There is no stopping the unprecedented skyward progress of the Coombe Federation as GCSE results in both the boys’ and girls’ schools went up by a stunning 10%. After the best ever A Level results last week at Coombe Sixth Form, 2011 GCSE results have also broken all records. While the girls’ school scored an outstanding 86% A*- C pass rate, the boys’ school is only a whisker behind with 83% A* - C reflecting the general countrywide improvement in boys’ achievement seen in the A Level results last week.
Headteacher, Mrs. Deborah Walls said: “It is really exciting to see both Coombe Girls’ and Coombe Boys’ doing so well. It shows the enormous advantage of working together in a Federation. Achieving excellence for all our students is always our aim and I congratulate students, parents and teachers alike for these outstanding results”. Asked about the secret of such improvement, she said, “There is no secret involved but a simple connection between collaboration, shared resources and working really hard together. The ‘Federation’ formula works.“
At the girls’ school, A*- C grades including English and Maths, went up from 68% to 70% and from 43% - 53% at the boys’ school. Coombe Girls’ School high flyers include Isabella Lindsley with 9A*s and 2 As, Elena Williams with 8 A*s and 4 As and Jessica Moralee with 8 A*s and 3 As. Cindy Yu, a Chinese student, who came to England knowing little English achieved an amazing 7A*s and 4As. This reflects the advantages of Coombe’s International School and Modern Foreign Languages school status which develops teacher expertise in supporting EAL students.
At the boys’ school, Daniel Dickson is the star pupil with 7A*s and 4As. Pragash Rajalingham and Freddie Johnston both celebrate A* grades with Freddie achieving 6A*s and 5A grades and Pragash achieving 2A*s, 6As and 5B grades. Both students are now looking forward to continuing their success while progressing on to further education at Coombe Sixth Form. Stephen Arthurworrey, a Coombe pupil from the Fulham Football Academy, did exceedingly well achieving 4As and 3Bs whilst training daily with Fulham Football Club. Shazan Hafeel joined Coombe Boys’ from Sri Lanka in January 2010 and has also achieved remarkable results in the short time he has been in the UK achieving 4A*s, 2As and 3Bs.
Coombe Boys’ School is 80 years old this year. The pupils have met many alumni from the school at various celebratory events throughout 2011. Daniel said: “These results are for them. We wanted to show the old boys that we can shine as they did all those years ago. 83% for 80 years. I hope they’re pleased.”
The Coombe Federation consists of separate schools for boys and girls and a joint sixth form. Enrolment for Coombe Sixth Form takes place this week and there are still some places available. Contact the Director of Sixth Form at dpeter3@cgs.rbksch.org or phone: 0208 942 1242.