Welcome
Welcome back to School, everybody. I hope you all managed to relax, have fun and more importantly get ready for another exciting year at St Helena School.
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It only seems like last week when the Year 11 students were sitting their exams, but in August they received their results. A long and anxious wait for many of our students. On the sunny morning of August 22 students waited in anticipation to open that ‘white envelope’, knowing that the contents would shape their next step and future destinations. I am thrilled to report that all headline results have all significantly improved this summer. The Year 11 cohort worked incredibly hard throughout the year and did themselves and the school proud.
Notable successes include:
Emma Mitchell (9 at Grade 7 or above with 2 at Grade 9 and 5 at Grade 8)
Katie Owens-Davies (9 at Grade 7 or above with 2 at Grade 9 and 5 at Grade 8)
Alice Martin (9 at Grade 7 or above with 1 at Grade 9 and 6 at Grade 8)
Emma Pugh (9 at Grade 7 or above with 5 at Grade 8)
Ayman Mereani (8 at Grade 7 or above with 2 at Grade 9 and 2 at Grade 8)
Jurij Sevcenko (8 at Grade 7 or above with 3 at Grade 8)
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In the short space of a year the improvements have been remarkable.
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It was not only Year 11 students celebrating though, our Year 10 students also received results including their English Literature grades. This is the first year we have asked the students to take this exam early and their results are outstanding. I think many of them surprised themselves with how well they achieved. 40% of the students achieved a grade 5 or above, with two students (Ana Michalacheoiu and Grace Kilby) achieving the top grade 9. These students can now focus on fewer subjects and exams in year 11 and if these summer outcomes are anything to go by they will be our best cohort ever.
As in most schools, the summer period is used to maintain and upkeep the building. However at St Helena we have used this time to update and modernise our facilities. Work to replace two toilet blocks, the canteen, the kitchen and outside food provision has taken place. We demand the highest expectations from our students and for them to meet these we have an obligation to provide them with the facilities. All of these works have been completed and students can now enjoy state of the art social spaces.
Click here to see some images of the new facilities.
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My team and I look forward to working with the community again this year to continue to improve not only the outcomes but the experiences our young people have when in our care.
Fiona Pierson
Headteacher
