Newsletter

Headteachers Introduction

There’s so much exciting news to tell you about at the moment that I hardly know
where to start! It seems as if every day, we get more concrete evidence of the
progress Wentworth High School continues to make and, for this, I want to say yet
again a big thank you to all of you, the staff, the pupils and the Governors for what we continue to achieve together.

To begin with, we recently received the official ‘validated’ results for our pupils in last
summer’s GCSEs and these show that, at % 5 A* - C, we performed 5% better than the average for all schools in England.

Then, in addition, our CVA (Contextual Value Added) figure puts us into the top 13% of schools nationally. In other words, the progress our pupils make in their time with us is greater than that at 87% of schools in England, or the quality of our teaching is higher than in almost nine schools out of ten.

As a result, I received a letter from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (previously, amongst other names, the Department for Education), informing me that Wentworth is one of the ‘top performing’ schools in the country in terms of the ‘sustained improvements’ we are making. What an achievement! As you can imagine, the letter is proudly displayed in our reception area and you can also see a copy over the page.

In fact, when all three thousand or so secondary schools in England are placed into a league table for sustained improvement, Wentworth comes in at number 54 which, by my Maths, means we’re in the top 1.6% in the country! So, you probably won’t be surprised when I also tell you that this also makes us the highest placed school in Salford.
However, as I’ve always said, it’s important that we don’t get complacent and think things will just carry on like this automatically. We need to continue to work hard, to ensure that every future cohort of our pupils achieves the same high grades, as these are their passport to a successful life.

So, it’s good to know that our current Year 11 and Year 10 pupils are well on track to
emulate, if not surpass, the high performances we’ve already achieved.

Our database currently shows Year 11 to be performing at 72% A* to C and 42%
including English and Maths, which is exactly where they need to be at this stage.
They will make the final ‘assault on the summit’ in their remaining months of school and will, I am sure, beat our previous best of 73% and 45% with something to spare.

Year 10 are also doing incredibly well, with their respective performances being 66%
and 49%, after just one full term at Key Stage 4. In fact, the second figure is quite
remarkable, as it shows they are performing 4% better than the very best this school
has ever achieved in the final GCSE examinations. What better evidence could there
be that our success is genuinely sustaining itself?

Then, in terms of our attendance figures, there’s yet more positive news. I always remind pupils that, if they’re not in school, they cannot learn, so it’s wonderful to know that, if we compare the attendance of each individual year group last term with their attendance in the autumn term the year before, every single one is higher.

In fact, overall, we have 1.7% more pupils in school compared to the same time last
year, which is an absolutely massive increase. And remember, last year was our best attendance ever! I have a feeling that record will also be broken this year and another ‘glass ceiling’ will be well and truly smashed.
I apologise to those of you who now have your heads spinning from all the percentages and statistics but think it’s important for you to be kept up to date with how well your community’s school is doing. And, in a rather strange way, I think the reason that all of these so-called ‘statistical indicators’ continue to improve is due to the fact that we’ve never become overly obsessed with them like many other schools.

We decided very early on to do things the right way, focusing on what has always made good schools good. If pupils behave well, you can teach them. If you teach them well, they learn. If they learn well, results go up. Then, if all these things are in place, pupils attend more regularly because they can see the value of being in school. And, finally, as our reputation spreads, more families want to send their
children to us, so our numbers go up. As the meerkat says, ‘Simples!’

However, the other major factor in our success goes back to what I said at the start, when I thanked all of you, the staff, the pupils and the Governors for what we continue to achieve together. It always has been a team effort and it always will be a team effort. I’m very proud to be part of one of the top performing teams in the country, and I hope you are too.

So thank you once again for your support. I promise you it’s never ever taken for granted.

J C Keeble
Headteacher