North East schools performance recognised nationally

North East schools performance recognised nationally

We would like to extend our sincerest congratulations to the schools recognised nationally for their outstanding performance by The Times this week in the newly published Parent Power Schools Guide 2022.

To be mentioned on such a nationally high profile list is a testament to all of the hard work these schools do to ensure that their students fulfill their potential. Furthermore, to do this during a global pandemic really is a credit to the determination staff in these schools have demonstrated through these most unprecedented of times.

Durham Johnston Comprehensive School (Durham) and Queen Elizabeth High School (Hexham) took the top two places, with St Leonard’s RC School (Durham) ranked third in the state secondary schools list. Whitley Bay High School and St. Anthony’s Girls’ RC Academy (Sunderland) also featured, while the rest of the top ten spots were taken by King Edward VI School (Morpeth), Egglescliffe School (Stockton-on-Tees), Carmel College (Darlington), Sacred Heart RC High School (Newcastle) and Framwellgate School (Durham).  Eight of the ten are also Schools North East Partner Schools.

Of the independent secondary schools in the North East, eight were shortlisted as the top ones from the region. The Royal Grammar School in Newcastle is the top-ranked independent school in the North East and sits 56th in the national ranking, with Yarm School and Newcastle High School for Girls completing the regional top three. Durham High School for Girls, Durham School, Teesside High School (Stockton-on-Tees), Westfield School (Newcastle)  and Longridge Towers School (Berwick-upon-Tweed) clinched the remaining five spaces in the list of top North East Independent Secondary schools.  

Due to the pandemic, the measures The Times are using to rank the best secondary schools are based on an analysis of A-level and GCSE results from 2017-2019.  

Schools North East Partner Schools also featured heavily in the top ten Primary Schools of the North East.   Benedict Biscop C of E Academy in Sunderland and Staindrop C of E Primary School in Darlington shared second place, with St Joseph’s RC Primary in Sunderland being ranked as the top primary school in the region. 

Three Newcastle primary schools were placed in the top ten list – St. Oswald’s RC Primary, Throckley Primary School and St Charles’ RC Primary – with Clover Hill Community Primary, Fellside Community Primary (both Gateshead), St Thérѐse of Lisieux RC Primary School (Stockton-on-Tees) and Newcomen Primary School (Redcar) completing the top ten.

Read the full article from The Times here

Congratulations to all NE schools

While the schools who have been highlighted by The Times deserve huge congratulations, all schools in our region deserve to be recognised for the amazing work that they do for their students, especially over the last two years.  Too often in the press there is a false narrative about a ‘north/ south divide’ in education, with statistical measures failing to adequately account for the impact of long term deprivation on  large numbers of students.  All of our schools in the North East do a phenomenal job of supporting their students and communities in so many diverse ways, to ensure that every child can get the best possible start to their lives and careers.

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership publishes an alternative ‘Fairer Schools Index’ which can be accessed here.  This list takes into account a wider range of performance and contextual factors, including long term deprivation, which see North East schools rise massively in the overall national rankings. Last year, three-quarters of schools that climbed the highest were in the North.