Small is beautiful at buoyant Swadelands


SWADELANDS head teacher Richard Bad- deley says a decrease in pupil numbers is a significant factor in his school’s remarkable improvement. Two years ago, the Lenham school, which specialises in sport, reduced its annual intake from 180 to 150 after parents in Bearsted, unhappy that their children had been allocated places at Swadelands campaigned for them to go elsewhere. Swadelands’ reputation


was low after uninspiring exam results and an ‘Inade- quate’ Ofsted rating follow- ing a December 2008 inspection. But the latest GCSE results showed a massive rise in at- tainment, making it one of Kent’s highest-performing non-grammar schools. The 55% of pupils who achieved five or more A*-C grades including maths and English compared with 37% in 2010 and 19% in 2007. Without English and maths, 87% picked


changed our Pupil Attendance Numbers (PAN) so we will not get more than 150 stu- dents each year. “We have seen the benefits of being a smaller school. It means that I know more


“We are bucking the trend because schools


Successful pupils Faye Girscher (left), Jamie Ades, Thomas Robinson and LeahWatson with head teacher Richard Baddeley


up five or more A*-Cs, compared with 72% last year and 40% in 2007. Mr Baddeley believes the unpopularity of


the school two years ago has proven to be a blessing in disguise. He said: “We have now


Record year IT has been an- other record year for Kent’s stu- dents. 62% of the county’s students achieved the key benchmark of five A*-C grades, including English and maths, (up 5% on last year) and 84% achieved five A*- C grades in all subjects – an im- provement of 5% on 2010. There has been


year-on-year im- provement in Kent since 1995.


students and heads of year will know more students and understand their needs. “Other schools in the local area have ex- panded, but this has had a positive impact on us and we have decided that we want to remain this size.


Three times a winner! TRIPLETS Megan, Lauren and Emma Carter have proved that things do indeed happen in threes. The 16-year-olds all achieved 11 A*/A grades


in their GCSEs - plus two A grades at AS-level. Invicta Grammar School head Julie Derrick


said: “This is an amazing family and school achievement. “The triplets all want to go to Cambridge so


watch this space!We are sure that their dreams will come true.” Emma aims to study architecture, Megan has


set her sights on sciences while Lauren is look- ing at law for a career. She said: “We never planned to go to university but it has ended up as one of our aims.” The girls, who attended Roseacre Junior School in Bearsted, are also very sporty. They used to play football at school and for Bearsted, and now play hockey. They are all members of St John Ambulance in Lenham, where they live. The threesome,


plus another member, Lauren Wickison, won the regional cadets quiz - at their first attempt. Meanwhile, six more Invicta girls joined the triplets on similar pass rates - Katie Billing, Sophie Bradshaw, Annabelle Brittle, Eleanor Bryant, Chloe Ranger and Bethan Dowden. Mrs Derrick added: “We had more 20 students with straight A*/A grades.”


Prep school head predicts ‘confusion’ in state schools


Lara Bowles (11), from Chart Sutton, with the Music Cup she received at speech day


FEARS over the instability and falling standards of state education were ex- pressed at Sutton Valence Prep School speech day by its head Richard Johnson. Referring to fluctuating plans, budgetary cuts and changes to the curriculum, Mr Johnson told parents and pupils: “I personally feel that so many dramatic changes in such a short space of time will create a sense of confusion that will take years to settle. “We are about to see amajor change within the state education system in this area – in both primary and sec- ondary schools – all without any extra resources.


“We are already seeing precious op- portunities in sport, music and the arts being taken away.” Mr Johnson said he was delighted


that many of the features the govern- ment attributed to an outstanding school were already present in schools such as his, where high aca- demic standards were balanced with a wealth of opportunities outside the classroom. The school’s Kent Test results this


year were the best for many years, with 46% of the year group passing and four pupils gaining 100% in all three papers. This compared with 25% across the whole of Kent.


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New bursar appointed


SUTTON Valence School has a new bursar. Simon Fowle succeeds An- drew Hutchin- son, who retired last term after 18 years. Mr Fowle, mar-


ried with 10- year-old twins and two grown- up sons, joins from Burgess Hill School for Girls, Sussex, where he hed been bursar since 2006.


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that are successful and get good results tend to look to expand, but there is a point where you can get too big.” Lower sixth form pupil Faye Girscher, who lives in Bearsted, took her GCSEs last summer and scored Bs in English and French and a C inmaths. She said: “I do think it might have been harder if it was a bigger school. In big schools it gets quite hard to know teachers well and see them on a personal level.” Mr Baddeley also believes working closely with the Canterbury Christchurch University has helped the school develop outstanding teachers. Thomas Robinson, of Leeds, took his GCSEs a year early as a Year 10 pupil, pick- ing up A*s in chemistry, his- tory and physics, as well as three As and a B. Thomas, who wants to be a mechani-


cal engineer, believes Swadelands caters well for gifted pupils in fields other than just sport. He said: “The teachers still challenge you.


They focus on your talents in sport but also if you are academic as well.”


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