ONE of the North East’s most dynamic educational trusts has won high praise after being ranked top in the country, cementing its reputation for giving children the best start to life.
The Carmel Education Trust has received a letter of commendation from Minister of State for Schools David Laws for the outstanding performance of Carmel College, Darlington, now rated top by the similar schools measure of the School Performance Tables.
The indicator looks at schools across the country with similar intakes judged by their Key Stage 2 results.
As well as being placed first in the country, the minister also highlighted the fact that Carmel College saw 10 per cent more pupils achieve five good GCSE results, including the key subjects of maths and English, than was typical of schools of its type.
“This is a fantastic achievement that you should be very proud of,” he told the trust’s Chief Executive Officer Maura Regan, thanking her for her leadership, praising the hard work of staff, governors and students and urging the organisation to share best practice.
Miss Regan has now written back to the minister inviting him to visit Carmel College to hear more about the pioneering work the trust is already carrying out across the region.
The trust comprises Carmel College, St Michael’s Academy, Billingham, Holy Family RC Primary School and St Augustine’s RC Primary School, Darlington and St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School, Stockton, with plans to add another primary school in December.
Within the trust Carmel College sets the standards with 91 per cent of pupils achieving 5A* to C GCSEs, including English and maths, this year and a 100 per cent pass rate at A Level, with more than half achieving the highest grades of A* to B.
Miss Regan said: “We are thrilled that the minister endorses our work and this can’t fail to encourage us even more in our endeavours.
“We will continue to strive to raise the standards of all schools in the trust to outstanding and lead educational initiatives across the region. We will also continue to reach out to support a significant number of primary and secondary schools through our Teaching School Alliance.”
The trust already provides the following:
a highly successful model, locally known as the ‘Darlington Deanery Partnership’, so that local primaries can formally collaborate in a range of initiatives, from ICT infrastructure and facilities management to financial management and HR support
Carmel’s Teaching School, which oversees the development and expansion in initial teacher training and will see 65 teachers trained in 2013/14 in both primary and secondary sectors
school to school support, recently helping St Michael’s RC School and High Tunstall College of Science, Hartlepool, both of which have seen significant improvement in results in 2012/13
support for the North Eastern Teaching Schools Partnership
specialist leaders of education and senior outreach practitioners to guide younger members of staff
Science Learning Partner designation with the National Science Learning Centre
The Carmel Teaching School Alliance, which boasts 55 senior leaders of education from 20 different schools, who are currently engaged in more than 20 different projects.
Miss Regan added: “Leadership is strong at all levels with forward thinking staff who are experienced in working in a range of settings. There is great enthusiasm and energy in self-directed learning alongside opportunities to build and sustain capacity for working with others.
“The directors of the trust bring with them a wealth of experience and diversity, ranging from those experienced in education, law and law enforcement, finance and the DfE, which adds further depth to the trust’s level of expertise.”
