From Rydal Penrhos School
The Upper Sixth Form managed to attain a 51.9 per cent pass rate at A*-A, which is the highest in the school’s history since the introduction of the A* grade and represents an increase of 30.5 per cent year on year, with 75.9% achieving A*-B grades.
Those awarded A*-C grades stand 90.5 per cent, which is another record and a significant rise of 30.1% from the previous year’s results.
Rydal Penrhos’ pass rate (A*-E) rose to 100 per cent for the sixth time since 2000. And the mean number of subjects passed per candidate was 3.1.
This is a just reward for the tireless commitment each pupil has shown throughout their A Level studies under the expert guidance and leadership of the school’s teaching staff.
Among the top-performing subjects were Mathematics, Physics, Further Mathematics, Chemistry, Art and Design, and English Literature.
This academic excellence, coupled with a diverse extra-curricular programme, university preparations and leadership opportunities, make Rydal Penrhos Sixth Form the perfect place for a pupil to achieve success, learn new skills and become fully prepared for the next stage of their journey.
Grades compared to National Averages:
A*-A grades: Rydal Penrhos: 51.9% - National Average: 38.1%
A*-B grades: Rydal Penrhos: 74.9% - National Average: 65.4%
A*-C grades: Rydal Penrhos: 90.5% - National Average: 87.5%
A*-D grades: Rydal Penrhos: 97.5% - National Average: 96.8%
Year 11 pupils secured Rydal Penrhos’ best results at GCSE level by a considerable margin.
With 49.2% of grades awarded being A* and those securing A*-A and 9-7 grades recorded at 62.1 per cent, considerably higher than the national average in Wales (25.1%). This average also eclipsed the English average of A*- A and 9-7 marks, which was recorded at 27.5 per cent.
There was further cause for celebration from a Rydal Penrhos perspective as the number of A*-C and 9-4 grades awarded was 98.4 per cent. This was once again significantly higher than the national averages in Wales and England, which were 74.5% and 78.8% respectively. These historic results are a further testament to the school’s strong academic ethos from Pre-School to Sixth Form, which is coupled with an exciting and diverse extracurricular provision.
The school is currently riding on the crest of a wave following the A Level and GCSE results, in addition to the exciting plans to improve all areas of Rydal Penrhos which will put even more emphasis on pupil development and value-added.
Rydal Penrhos has issued free iPads to pupils for their remote learning during the “fire-break” lockdown announced by the Welsh Government.
These iPads are intended for daily use both during school lessons and for homework tasks when pupils are in school as well as coming into their own when they are in lockdown.
All teachers will also have an identical iPad and the intention is that during the “fire break “ period online learning is set to be structured as much like a normal school day as is possible, to ensure consistent academic provision despite COVID-19.
This year the school’s A Level results were in value-added terms the best ever achieved by Rydal Penrhos pupils.
What does this mean? What is “value-added”? And perhaps most importantly how is it one of the best indicators of the performance of schools like Rydal Penrhos?
When children arrive in school they are evaluated through tests (most of the time they do not even realise this is what is happening, so it is nothing to worry about). These tests plot the child’s innate ability and performance and can therefore forecast the child’s likely outcome at GCSE and then later at A Level according to the national average.
To “Add Value” means a school can significantly influence a child’s performance through such a high standard of teaching that the projected outcome is improved and therefore they achieve much better grades than they would have done at an average school (i.e. the national average).
At Rydal Penrhos this is the overwhelming outcome, using analysis by the Centre of Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) based in Gateshead and working in symmetry with the University of Cambridge.
At A level our score is 0.5 this means for every ten subjects taken, five of them (i.e. half) have come out with higher grades than forecast. This has meant for example that over the 51 Year 13 pupils who recently left, 100 additional ‘A’ grades were achieved.
Similarly, at GCSE we show strong consistent “Value-added” with a score of 0.8 so again eight out of every ten subjects taken would result in higher scores than predicted. This means that the 36 pupils in Year 11 secured more than 250 higher grades than projected given their prior performance.
We are very pleased with these results and feel it is a good indicator for parents that they are giving their child the very best opportunity to perform to their highest capability and even beyond it. We continue to strive to create an education which enables children through excellent teaching and support to achieve their best and we are constantly looking to make adaptations to what we do to ensure this.
Rydal Penrhos has announced changes to the structure of teaching and the curriculum in Years 12 and 13 and throughout the school all the way to Reception we are considering teaching methods, monitoring methods and every little thing that can impact a child’s progress.
We wish to improve a child’s performance holistically, so alongside the excellent teaching and thorough monitoring, there is everything that we do outside the classroom and extra-curricular pursuits that rounds a child and builds their resilience and confidence and essentially makes them safe, happy and thriving.
