June news
St Edmunds celebrates success as specialist Humanities college
St Edmund's School in Portsmouth is celebrating its successful bid to become a centre of excellence for Humanities and English following an announcement by the Department of Children, Schools and Families that it has being granted Specialist College status.
The catholic comprehensive in Arundel Street has 940 pupils. The award means that excellence in Humanities - English, Geography and RE - will now be developed further and used to improve standards across all subjects.
Headteacher Isabelle O'Mara said: "We are absolutely delighted to have achieved Specialist College Status and very excited about what this means for our pupils.
"The Humanities Specialist status in the subjects of English, Geography and RE will be at the heart of our vision for the future of our school in our drive to raise standards and attainment. This will bring a great impetus for the school to expand its role as an extended school for the whole community. We are keen to share our resources with our primary partners and adult learners all year round."
Councillor Eleanor Scott, Cabinet member for Education, Children and Young People at the city council said: "Congratulations to all at St Edmunds for securing this specialist status - this is a brilliant achievement for an inner city school with pupils from a wide range of backgrounds and with 19 different languages spoken.
"The English department produced the best GCSE results in the city in 2007 and will be at the forefront of helping drive up attainment by sharing good practice and expertise within the school, with partner schools and the wider community."
Government inspectors have praised the school for its leadership by a "committed and talented" senior team. (OFSTED 2006) as well as demonstrating an improving trend in results in KS3 and KS4. The English department was inspected by HMI as part of the Ofsted Survey Inspection programme in November 2007: "Leadership and management are outstanding; some teaching observed was outstanding; the English curriculum is rich and varied with some outstanding features; the overall effectiveness of English was judged to be good with some outstanding features. The English Department is wholly deserving of its high profile in the school." (HMI 11/07).
The Specialist Schools Programme (SSP) helps schools - in partnership with private sector sponsors and supported by additional Government funding - to establish distinctive identities through their chosen specialisms and achieve their targets to raise standards.