Ecclesfield School News

Ecclesfield School is clearly a school on the up. Following a recent Ofsted report which judged the school to be ‘Good’, GCSE results show that Y11 students have achieved the best examination results in the school’s history. Initial results show that an outstanding 52% of students achieved the target of five or more higher grade GCSE or equivalent passes at grades A* to C including Maths and English. In addition, 78% of GCSE students achieved five or more higher grade GCSE or equivalent passes at grades A* to C. Both figures indicate that the school, the largest in Sheffield, is providing an excellent education for its students.

There were some notable individual performances. Jack Else, Jason Wong, Leanne Walstow and Rose Hill secured the ultimate achievement, gaining all of their passes at grades A and A*. In total, 43% of students achieved 3 or more A* – A grade passes. And across the school there were hugs, shrieks of delight and the clenched fists of triumph as student after student opened the envelope that contained their results.

From the students themselves the message was clear. One girl commented, “It’s unbelievable! Really just amazing! I’ve worked hard for today. All my teachers told me that I could do it and they were right. Everyone at home’s going to be really proud of me!”

And that success was mirrored across the age range with students from Year 10 and Y9 also managing to gain excellent grades in GCSE subjects for which they were entered early.

“These are really thrilling results”, declared Headteacher, Rob Rossides. “Obviously we’re delighted for the students above all else and incredibly proud of their many achievements. For so many of them, these results will be the launch pad to even greater successes and the special pleasure for us is that we’ve played a part in making this possible for the individuals concerned.”

“We’ve worked extraordinarily hard to ensure that the students have received not only the excellent teaching required to pass so many exams, but also the care, support and guidance to help them through the challenges that they’ve faced. We’ve spoken to them about this day many times so it’s really special that so many of them have done so very well.”

Mr. Rossides was keen to credit the work done by the staff of the school. “Our primary job as a school is to do everything we can to ensure that as many students as possible remember today as a day of happiness, pride and achievement. We do this by teaching well and I cannot praise highly enough the efforts of the teaching staff. This year they have worked tirelessly in finding ever more inventive ways of making the whole experience of education as rewarding and rich as possible. If today belongs to anyone other than these kids it’s to the teachers who have helped put them here. We are also lucky enough to have an outstanding support staff and these people have done a great deal to help make today possible for the students of this area.”

“As a school we are thrilled that a record-breaking number of our students leave our school so well–prepared for post-16 education and employment. We share that delight as a school because everyone has played a part in the successes we have had today.”

Mr. Rossides was also clear about the part played by the whole community in generating such outstanding results. “Our students are very fortunate to have such supportive families and they’ve really benefitted from the help of their parents, grandparents and older siblings. We’d like to recognise the role played by the many people who have provided advice or done all the countless small things like tested the students and talking to them about their learning. Those people deserve our thanks for the very significant contribution they have made to the life chances of these young people.”