DfE Performance Tables place HSL third in the South West for GCSE attainment and joint first for English

Particularly pleasing was the number of students achieving strong grades (5+) across such a broad range of subjects:

• 86% of our students achieved grade 4 or above in both English and Mathematics, compared with 66% nationally
• 67% achieved grade 5 or above in both subjects, compared with 47% nationally

Our students also achieved an impressive number of the very highest grades. 35% achieved grades 7–9 in at least five GCSE subjects, more than double the national figure of 17%.

Several pupils achieved predominantly grade 9s, with results comparable to those achieved in selective schools. These are results of which our students should be enormously proud, and our leavers have subsequently secured places at a wide variety of competitive sixth forms and colleges.

The newly published DfE performance tables provide further evidence of their success that I am delighted to share with you.

Our pupils' average GCSE grade score (Attainment 8) was the third highest in the South West, out of 257 comprehensive schools. Even more remarkably, our attainment in English puts us in joint first position in the South West, meaning that our pupils achieved some of the very highest grades in English Language and Literature of any comprehensive school in the region. This is a truly remarkable achievement for our English Department, so superbly led by Mrs Simms and her team, and something of which we can all be extremely proud.

However, what is not measured in the performance tables, and is arguably of even greater importance to us, is the progress our students made from their individual starting points. There are no official national progress measures this year, as our Year 11 students did not sit Key Stage 2 SATs in Year 6. Instead, we use Fischer Family Trust (FFT), which allows us to compare our results with approximately 1,600 secondary schools, using the CAT4 assessments our pupils completed in Year 7.

Analysis by FFT indicates that HSL is amongst the very highest-performing comprehensive schools for pupil progress, achieving a progress score of +0.8 and placing us in the top 4% of schools in the comparison. We believe this is likely to place us at or near the top of comprehensive schools in Gloucestershire, and potentially across the South West, although the absence of national progress figures makes direct comparisons difficult.

This matters enormously because excellent schools should not simply achieve strong headline results; they should help every young person to achieve more than might otherwise have been expected of them. It is a powerful reflection of the ambition of our pupils, the expertise and commitment of our staff, and the importance we place on knowing our young people individually and supporting them to fulfil their potential.

When families choose a school, they place a great deal of trust in it. We want you to feel confident that choosing HSL means choosing a school which knows and values its pupils as individuals, but which is also highly ambitious for what they can achieve. Our first GCSE results provide very strong evidence of this. They reflect our values: knowing our pupils well, encouraging them to be ambitious, and continually striving for excellence.

We remain hugely ambitious for HSL and certainly will not be complacent. We are already looking carefully at this year's results, celebrating what has worked particularly well and identifying where we can become even stronger. Striving for excellence means always looking for the next improvement, and we want each successive cohort to benefit from everything we learn.

For now, however, the overwhelming feeling at HSL is one of pride. Our first Year 11 students took a leap of faith when they joined our brand-new school five years ago. Their families did too. To see our first cohort achieve results that place HSL amongst the very best comprehensive schools in the South West is a wonderful milestone in the school's short history.

I hope that, as members of the HSL family, you will join us in celebrating their success and take pride in all that our school community has achieved.