ALTHOUGH head teachers at most of the district's GCSE schools voiced their satisfaction at their students' level of performance following publication of GCSE league tables last Thursday, they say there is more to their schools than the tables show.o

All GCSE exam pupils at Braeside School in Buckhurst Hill achieved five or more A-C grades.

Head teacher Clare Naismith said: "We're very pleased with the results. They're a product of hard work on the part of teachers and students. As far as the league table goes, there's a great deal more to schools than their place in league tables, but the government values such comparisons, so schools must acknowledge their importance."

West Hatch High School bettered last year's results by six per cent, with 66 per cent of students achieving five or more GCSE grades.

Head teacher Frances Howarth said: "We're delighted with our improvement from last year and hope we can keep up the good work."

When asked about the usefulness of the tables, she said: " It's a good thing and we're happy to have challenging targets, but I feel they don't reflect the good work that many schools do in difficult circumstances."

Loughton's Roding Valley High School's five A-C grade figure is three per cent down from last year's 43 per cent.

But head teacherJo Wincott said: "League tables only tell half the story as they don't take into account the individual successes. We've done reasonably well this year considering last year's results were the best in the school's history."

Chigwell School is delighted with the performance of its GCSE pupils, even though the results are slightly down, from last year's 90 per cent to 88 per cent this year.

Headmaster David Gibbs said: "League tables only explain part of the picture as they make no reference to other aspects of life music, drama, sport which are such an important part of a school community.

"We deplore the government's use of the age cohort rather than the year cohort for GCSE statistics."

Keith Sharp, St John's School's acting deputy head teacher who takes over as head teacher in January remained upbeat, even though results at the Tower Road school are down one per cent from last year's 31 per cent.

He said: "League tables are based on raw data. They don't tell you a great deal about what's actually going on in the school in terms of original background of individual students and their performance levels before they joined the school.

"Though we're pleased with the results, we also know there's room for improvement year on year."

Davenant Foundation School head teacher Chris Seward praised the pupils' efforts, saying: "We're pleased to see published results that reflect so well on the efforts of staff and students.

"Also I welcome this year's pilot that has given more detailed information to show how some schools make progress with students over key stages.

"Davenant has not been in the pilot group but is looking forward to being involved over the coming years."

The number of pupils gaining five or more A-C GCSEs fell from 81 per cent last year to 75 per cent this year.

King Harold School in Waltham Abbey, bettered its A-C results by eight per cent, from last year's 25 per cent.

Broomstick Hall Road school spokesperson, Jonathan Foster, said: " We are obviously delighted with our results as they have exceeded our expectations. We anticipate continous increase in our A-C percentage and value-added indicators as next year's target will be nearly 40 percent."

November 27, 2001 13:06