be reported to the Education Committee in October.

Education and Employment Directorate

SHG

27 August 2013

 

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