NEWLY released figures show Teesdale School is one of the top ten for GCSE performance in the North East.
The news has delighted executive headteacher Dr Janice Gorlach, who says the school has come “further and faster” than she expected after promising to turn it around two years ago.
Dr Gorlach, deputy CEO of the North East Learning Trust which runs Teesdale School, said the “Attainment 8” league tables, which measure average grades across all eight subjects, show students at the school achieved half a point higher than the national average across all subjects.
Teesdale pupils achieved the second highest score in the county with regards to the Government’s key measures for state secondary schools.
Since joining the North East Learning Trust in 2016, the school has undergone significant changes.
These have included the reintroduction of photography, design and technology and food technology into the curriculum as well as introducing land-based courses in association with Houghall College. There are more improvements on the cards with funding in place to create a new artificial 3G pitch.
Dr Gorlach, alongside newly appointed head of school Neil Williams, say the statistics showing the school’s improvement in GCSE results are “fantastic”.
But she added that changes to the way in which GCSEs were graded this year did give them cause for concern.
She said: “There is nothing more we could have done because of the changes to the curriculum so we didn’t know where we would fall.
“We knew it was going to be hard this year and I was hoping to be in the top 20, but to be in the top ten is fantastic. Nearly half a grade higher than the national average is great.
“And it is across the board, not just students at the
top.”
The figures, which are based on performance, don’t include independent or special schools. However, league tables show that out of 157 North East secondary schools, Teesdale is in the top ten.
Dr Gorlach added: “The only school that is above us [in County Durham], by one point, is Durham Johnston.
“We have gone faster and further than I thought we would be in the first two years. But it is great that we can build from this and will work hard to maintain and improve even further.
“However it is not a competition with other schools and we have to have sustainability across all years.
“It is all about building steps to get children into employment. It’s about building and progressing their skills each year.
“Everything we do is about helping with all the pressures to help them learn.”
