Hard work pays off in Brownhills

Pupils at Brownhills School were today celebrating their school's best-ever results.

Brownhills headteacher Helen Keenan said she was delighted as her school was named the seventh top performer in the borough for its GCSEs, as 68 per cent of 117 pupils achieved five grades at C or higher, including English and maths.

She said: "We were delighted by the record examination results in 2013 which reflected the hard work of students and staff and the support of parents and governors. This follows a highly successful Ofsted in June.

"Today is all about celebrating the achievement of our amazing youngsters and dedicated staff and we will continue to celebrate.

"I congratulate once again the year 11 and year 13 students for their wonderful achievement and thank the staff for their commitment to the school.

"Brownhills School welcomes children of all abilities because we know we can deliver a high quality, caring education for every child, no matter what their starting point. It is frustrating that the school is not full due to the low birth rate in this area so we are keen to welcome new students."

Miss Keenan said: "We are all appalled and disgusted Education Secretary Michael Gove and the coalition government have systematically set out to undermine the work that we and others have been doing.

"He has bent the rules to ensure that this summer the press and parents will think that we and thousands of other schools have declined, when actually we will have continued to improve."

Today's results reveal Walsall borough is 103rd in the country for GCSE performance, and 47th for A levels and 49th for vocational courses.

Walsall's top performing school was Queen Mary's Grammar School, where 97 per cent of 96 pupils achieved at least five GCSEs at grade C or higher, including English and maths.

Queen Mary's High School meanwhile was named second in the borough as 96 per cent of its 94 GCSE pupils achieved similar grades.

Both schools also held the same positions in the borough for their A-level results.

Those results saw both schools among the top 200 state schools in the country.

Hydesville Tower School was the third best performing school for GCSEs. Barr Beacon School was fourth for both the performance of its 253 GCSE pupils and A-level showing. It was also named in the top 200 most improved.