Tonbridge Grammar School Profile Tonbridge Grammar School Deakin Leas Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 2JR Telephone: 01732 365125 http://www.tgs.kent.sch.uk Local Authority: Kent Age range: 11-18 Number of pupils: 1080 Head teacher: Rosemary Joyce Chair of governors: Mr R Hubble What have been our successes this year? This has been another outstanding school year. We celebrated the success of our latest cohort of students for the IB being ranked by The Times newspaper as the top state school in the country for IB results. 2 students scored 100% in their IB diplomas - only 1% of IB students across the world achieved this mark. 78% percent of our Year 13 students reached A or B grades or their equivalent at either International Baccalaureate or A level with nearly 50% at grade A. Our local community links are many and diverse and continue to grow each year, with opportunities in our Modern Languages specialism joining our exciting programme in Maths and Computing this year. We have supported a series of international festivals both here and in our partner schools. 12 girls went to China last summer as part of our developing school links, and another will depart in July 2010. We have widened our exchange links to continental Europe. Our gymnasts took part in the national competition. The Motet Choir won the first Barnardo's National Choir Festival at the Royal Festival Hall in 2009, appearing with the London Chamber Orchestra at St.John's, Smith Square in April. For full details see our website. 1 What are we trying to improve? Our Online Learning and Information Environment (OLiE) is being developed as a centre for learning resources and a central focus for communication. This enables students to access work set and learning resources via the internet with greater flexibility. Enquiry-based learning is embedded into Year 7 which extends and develops the ability of our students to think deeply and in cross-curricular ways. We will be continuing this exciting approach to learning into Year 8 next year. Our Specialist & Leading Edge outreach is growing, working with local community groups (students and adults) and supporting partnerships that enable our students to learn with greater flexibility. We have hosted a series of successful Primary Maths enrichment programmes. Students support the delivery of outreach classes in ICT and Languages to the University of the Third Age, pre-school and primary school beginner courses in languages, as well as special needs students from our local FE college. We continue to set challenging targets for our IB, A Level and GCSE results, and continue to improve the support and guidance we give to our students. We are extending the IB learner profile to the main school. How much progress do pupils make between 11 and 16? The chart shows our school's contextual value added (CVA) score relative to that of other secondary schools. CVA is a statistical means of assessing how effective a school is, by measuring pupils' progress using their test and examination results. The confidence interval shows the range within which we can be confident the score (calculated on the results of only one year group) Our School Confidence interval represents the overall effectiveness of a school. The percentile rank shows the percentage of schools with a score equal to or higher than ours. 2 Since September 2008 all aspects of the KS3 curriculum have been delivered and assessed in two years by the end of Year 8. Year 9 is the start of a three year KS4 programme, where some subjects begin GCSE work early and some subjects offer an enriched programme of study before beginning GCSE in Year 10. We nurture exceptional talent, tailoring pathways to meet individual needs so that a pupil can, for example, take AS Mathematics from year 9, if it is appropriate. Statistical measures show that we add value to our students between Key Stage 3 and 4. The last End of Key Stage 3 SATs were taken in 2008. Our Teacher Assessments since then for Year 8 show a VA rating of around 1,030 each year which indicates better than expected progress. We track each student's progress in Key Stage 3 through the use of Cognitive Abilities Testing (CATs) in Year 7 in addition to the Kent Selection tests in Year 6 and Key Stage 2 school data. OfSTED described our students' progress as "outstanding" because of "the school's culture of securing not only the highest grades, but also personal development and broader intellectual skills at the highest level." How well do our pupils achieve at age 14? 100 90 This shows Key Stage 3 results for 2007. It shows 80 the percentage of pupils eligible for KS3 tests 70 (usually 14 year olds) who achieved or exceeded 60 50 level 5. 40 30 20 10 0 English Maths Science Our school Local schools (Local Authority) All schools End of Key Stage 3 Teacher Assessments replaced SATs tests from 2009. Since September 2008 all aspects of the KS3 curriculum is delivered and assessed in two years at the end of Year 8 here at Tonbridge Grammmar. Year 9 is the start of an exciting three year KS4 programme, where some subjects begin GCSE work early and some subjects offer an enriched programme of study before beginning GCSE in Year 10. We nurture exceptional talent as well. For example in Year 8, we often have students taking A-level Mathematics but we also have students achieving the highest levels in sporting and arts opportunities. 3 How well do our pupils achieve at age 16? 100 90 This shows the percentage of pupils 80 (who were at the end of Key Stage 4) 70 who in 2008 achieved 5 or more 60 50 GCSEs (and equivalent) at grades A*- 40 C, 5 or more GCSEs (and equivalent) at 30 grades A*-C including English and 20 10 mathematics GCSE, and one or more 0 GCSEs (and equivalent) at grades A*-G. 5+ GCSEs A*-C incl. English and Maths 1 or more passes Our school Local schools (Local Authority) All schools % achieving 5 or 2007 2008 2009 more A*-C (incl. functional Ma & Eng) Cohort 156 149 149 School 82 99 99 National 46 51 53 Difference 36 48 46 In 2009, 99% of pupils achieved 5+ A*-C with 78.6% of entries at A*/A compared with 19.7% A*-A grades nationally. A significant number of students also take AS Levels in KS4 and are very successful. The average points score for each candidate in 2009 was 612.9 compared with a national value of 411. This is equivalent to over 10 A*s per candidate. 4 How have our results changed over time? Local and Government figures indicate that our results have been consistently good at GCSE, A Level and IB over a number of years. GCSE achievement remains consistently high with the average points score rising year on year, from 551.9 in 2007, to 605.2 in 2008 and 612.9 in 2009. The average number of A* and A grades gained per pupil has risen over the last 3 years from 7.04 in 2007 to 7.80 in 2008 and to 8.79 in 2009. Post 16 results in A level and IB are exceptional. At A Level 72.5% of all results were at grades A and B compared with a national figure of 49%. The A Level average UCAS points score was 416.5 which is equivalent to 3.5 A Levels at A grade. In the IB diploma, the average UCAS points score was 661.5 which is equivalent to 5.5 A Levels at A grade. Eleven students gained 40 points or more including two of only 68 students worldwide who gained a maximum of 45 points in the IB diploma. How are we making sure that every child gets teaching to meet their individual needs? We attach great importance to ensuring that each student realises their individual potential. In Year 7, students sit Cognitive Abilities Tests during their first term which provide information on student potential and preferred learning styles. CAT results are used, together with individual 11+ scores, to provide an indication of each student's ability against which their progress is measured. Form Teachers may discuss a students CAT scores when reviewing progress with students and parents. We specialise in building on the prior attainment of our students upon entry. Year 7's are quickly identified for fast-tracking in French and Mathematics leading to early exam entry. SEN students make equally good progress through the school, supported by specialist dyslexia teaching if necessary. Support for additional educational needs both within TGS and through our extensive outreach programme includes public speaking competitions and projects with special needs students at KS4 in numeracy and ICT. We continue to monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and learning and are committed to high quality training for staff. 5 How do we make sure all pupils attend their lessons and behave well? Our monitoring tells us that our students enjoy learning. A carefully balanced programme of personal development and pastoral care complements the academic curriculum, enhancing confidence, competence and versatility and fostering self-respect and respect for others. Expectations of student attitude and behaviour are high and clearly re-enforced by staff. A code of conduct is outlined in student planners and classrooms. Staff and students have been involved in developing a new rewards and sanctions policy which is constantly under review. We are a large school, and pastoral care is seen as a whole-school responsibility but is broken down into three Mini Schools (Year 6-8; Years 9-11 and Years 12 & 13 - the Sixth Form).