IT is natural that Belhus Chase school will be disappointed that the benchmark 5 GCSE’s A to C including English and Maths has slipped from 28% to 23%. Especially in the light of both Grays School and Gateway Academy breaking through the 30% barrier.
30% is significant because schools under 30% have been given, by the government until 2011 to rise above it.
Belhus, or Ormiston Park Academy, as it will be known as from Tuesday, is a different case.
The school is undergoing fundamental change. Even walking into the school to interview Dep. Head Kath Wheeler, the yourthurrock reporter had to step around workman as the signs they are a changing.
This is a school in transition. There are plenty of positive stats from this years cohort, it is not all doom and gloom. YourThurrock expects that the school can only be fairly compared to the other schools in Thurrock once the academy is built. In the meantime, be patient. If you build it, they will come.
