County’s stars rub shoulders with elite

May 23 2008 by Rebecca Edwards, Chester Chronicle

HELSBY High School is celebrating after it was named in the top 2% performing schools in the country.

The school was awarded Value Added Status by The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust last month at an awards ceremony in London, after 88% of its students gained a minimum of five A* to C grades at GCSE.

In a double-whammy, the school was told it had performed highest in Cheshire for the third year in a row.

Frodsham College was also named as one of the country’s top 2% performers.

Helsby deputy head Steve Capstick said: “We are delighted with the award. It reflects the maintained high standards within the school. It is not a measure of absolute achievement, it is a measure of relative achievement. It shows children across all ability levels have made developments.”

Value added is a measure of the progress students make between different stages of education.