THE future of a school once rated ‘inadequate’ across the board is “looking more positive” after encouraging GCSE results.
“We are very pleased with the results,’ said Nathan Bowker, deputy headmaster of Royton and Crompton School.
“We are on a journey but we are on the right path,” he told the Correspondent as the Year 11, Class of 2018 collected their results at the Blackshaw Lane site on Thursday, August 23.
“And that journey is going to accelerate. We have got stability in the team, stability in the school and we are moving into a new building in September 2019. The future is looking more positive.”
The running of Royton and Crompton School, put in special measures after its Ofsted inspection in May 2017, was taken over on September 1, 2018 by London-based Academy Trust E-Act which also oversees Oldham Academy North.
It will do so encouraged by the latest results as tears of joy and disappointment were shed by 16-year-olds on their most important day of the year.
“In terms of four plus basic Maths and English they increased to 50 percent (47 percent, 2017) from last year,” added Mr Bowker.
“Five plus basic measure English and Maths increased from 17 percent to 26 percent.
“English level four plus was 68 percent (62 percent in 2017), level 5 plus, 52 percent (38 percent). So, we have seen a massive improvement for English.
“Maths saw some growth with 53 percent four plus (52 percent 2017) and 30 percent five plus (26 percent 2017) so as a whole the school attained its prediction.
“The results are down to the hard work of the staff and the students who realise if they work hard they are going to get the outcomes they want.
“The school has been preparing for the changes for the last 12-18 months.
“The subjects that converted this year; then their attainment at four and five plus has been very strong.
“We now have to develop the progress of the students from their starting point at key stage two.”
Headmaster Neil Hutchinson added: “I am really pleased. All the indicators are we are going in the right direction.”
Speaking after GCSE results were announced across the borough, Cllr Paul Jacques, OMBC Cabinet Member for Education and Culture, said: “We’d like to congratulate all our pupils who after years of hard work and dedication have achieved the GCSE grades they require.
“We’d also like to say thanks to the parents, teachers and staff who have supported our children and helped prepare them for the exams.
“I am pleased to say that provisional returns from our schools show that 58.1 percent of Oldham students have achieved a good grade 4 or above in English and Maths.
“We will continue to work in partnership with our schools to build on this success in the new academic year.
“This year has seen more changes to the GCSE scoring grades and they are now on a new scale of 9 to 1, with 9 the highest grade, rather than A* to G.
“That means comparisons with previous years’ results is not possible and we won’t know this data until later in the year when national level data is released.”