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Greenshaw High School

Headteacher’s welcome

At Greenshaw High School our students and staff work very hard to ensure the best results. The last few years have seen qualifications generated in alternative ways, but have still seen students at our school progress to great destinations, including our own Sixth Form, local colleges and a range of university courses, apprenticeships and employment. This year, we received our first set of public exam data in three years and this showed that all of our hard work, continued throughout the pandemic, has been done in a way that continues to yield great outcomes for our students.

We aim to give our youngest students a firm foundation of knowledge, before their formal examination courses begin. We teach our students in Year 7 to 9 The Big Ideas that Shaped the World, a sequence of lessons that explains cultural, philosophical and political development from ancient times to today. Alongside this, students in Year 7 to 10 follow a reading programme that, alongside the English curriculum, develops our young people's awareness of a range of literary themes and voices. We strongly believe it is our responsibility to develop the wider intellect, and in doing so this deepens the knowledge displayed in public examinations.

Although this year's GCSE students did not benefit from the significantly reduced grade boundaries of last summer, our Year 11 students still did exceptionally well. The proportion of students achieving grades at 9-7 (equivalent to A* or A) and 9-4 grades (the old A*-C scores) were the highest in the history of the school, other than in the pandemic years. And the current cohort of sixteen-year-olds was certainly affected by school closures and Covid absences, so their efforts in this context are all the more remarkable. 

Our Year 13 students sat their first set of public exams in the summer of 2023, having had their GCSE examinations cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. We saw them really rising to this challenge over the last two years, seeing their fantastic approach over their A Level courses. We could not be prouder of their efforts and thrilled that these efforts have now paid dividends. We have seen some fantastic results this year, with one in three of all grades being an A* or A. As an indication, the overall attainment is significantly above our 2019 results (the last year of 'normal exams'), which in themselves were really pleasing.

Alongside the pursuit of academic excellence, we also have a key role in our students being happy and successful members of society. We do not want great exam results to come at the cost of young people’s wellbeing. All staff are aware of the importance of promoting student welfare, and we maintain a department of non-teaching staff to support students with mental health and wellbeing. I also believe that happiness comes from feeling engaged with your community and knowing that you are making a positive contribution. Despite the pandemic, within the last year, students in our school have volunteered at food banks, collected items for a women’s refuge and raised funds for a cancer charity, all in Sutton. More widely, we have committed to global development with biennial expeditions overseas. We hope to reenergise these events so future students and staff support others around the world, like when we built community facilities in Zambia.

So, at Greenshaw High School we are committed to excellence in all aspects of students’ school life, whether academic, social or personal. This combination embodies the true values of education and underpins all aspects of our work.

Mr Nick House, Headteacher

I just want to say a huge thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the education you have provided for our son. Given the challenges all the children faced in these past few years, we couldn't be happier with our son's GCSE results. When we first heard you at open evening, you talked about how you celebrate every child's success, and we feel that has been the case. We want to take this opportunity to thank every single staff member who made an impact and got him the results he deserved.– a parent.