Lisneal enjoys significant success

A Level results for A* to C grades are up 15 per cent - in one area the success rate has almost doubled - and there has also been a 15 per cent increase in the number of pupils.

It was in 2004 that the two schools amalgamated, and the issues involved bringing two schools with different ethos and cultures together and doing so with "a shared vision of where we are going".

Keen to put on record how much has been achieved at the school, principal David Funston said: "Research will show that it takes 10 years for an amalgamation to make its way through the system and we have only been an amalgamated school for the last six years. So we had two years when we were on a split site which was a nightmare to administrate.

"Eventually by the third year we had the schools organised so that Clondermot was the junior school and Faughan Valley was the senior school, which meant teachers were running up and down between the two schools every day and that definitely had an effect on morale. It also had an effect on the pupils and on their achievements," he said.

In 2007, when the new school was available problems were compounded because the school had not been finished. It was Hallowe'en before the PE and technology blocks were ready. In the first term pupils were returning to the old school buildings for physical education while technology students did not have any practical suites and classes were held in ordinary classrooms.

"It really took two years in this new building before the school was completely finished and settled and in all that time the staff had had these challenges of trying to teach in a room or building where there would be workmen about. All of this had a knock-on effect on results.

"If you take our pupils who did their GCSEs last year, they were the First Year group in Lisneal, so that group were on a split site for three years and spent two years in a new building which was not quite finished so we always knew 2010 would be the year when things would be settled. We knew our results would improve and they have improved successfully."

Referring to A Levels, he said the school had achieved nine per cent of the new A* grade, which was also the national average mark

"For a non-selective school to get nine per cent of the A* grades I think is a great achievement for the pupils and staff. When we go down the grades, each has improved. A* and As have almost doubled to 23 per cent this year, and when you look at the overall A* to C, it has gone from 63 per cent to 78 per cent, which is a 15 per cent increase. Our overall pass rate has gone up from 96 per cent to 98 per cent."

Referring to the GCSE results, he said there had been "a marked improvement" on the previous year, with A* to C grades jumping to 61 per cent from 46 in 2009.

"The number of pupils achieving five or more A* to C Grades, which is the benchmark by how schools are measured has risen. Last year it was 32 per cent, this year it was 47 per cent. Again, an increase of 15 per cent. When we look at it by subject there is a marked increase in the number of A* to C grades, and if you take English for example, 36 per cent last year, 45 per cent this year, and English literature was 68 per cent last year and 93 per cent this year,” he said.

In three subject areas, French, German and engineering, there was a 100 per cent pass rate at Grade C or above.

He added: “We are now producing the results which we knew and were confident that we could do if we had a settled environment in which to work. This really is a tribute to staff, pupils and to parents who have supported us although the amalgamation process. We are highly delighted with the results we have got.”