Plymouth schools do well in league tables

“It is more useful to break down the results as on the bbc website:

http://tinyurl.com/b5lhflh”

“plymouth high is a complete joke
do not send your daughter there”

“Over 100 posts about the snow, yet only a couple of people choose to comment on Education in Plymouth. Sad times.”

“My apologies but the last message was posted by 'D' not 'C'!”

“Congratulations on achieving such excellent results. Level 2s to 9 good GCSEs and A level shows what hard work and commitment can do. Your story is not unique but far too rare.

I would say that we don't stream but we do band. This was mainly introduced for timetabling purposes although some of our more able are in one population and some of our less able are in the other, otherwise the two populations are broadly similar. This allows us to target resources more accurately. Higher level GCSEs are available for all students.

As I walk the site I too am sometimes bemused as to why a partial rebuild and refurbishment is necessary, our facilities are far better than those at many other schools in the city. The fact is that appearances can be deceptive and much of the fabric of the building needs so much money spending on it that it might be cheaper to knock it down and start again.

I don't want to knock the grammar schools, or the church schools. They do an excellent job and provide a valuable service. The reality is that, as a result of the range of types of selection within the city, we are a secondary modern. Nothing wrong with that, I chose to work here. All that we ask is that we are judged fairly and that the starting point of too many of our youngsters is recognized. Hence, I believe, the focus should be on cva not the raw scores.”

“D, Plymouth,

There are many tax payers who wonder why the Marine Academy needs a new building. Much of the current one is only 22 years old. It's more modern than many other schools in the city.

Why can't the existing building be refurbished? (Demolish and replace the old Kingsy ones though).

The government seem to believe that renaming a school and spending millions of £s on a new a new building will raise achievement.

Surplus capacity at Academy Schools across the country is quite high and many of them do use BTEC qualifications to boost their positions in the league tables.

I left Primary School with level 2s in English and Maths but left Tamarside with 9 GCSE A-C grades and good A levels. Many pupils use context as an excuse not to apply themselves.

During the noughties, I'm told that streaming was adopted across much of the curriculum: "Plym" and "Tavy"?

Like many people in my year, I didn't agree with streaming and banding according to ability. My friend had to go to CFE to get his GCSE Maths grade C because he was in the lower band for both English and Maths.”

“Incidentally, the league table that you should really be looking at is the one for exclusions (both permanently and fixed term) for Plymouth schools. I think you'll find we're top of that league table because we rarely ever exclude students, nearly never. We try very, very hard to educate those that other schools assign to the scrap heap.”

“C - Plymouth.
As a teacher at Tamarside I would like to thank you for your positive comments.

Context is never an excuse for underachievement and it never should be. There is a real need to recognize the progress that so many of our young people make. Hence the CVA figure in 'Column E' which, in our case, is so often ignored. We don't play the BTEC game that some other schools, lauded above and below, do. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum. Perhaps that's where we've been going 'wrong'.

The LA will not miss us when we're gone as they, as one of the proposed Co-Sponsors, are fully alongside us, they always have been, I hope they always will be. They too are acting in the best interests of Plymouth students.

I'd like to congratulate each and every one of the 215 pupils who 'graduated last' year. Every single one of them has an individual story to tell, many succeed in the face of adversity. Many underachieve despite the 'outstanding care, guidance and support' (Ofsted, 2007) they receive. I hope that by becoming an Academy we can help even more young people achieve”

“Selection at the age of 11 is wrong anyway. I would like to see the grammar schools become single-sex comprehensives.

I don't think the LEA will miss Tamarside once it leaves their hands in September. It has always been a tough school due to the deprived council estates it serves.

I would like to congratulate the 90 or so pupils who did achieve 5+ A-C grades at Tamarside. Well done!”

“No personal grievance at all.

But how can a school that select their entry based on academic ability only get 90% of their students 5 A*-C including English and Maths!

A value added of 985 is also particularly poor. (The mean is 1000 with a standard deviation of 10).

Admittedly, many Plymouth schools have performed poorly despite the Herald's headline.

If it wasn't for Coombe Dean, Kitto and Stoke Damarell the city would have appalling results.”