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HEADTEACHER’S<br />
welcome<br />
We’re Bottom of the Table!<br />
It’s just not something we are used to!<br />
Woodcote has always been up there in the top<br />
echelons of Croydon Schools.<br />
GCSE performance, achievement in the English<br />
Baccalaureate, levels of progress in English and<br />
Maths, sporting achievement and in other areas,<br />
we have always done well and are often head and<br />
shoulders above others.<br />
However, earlier this year the Educational<br />
Funding Agency released a league table which<br />
was very bitter sweet to everyone at Woodcote<br />
High School. The school’s efficiency metric<br />
showed us to be both at the top and at the<br />
bottom of a table respectively.<br />
“How can this be?” “I hear you say!”<br />
Well, in terms of Croydon Schools, Woodcote<br />
provides the best value for money because the<br />
outstanding results we deliver cost the tax payer<br />
far less per qualification than almost every school<br />
in Croydon. In other words, we do more for less!<br />
Looking at the table another way though reveals<br />
a very different picture.<br />
The amount of funding that each school in<br />
Croydon get varies radically. Woodcote is in the<br />
bottom two schools for funding it receives. The<br />
Croydon funding formula means that the highest<br />
funded school gets almost double the funding of<br />
the lowest.<br />
amongst secondary schools in Croydon.<br />
Being at the bottom of the funding table means<br />
that we are unable to do some of the fabulous<br />
things that we have done in the past, without a<br />
little support.<br />
Traditionally we have offered an enormous<br />
amount of support to our year 11 and 13 students<br />
in the run up to their examinations in terms of<br />
after school and holiday revision, as well as study<br />
skills workshops and even some residential<br />
revision courses.<br />
There is no way we would want to cut back on all<br />
of this support, so this year we are asking parents<br />
for voluntary contributions towards the cost of<br />
holiday revision and study skills workshops. Of<br />
course, we don’t like having to do this and we<br />
would never turn students away from revision<br />
sessions, but we feel that most of our supportive<br />
parents would be happy to contribute to these<br />
activities, which are so worthwhile in preparing<br />
our young people for external examinations. Of<br />
course, it goes without saying that if individual<br />
circumstances make it difficult to contribute we<br />
will ensure that this is no barrier to students<br />
attending the activities.<br />
Mark A Southworth<br />
Headteacher<br />
It is fair that schools with more disadvantaged<br />
backgrounds or with English as a second<br />
language, should receive more, but the<br />
table highlights some of the real funding issues