A HEADTEACHER has put the impressive progress of her pupils down to their hard work and kindness.

New figures from the Department for Education released today show students who took their GCSEs at Colchester County High School for Girls last summer made more progress in their time there than any other school in Essex.

Scroll down for the full table

The school scored the best Progress 8 level in the county and Gillian Marshall, the head teacher at the school, in Norman Way, Colchester, said the score of 0.9 was something everyone at the school, and the former students, should be proud of.

Mrs Marshall said: “They were very capable students but without their hard work - and the hard work of our staff - they wouldn’t have achieved the brilliant grades they did.

“They were a lovely year group because there was no competition between them and they were all supportive of each other.

“All of them were respectful to their fellow students and staff and that went a long way towards doing as well as they all did.

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“It was a privilege to have them here and I’m sure they’ll go on to achieve fantastic things.”

The schools score means on average pupils achieved an extra 0.9 of a grade in each subject which is well above average.

This is the second year Progress 8 has been used to show whether pupils have achieved the grades they were predicted to when they first joined the school.

Colchester County High School for Girls also achieved the best score in the county on the Attainment 8 scale with an average score of 80.7.

Elsewhere in Colchester, the Gilberd School also performed well under the Progress 8 measurement with a score of 0.46 for students who left the school last summer.

Linda Exley, who is the headteacher at the school in Brinkley Lane, Colchester, said the school is extremely pleased with the results from the summer.

She said: “We ranked in the 14th percentile nationally and to have progress in English, maths and science, which ranked within the top 15 per cent nationally, was an incredible achievement.

“This outstanding performance is due to the hard work and deter - mination of students, staff and parents.”

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English language, English literature and maths were the only subjects to be graded under the new nine to one scale, with all others continuing to be graded A* to G.

Clacton County High School students also made good progress with a Progress 8 score of 0.46, as did Manningtree High School with 0.38.

However, high-flying Colchester Royal Grammar School’s Progress 8 score was -0.31. Its level of attainment, however, was 66.9.

Philip Morant School and College also only scored -0.28 in Progress 8 score although its Attainment 8 figure was 46.5.

Ray Gooding, Essex councillor responsible for education, said the council was committed to pupils receiving the best possible education.

He said: “Secondary schools in Essex are continuing to perform exceptionally well, with about 97.5 per cent currently rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted, compared with a national average of 80.3 per cent.

“The new GCSE grading scales represented an additional test and I would like to once again congratulate schools and their pupils on their excellent achievements.”

A-Level System is 'bewildering'

A NEW system used by education authorities to show how well A-Level students are performing compared to others has been labelled “bewildering”.

Any score higher than zero in the system used for only the second time this year means students performed above average.

But the rating received by Colchester Sixth Form College for A-Levels students who left last summer was -0.12.

College principal Ian MacNaughton said he is worried the quality of the information was not good enough.

Mr McNaughton added: “We are concerned that the data the Department for Education now publishes is of very questionable value.

“The performance data they choose to present has become narrow and misleading. It is also bewildering.

“It is a shame that it no longer presents the big picture regarding overall levels of student achievement.

“We are not alone in this concern, as a number of head teachers and professional experts have commented on these issues over the last 12 months.

“A team of Ofsted inspectors recently visited in December and the report is very positive.

“It presents the picture that the college is a very good sixth form provider with a wide range of strong work and practices and that students achieve well.”

The figures released by the Department for Education show how much progress students made during their studies compared to students with similar key stage four results elsewhere.

According to the figures, Philip Morant School and College was the top sixth form college in Colchester for how well students actually performed versus counterparts elsewhere with a score of 0.08.

Colne Community College and Colchester County High School for Girls also did well with scores of 0.05.

The results explained 

PROGRESS 8 and Attainment 8 are the new headline statistics being used by the Government to mark achievement at GCSE level.

They have been chosen to replace the old measure which was of the percentage of students who scored A* to C grades including in English and maths because it is a better indicator of both progress and achievement for students while they are at secondary school.

Attainment 8 is worked out by turning GCSE grades into numbers with an A* worth eight points, going down to a G grade being worth one.

Each subject is given a weighting with English and Mathematics worth dou- ble points, together with the three best grades a pupil has achieved in sciences, languag- es, geography or history.

Then they take the three best grades in other approved aca- demic or vocational subjects in the curriculum.

The points are then divided by 10 to create an Attainment 8 score.

Progress 8 is determined by comparing predicted grades of pupils based on other students of similar ability when they leave primary school and the difference between that number and their actual Attainment 8 score.

A pupil with a Progress 8 score of one will have gained an extra grade per subject compared to their predicted progress at the end of primary school compared to pupils who were of similar ability.

This is just the second year the new measurements have been used.

The table below shows how each school fared, according to the government guidelines.

First line Progress 8

Second line Attainment 8

Colchester County High School for Girls

0.9

80.7

Clacton County High School

0.46

45.2

The Gilberd School

0.46

50.3

Manningtree High School

0.38

53.1

Colchester Academy

0.21

42.8

The Stanway School

0.17

48.8

St Benedict's Catholic College

0

50.2

St Helena School

-0.07

43.9

Thurstable School

-0.1

44.7

Tendring Technology College

-0.11

44.5

The Thomas Lord Audley School

-0.21

40.8

Philip Morant

-0.28

46.5

Colchester Royal Grammar School

-0.31

66.9

Clacton Coastal Academy

-0.4

33.8

Colne Community School and College

-0.41

41.5

The Honywood Community Science School

-0.62

43.6

Harwich and Dovercourt High School

-0.7

38.7