Blaenau Gwent Council would like to congratulate all our GCSE pupils on their achievements today. We are pleased to announce that students in all our secondary schools have achieved well again across a wide range of GCSE qualifications, in line with the national change agenda for Education that was initiated across Wales last year.
Cllr Joanne Collins, Executive Member for Education in Blaenau Gwent, says:
“A massive congratulations to all our GCSE pupils for your outstanding achievements today. Well done also and thanks to everyone involved with today’s results, including our wonderful teaching staff; school governors and parents and carers. This has been an unprecedented and difficult year for all learners and our schools, working with us as a Local Authority and other partners, have continued to support pupils and their families and this should be acknowledged.
We are very pleased that it has been confirmed that pupils will now receive the highest out of either the centre assessed grades which were awarded by their teachers based on an assessment of their work to date, or the calculated grade. We wholeheartedly believe this was the right decision for our hardworking pupils and teachers. Schools are working to make sure our young people are well prepared for the next stage of their learning journey, however, that may look for them, and we wish them all the very best for the future.”
Lynn Phillips, Interim Corporate Director of Education in Blaenau Gwent, says:
“Congratulations to all our learners in Blaenau Gwent and across the region, particularly so during this period of national change for Education and of course the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The adaptive approach to learner support continues to promote progress and achievement, as does the close partnership work between our schools, the Education Achievement Service and the Council’s support services. Our learners will continue to be well supported by their schools and Coleg Gwent as they continue on their important learning journey.
Wales continues to be in a period of change in how performance measures are used on a school and Council level within the accountability system. One aspect of this change is the way we report on regional and local outcomes. The Education Achievement Service is already working closely with our schools to track individual pupil performance over time, which means that school leaders are well positioned to gauge where schools are progressing well or where they may need additional support.”
The Blaenau Gwent Association of Secondary and Special School Head-teachers have this morning released a joint statement regarding GCSE and Vocational results.
They said: "We are all relieved and delighted with this year's GCSE and Vocational results. After an incredibly difficult few months for all our learners, we are so pleased that their hard work and dedication has been rewarded.
It's important to remember amidst the national headlines that GCSEs are studied for over a period of years and the results they received will have been based on a myriad of internal and external assessments. Also each result will have been signed off by at least two teachers and the Head-teacher. Therefore, despite this year's results being assessed internally, they are as valid as any other year, indeed in many respects the process has been more rigorous than sitting a one off exam at the end of a long period of study.
As a group we are therefore very proud of each and every one of our KS4 learners across Blaenau Gwent They have been through such a stressful period of time, and fully deserve the excellent results received in each school. These results will now lead to more students than ever before moving on to post-16 education and training which can only be good news for Blaenau Gwent and for the future of our communities"