Schools threatened with closure

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TWO Warrington schools have been told to improve their exam results or face the prospect of being closed.
Padgate High School and William Beamont High School were sent letters from the Government instructing them to improve their GCSE exam results or be closed
Both schools were amongst 600 nationally whose A-C GCSE results fell short of the required 30 per cent mark, and subsequently received the letter.
Padgate’s last result was 28 per cent of pupils attaining the required grades, but Beamont’s was only 23 per cent.
This has caused concern for some parents as Padgate High School is preparing for an influx of students should the council’s proposal to close Woolston High School come into force.
Both schools have three years to buck the current trend or face closure.
Head of Service for School Improvement at Warrington Borough Council, Pinaki Ghoshal, said: “Over three quarters of schools in Warrington have been judged by Ofsted to be good or outstanding. Levels of pupil attendance, their progress and attainment in Warrington are above the national average and using some judgements among the top ten in the country.
“The Department for Children Families & Schools has chosen to identify a single measure, which has only been introduced recently, to judge the success of a secondary school on the percentage of pupils who leave school with five or more GCSE grades A-C including English and Maths. Warrington, together with other councils, has a number of measures at its disposable when considering standards, progress and achievements of schools.
“Warrington has two schools that were below the target of 30 per cent last year. Children’s Services has been working closely with both schools to raise the level of attainment and we expect good improvement in the 2008 examination results. In addition, we have been working with other schools in Warrington to improve the progress that children make.
“We are committed to ensuring that all Warrington children make the best progress possible and that Warrington continues to be one of the highest attaining local authority areas in the country.”
The Government has promised an extra cash injection of £400 million to the under achieving schools affected by the new challenge.
Teacher Support Network Chief Executive, Patrick Nash, believes challenging the schools in this way will not provide a solution to the problem.
He said: “The threat of closure can have a terrible effect on the morale of the teachers. Such uncertainty can cause stress, anxiety and depression, which in turn lead to sickness absence, further damaging the education of the young people within the school. The Government’s measures are likely to label these hardworking professionals as failures and inhibit their often valiant efforts to improve the lives and knowledge of their pupils. The idea that lower achievement at GCSE is the result of ‘complacency’ appears unjustified and is a damaging criticism of teachers working in often challenging circumstances.
“As well as this, three of the schools picked off are rated amongst the 14 most improved in the country. Another has a 100 per cent A-Level pass rate, is making great progress on its GCSE results and, like many others, is about to move in to a new building as part of the government’s Building Schools for the Future programme. Their last Ofsted inspection concluded that the school was “well led” and that the staff “works very hard.”
“We know that there is clear link between teacher wellbeing and pupils learning more effectively. In order to help improve the achievements of their pupils, the authorities must support teachers’ emotional and physical health as well as their professional effectiveness. We believe any funding for schools must take this into consideration.”


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Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.

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  1. Parents are right to be worried about this. kids could be forced to travel to schools miles away, which will lead to increased class sizes and more traffic problems.

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