What a surprise. An increase in the number of kids in the city getting five good grades at GCSE from 43% to 47% finds education boss Heather Tomlinson miraculously back from her holiday and talking to The Evening Cancer:
“We are pleased with the progress that has been made overall this year. It is encouraging to see that improvement is continuing,” she gushes on the front page of the Cancer’s late edition today.
I see. When the results are good it’s all about that collective pronoun “we” isn’t it? When they’re bad, like the primary school results earlier this month, then it’s down to the schools and the teachers.
Update: BBC Points West has been reporting that the council – surprise, surprise – may have been spinning these results. It seems when maths and english marks are properly weighted and included, the results are DOWN on last year. The BBC are also reporting that “off camera” council officers are now admitting the results are “disappointing”.