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Every child matters
Hull secondary schools are improving – and plans to invest £200 million are afoot to make them even better.
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Angela Martinson, head teacher of Newland School for Girls, congratulates Rachael O'Connor (left) and Jenny Wong (right) on their success. |
These two Hull schoolgirls are among the highest achieving pupils in the country.
Sixteen-year-olds Jenny Wong and Rachael O' Connor each achieved exceptional results in this year's GCSE English literature exam after being taught at Newland School for Girls in west Hull.
They both ranked in the top five out of 364,832 candidates who sat the paper.
Jenny and Rachael, who previously attended Parkstone Primary together, are now continuing their education at Wyke College.
"I was gobsmacked by my English literature result," says Jenny, who achieved 12 GCSEs including eight A* grades, two As and two Cs.
Rachael, who achieved 10 GCSEs with four A*, two As, two Bs, and two C grades, is now hoping to work towards a career where she can use her favourite subject, maths.
"I had to wait a bit longer for my results as I had been on holiday," she says.
"But it was a really nice to finally get my grades and see that all the hard work had paid off."
The girls' success comes in the year that Newland School for Girls is celebrating its centenary.
And they say their top grades are due, in part, to the support they received from their teachers.
"One of our main aims is for students to believe in themselves," says head teacher Angela Martinson.
"When they do that, and have the motivation to match, they can achieve very satisfying results."
The exam success of Jenny and Rachael shows the potential of young people in Hull, says Cllr Christine Randall, who is responsible for children's services in the city.
"It's a fantastic achievement that we have two young people in this city who have come in the top five for English literature in the country."
Challenges ahead
Meanwhile, across the city more than half of all Year 11 students have this year achieved five or more GCSE A*-C grades, which is an increase of more than 20 per cent in five years, against a national increase of 10 per cent over the same period.
But there are still challenges ahead in English and Maths.
Hull is still near the bottom of the Government's new Gold Standard league table which looks at numbers of pupils who have achieved 5 A* - C grades, including English and Maths.
However, improvement has been made – and eleven out of Hull's 14 secondary schools have achieved an improvement in GCSE results in English and maths since last year.
And those improvements included a 13 per cent increase at Sir Henry Cooper, a 10 per cent increase at Kingswood and an eight per cent increase at Endeavour.
"Clearly, there is still a lot more work to be done, however I am confident that we have the capacity in Hull to continue this clear trend of improvement in future years," says Cllr Mike Ross, who has responsibility for learning in the city.
Building Schools for the Future (BSF)
Year 11 pupils will have long since left school by the time the first new secondary school opens under the Building Schools for the Future programme in 2012.
The £200 million programme includes plans for the rebuilding or remodelling of all the city's secondary and special schools, including the closure of some schools and the expansion of others.
And Hull City Council's cabinet will meet this month to consider the results of a consultation with members of the public about the proposals.
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