| Barry Comprehensive - The Most Improved School In Wales...Again |
Barry Comprehensive has been officially recognised as the most improved school in Wales for 2004. This award is particularly notable because it is the second year running the school has received it. However, it is even more remarkable because the school is a single sex boy’s school for ages 11 to 16 years.
The School Improvement Index Award is presented by the Qualifications, Curriculum & Assessment Authority for Wales to the school showing the greatest percentage improvement between its two most recent sets of GCSE/GNVQ three-year averages. In addition to the 2004 and 2003 awards, Barry Comprehensive also received a 2002 placement as the second most improved school in Wales. The percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE has grown from 23% six years ago to 70% for 2004.
Much has been made of the gender gap in examination achievement, with girls consistently outperforming boys in Wales by more than 10% at GCSE level.
Source: National Assembly For Wales: www.wales.gov.uk/keypubstatisticsforwalesheadline/content/schools-teach/2005/hdw200501272-e.htm
However, Barry Comprehensive has shown that boys can produce good examination results across the curriculum - over a quarter of Year 11 achieved 10 or more GCSE/GNVQs at A*-C grades in 2004. GCSE Science, for example, increased its A*-C rate by 10 percent and over half the entry gained a C or higher in GCSE English. All 25 pupils passed GCSE Music, and every entrant passed in GNVQ Hospitality and Catering and ICT. At the same time KS3 SATs results were the best for many years in Maths and Science.
Speaking in the Times Educational Supplement (18/02/05) John Williams, Chief Executive of ACCAC, said “You can't do an easy fix now to improve results next year. Schools should be innovative in the way they deliver the curriculum, and we applaud that.”
At a time when education is very high on the political agenda and both the curriculum and its assessment are under review, the school feels very confident in its ability to continue to provide, as its motto suggests, the ‘opportunity to succeed' for all its pupils
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