Canvey pupils GCSE grades are up (From Echo)

Canvey pupils GCSE grades are up

4:30pm Thursday 26th August 2010 in

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PUPILS have turned around the fortunes of two Canvey schools after dramatically improving their GCSE results.

Last year, just 26 per cent of pupils at Cornelius Vermuy-den achieved five passes at grades A* to C, in subjects including maths and En-glish, while at Castle View School the figure was 32 per cent.

But in a remarkable improvement, 47 per cent of pupils at Cornelius Vermuyden achieved the five good grades, while at Castle View School the percentage of pupils getting five A* to C grades, including English and maths, rose to 40 per cent.

Carol Skewes, headteacher at Cornelius Vermuyden said: “We believe last year was a blip. We have worked incredibly hard and the fantastic results this year are down to the hard work of pupils and staff. The school always seeks improvement and these results will act as a base for the school to aim even higher.”

The success at Castle View School is even more remarkable for headteacher Gill Thomas, who has only been there for one term.

She said: “I am obviously delighted with the results. Being a science college we were particularly pleased 72 per cent of pupils entered achieved A* to C in biology, 70 per cent in physics and 60 per cent in chemistry.”

The future is looking bright for both schools, particularly as they were among the few to escape cuts by the Govern-ment to the multi-million pound Building Schools for the Future Programme.

The diggers are already on site at Cornelius Vermuyden in Dinant Avenue, while work has also started on building a replacement for Castle View School on the existing site of Canvey’s third secondary school, Furtherwick Park.

Furtherwick Park has closed to new intake and this year’s GCSE pupils are the penultimate year group from the school to take the exams.

In total, 29 per cent gained five A* to C grades including English and maths.

Headteacher Chris Hayes said: “We are very proud and pleased with the results our pupils have achieved this year.”

In Thundersley, 82 per cent of pupils at King John achieved five A* to C grades including English and maths.

At the Appleton School, in Benfleet, 84 per cent achieved 5 A* to Cs, as did 70 per cent of pupils at the Deanes School.

A breakdown of the figures showing the percentage achieving 5 A* to C including maths and English was unavailable at the time of going to press.