| |
Extra tuition for academy kids
Teachers and pupils told to stay on for an hour a day at troubled school
TEACHERS and pupils have been told to stay behind after school for one hour each day as a troubled city academy launches a fight for survival.
The compulsory extra tuition at Westminster Academy follows confirmation that the school in Harrow Road remains on education minister Ed Balls’s hit-list of “failing” secondary schools.
According to official league tables published this week, just 20 per cent of pupils – 150 out of 750 – reached the benchmark of five or more good GCSEs including English and maths. Mr Balls announced in June that all schools falling below the 30 per cent threshold in 2011 will be closed and reopened under management.
A Westminster Academy spokeswoman said: “We are putting this programme in place because we want to make sure that every pupil succeeds at the school. The new schedule has been enthusiastically supported by both students and parents.
“We have put in place a behavioural support programme to make sure no one is blocked from learning.”
An Ofsted report in August found “boisterous behaviour” had caused standards, particularly in the sixth form, to fall “well below the national average”.
The spokeswoman added: “There has been some fighting and a kind of culture of violence. There has been a lot of disruption for pupils. The pupils have come from a school where the average including English and maths was around 16 per cent. They were transferred into a temporary building with a leaky roof while the new school was built. They have gone through a lot.”
Westminster Academy was formed in 2006 after North Westminster community school was closed after poor results.
Pupils were split into two independent academy schools: Westminster Academy, sponsored by the education charity Exilarch Foundation, founded by Iraqi property billionaire Naim Dangoor OBE; and Paddington Academy, sponsored by the Christian education charity the United Learning Trust.
Academies are independent from the family of local authority schools and are free to implement different teaching styles. The school replaced traditional A-levels with the International Baccalaureate diploma last September.
At Paddington Academy, specialising in media and performing arts, 41 per cent of pupils achieved five good GCSEs in English and maths for its 2008 exams.
Mr Balls last summer was criticised by teaching unions for judging success without taking into account social factors like deprivation or the number of pupils on free meals and that shiny new academy buildings, New Labour’s big idea for raising standards in tough inner London schools cannot provide a quick fix for poor results.
At Westminster Academy 89 per cent of pupils have English as an additional language. Set beside the Westway flyover in Paddington, the school takes in pupils from some of the most deprived wards in the country.
The spokeswoman added: “Results are up on the whole so we are very pleased. Last year we had 23 per cent of pupils getting five GCSEs, not including English and maths. Now we have 43 per cent. That is very exciting.”
GCSE results the best in borough’s history
PUPILSls elsewhere in Westminster have achieved their best-ever GCSE results, according to new official figures. Government league tables reveal a jump in pupils gaining benchmark A*-C grades, from 55 per cent in 2007 to 66 per cent last year. It compares favourably with the 47 per cent national average.
Among the most improved are St Georges’s School in Maida Vale, which boasted a 17 per cent rise, making it one of the top 20 most improved schools in the country. Top of the pile is St Marylebone School, which achieved an impressive 83 per cent A*-Cs.
Education chief Councillor Sarah Richardson said: “With continued investment we aim to provide children with the opportunity to perform to the very best of their ability.”
|
 |
|
|
| |
| |
