Stop being failed by our results
AS GUERNSEY waved goodbye to its final Grammar School intake last week, it was opportune timing for new research to say that bright pupils are more likely to get top GCSE grades at comprehensive schools than Grammars.
The study analysed half a million pupils across England. Its findings challenged the belief that academic children do better at selective schools.
A positive start then, for Education chiefs who are once again faced with the need to address less-than-stellar GCSE scores recorded this summer.
There are so many ways of counting the figures nowadays, but the core statistic that would have worried many parents was the fact that achieving grade 4 in maths and English, the key building blocks of further education or employment, will come to less than half of High School pupils, while at the Grammar School it was 98.7%.
The removal of 11-plus selection should help to rebalance those figures next summer, but the fact that plans are already in place to enhance the performance in maths shows Education was already aware of the issue.
It's a weakness and a strength that success in the Guernsey job market is not decided solely on exams.
Our businesses still reward hard work and attitude in a largely egalitarian employment environment.
But doing better in these key subjects is also a boost for self-esteem and for the schools themselves.