Academy Newsletter Edition 13, September 2011
EARLY CLOSURE On Thursday, 6th October 2011 the Academy will be closing early afternoon to assist in preparations for the Academy‟s Open Evening for prospective students, September 2012. Details are as follows: 1.20pm 1.25pm
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Lesson ends Buses will be available (not Wessex Connect)
Message from the Academy Principal, Mr R C Evans At the start of the new academic year it gives me great pleasure to welcome our new parents/carers to the Academy and, of course, a warm welcome back to those of you whose children have moved onto the next stage of their „Academy Career‟. This year we are anticipating a full OFSTED Section 5 inspection following our successful Section 8 Monitoring Inspection in 2010-11 and I will contact parents/carers as soon as the visit dates are confirmed. During the summer we were again delighted to celebrate the examination results of our Year 11, 12 and 13 students in their GCSE, Advanced Level, AS and International Baccalaureate examinations. In addition, large numbers of Year 10 students received the results of modular examinations. I am delighted to report that our headline GCSE figures were excellent, building on the high standards achieved in 2010. Press releases regarding these results were extensively covered in the local press and reported in the league tables constructed by the national press, including The Daily Telegraph and The Times. A LEVEL / INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA PROGRAMME At A Level there was a pass rate of over 98%, with over 46% of all students obtaining the very highest grades of A*, A or B. Some 70% of students achieved an A*, A or B in Economics, Chemistry, History, Further Mathematics, Music, Spanish and Art & Design. Impressively, 21 students achieved at least one A* with 13 students achieving at least three A*/A grades, including Sophie Vickery with four A*, Alex Knowles-Smith with two A* and two A grades, and Tom Dight, Lizzy Lawson and Junaid Qureshi with one A* and three A grades respectively. These successes have ensured that Sixth Form students have successfully gained places to study at some of Britain‟s top universities; including Criminology at Cardiff University, Engineering at Durham University, History at Southampton University, Mathematics at the University of Bath, Architecture at the University of Nottingham, Geography at the University of Plymouth and Business and Law at UWE. In addition to these excellent results, International Baccalaureate results published in July 2011 were also once again above the international benchmark, with The Ridings‟ Federation Sixth Form celebrating their highest ever International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme results, with a 100% pass rate.
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