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Success and Achievement
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Education in Cheshire’s 42 Secondary, 265 Primary and 14 Special schools is a success story.
For many years, students in Cheshire performed better than the national average in all Key Stage 2 and 3 examinations, with a higher proportion of 7 to 14 year olds achieving Levels 4, 5 and above in every aspect of the English, Mathematics and Science National Curriculum tests than their counterparts elsewhere as well as in similar authorities.
Cheshire students have also outperformed those elsewhere in the country in their GCSE examinations. In 2007, the percentage of students achieving 5 A* to C, including English and mats was 51.5, with 14 of our 42 secondary schools having more than 70% of their students obtaining five or more grades A-C. At A/AS in 2007, the average points score per student was 747.8, compared to a national average of 731.1.
Cheshire schools aim high where it matters but not just in tests and examination results. They have, for example, a fine record of enriching their achievements with opportunities and fine performances in the arts and sports scenes both at county, national and international levels.
Arts-focussed residential courses, usually at the Conway Centre, involving experienced art teachers and artists are regular features of the school year. Recently, many schools have worked with artists from European and non-European cultures and specialist weekend opportunities are provided in for teachers and students, either residentially or on day courses at the County’s Visual Art Gallery or Drama Centre. 800 young people and teachers will have taken up these opportunities this year.
In October for each of the last 15 years, Cheshire’s Art and Design Adviser, in partnership with teachers, has staged a highly successful and prestigious visual arts course in Tuscany for able pupils. Accommodation is provided at an ancient fortified house, set in vineyards on a hillside in a small valley, just outside Florence. The project has had coverage on Italian and English television and there have been exhibitions of the work in London, Florence and Montreal. This and other courses lead to exhibitions at the Woodford Lodge Visual Art Gallery, which, in turn, was selected as the backdrop for Ofsted’s launch of ‘Good Teaching in the Arts’.
Each year art teachers organise INSET programmes for teachers, usually during half-term holidays, which involve trips to Europe and beyond, for example, India, Thailand, New York and Jordan.
Cheshire’s commitment to Dance in education development dates back more than 30 years and has touched the lives of many young people and teachers through numerous residential courses and projects (including residential weekends specifically for boys), dance showcases, platforms and festivals and by providing a multitude of opportunities for close contact with all the country’s leading dance companies and professional artists. Cheshire Youth Dance Company has performed in a range of venues, both at home and abroad, and continues to be recognised as one of the country’s leading youth dance companies.
Cheshire Music Education Partnership promotes and supports a range of music ensembles, including the County Youth Orchestra, Brass Band, Big Band and Choir. At an area level, there are ensembles to support instrumental and vocal tuition. The latter is being led by a county-wide vocal strategy, with vocal animators visiting primary and secondary schools to develop quality and enthusiasm for singing. Ensembles give regular concerts throughout the county and tour abroad at regular intervals, maintaining strong links with Chester County, USA and Grossgerau in Germany. The Partnership is heavily engaged in delivering the whole class instrumental and vocal tuition programme to primary schools. This programme is expanding on an annual basis to achieve its ultimate goal of reaching and engaging every child in Cheshire.
In Drama, the annual summer residential course at the Conway Centre has been an inspiration to young people and teachers for well over thirty years, as have the Key Stage 1 Christmas drama projects at the County’s Drama Centre. Special links with South Africa have led to joint student theatre projects with Soweto and some schools have maintained these links across the curriculum.
There is also a programme to improve gifted and talented education in our schools and thus improve the attainment, aspirations, motivation and self-esteem of able, gifted and talented pupils, especially those who are underachieving and from vulnerable and lower socio-economic groups. The programme, which is cross-phase and impacts on all subject areas, aims to secure the mainstreaming of provision for gifted and talented pupils i.e. to develop quality teaching that challenges all pupils and provides opportunities for interests and intellect to be stimulated and developed, thus providing a more personalised approach to teaching and learning.
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