It’s official – Somervale School has been recognised as one of the highest performing schools in Bath and North East Somerset, alongside Norton Hill School, which ranked first.

The publishing of the school performance tables is always a nervous time for any

headteacher. For new Head at Somervale School, Joanna Postlethwaite, it was

especially nerve wracking.

“We have already celebrated as a school the fantastic achievement of our students in the summer. We know that our students achieved amazing results and we are extremely proud of them.

“The Progress Tables allow us to establish a picture of how our students have

performed compared to other local schools. We felt that we were going to be near the top, but to find out we had come second in B&NES was truly an amazing moment. Being able to share this news with staff and students on Friday morning made me extremely proud.”

Somervale School has a Progress 8 Score of 0.41 which places them as being ‘above average’ and ranking them second out of 26 secondary schools in B&NES.

Progress 8 tells how well students at a school have progressed between the end of primary school (KS2) and the end of secondary school (KS4), compared to students in other schools who received similar results at the end of primary school. It is based on results in up to eight qualifications, which include English, Maths, three qualifications including Sciences, Computer Science, History, Geography and Modern Foreign Languages, and three other additional subjects.

Norton Hill came first in the same scheme. On average every student achieved half a grade higher in every subject than the national average rates. Alun Williams, Headteacher, said: “I knew that the results were exceptionally strong because that is what we have come to expect at Norton Hill, but to be so far ahead is yet more evidence of the hard work of children, staff and parents. When I looked at the data, I couldn’t believe that we were well into the top 150 schools out of over 6,000 nationally. I’m so proud of the students here and particularly of our middle and lower ability children who were the highest performing groups.”

Writhlington School has been disappointed by its result, with a score of -0.62, which is classed as ‘well below average’ and thirteenth in the table.

Headteacher, Mark Everett, said: “Whilst our Progress 8 score is not where we would like it to be, this figure is not reflective of the success of our Year 11 students, who have all experienced the appropriate education to give them every opportunity to succeed in their chosen career paths.

“As a school, we value every individual, creating opportunities and inspiring achievement for all.

“Writhlington School continues to focus on qualifications which are most suitable for our individual students, as the grades they achieve will help them reach their goals for the next stage of their education or training.

“78% of our Year 11 students chose to stay on at Sixth Form to continue their excellent teaching and learning experience; this figure has increased year on year, with students opting to study both A level and Applied courses here in what they recognise is a nurturing and aspirational environment.”

At Norton Hill, 76% of students achieved Grade C or higher in English and Maths GCSEs, 66% at Somervale and 54% at Writhlington.

Figures were high for all three Secondary Schools for pupils who stayed on in

education or went in to employment, at 96% for Norton Hill, 95% for Somervale and 93% Writhlington.