As parents of the new Year 10 are aware, we insisted we had our English SATs re-marked; the results were too good to be true. They have now been re-marked and they are still outstanding, but realistic. The number of students gaining Level 5 or more has gone up, and we had more students than ever gaining Levels 6 and 7. Well-done Year 10!

Our 18-year olds also did extremely well, and they, for the most part, got the University place of their choice. Our Sixth Form continues to grow, and we have welcomed back over 120 students into Year 12. Why? Because our GCSE results were brilliant. We had to meet targets for exam performance (based on a wealth of previous performance data) and we hoped that 43% of the then Year 11 would get 5 or more A* to C grades. We actually achieved 49%. This exceeded all targets and is a real credit to the motivated students and our quality staff.

Priesthorpe is on an upward trend. We have more able students joining us and we make the most of those abilities. A simple table shows that upward trend:

We remain extremely popular. Our admission level remains at 203 but we are now 8-form entry (215 approx.) in both Years 7 and 8.

The school population is now over 1200 for the first time. This does put pressure on our facilities but we will soon have a £1 million extension to accommodate this growth. The fields have been drained, the Sports Hall roof is being replaced and our joint venture with the Football Association should result in new changing rooms attached to the Sports Hall. For the first time we will have the facilities that a Sports College should have and of which we can be proud.

This Newsletter gives a flavour of life at Priesthorpe. There is so much going on, so please take a minute or two to read about our ventures.
Clive Pickles
Headteacher

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