Wirral Councillors praise league table-topping College on visit

Members of Wirral Council have praised Birkenhead Sixth Form College as the government’s recent league table for A Levels rates the College as the best Wirral state school for increasing students’ grades.

Fifteen Councillors joined staff and students at the College for breakfast this morning to learn about our recent successes, including receiving the grade of ‘Outstanding’ in all areas after Ofsted’s inspection in December.

“The report that they’ve given us today is absolutely inspirational and it’s fantastic what the College has achieved. The whole ethos of the College is fantastic, and I think it sends a powerful message, not just to the rest of the Wirral, but to the rest of the country about what can be achieved if you have the right philosophy.”

Cllr Brian Kenny, Wirral Council

The latest A Level league table for 2016 results show that Birkenhead Sixth Form College outperformed all other Wirral state schools in adding value to our students’ performance, based on their GCSE results and predicted grades compared to their outcomes. The College also ranked second in the same category for the entire Liverpool region.

Along with the Outstanding Ofsted report, the College has also been shortlisted for the TES Further Education Awards ‘Sixth Form College of the Year 2017’, the results of which are announced at the end of next week.

After meeting some of the students during breakfast, the Councillors, who represented wards from across the Wirral borough, were given a briefing by Principal Kathryn Podmore and Deputy Principal Mike Kilbride.

Deputy Leader of Wirral Council and Councillor for Claughton, Cllr George Davies, said after the briefing: “It’s a very, very exciting time for the College. I’ve been very much impressed this morning with the way that Kathryn and Mike put the College’s case forward. It’s an excellent College, doing excellent things, and at long last it’s getting the recognition it deserves from the top people for it being one of the best colleges in the country.”

Although all operations will remain the same for staff and students at the College, the institution is preparing for a transition in legal status to an academy, and has set up the Wirral Academy Trust so that other local academy schools may benefit from partnering with the Wirral’s largest A Level provider under a single umbrella.

Cllr Davies pointed to the results of the latest Ofsted inspection as further reason for other schools to consider this option, saying: “I think the Outstanding Ofsted report is phenomenal. It tells the people of Wirral, and further afield in Liverpool and other surrounding areas, that this is a College with a tremendous reputation. The array of A Level opportunities that are given here is second to none, and you can’t get that in some other schools.

“As funding cuts start to come in to those other schools, the College offers a great way to help. Students from all areas of Wirral have come to the College, and they’ve given them the best opportunities in life right from the start.”

Cllr Brian Kenny, representing Bidston and St James, said: “It’s crucial to the future of the community in the Wirral that we have a College like this which is setting very, very high standards, and is not content with people just getting by. It’s getting the best out of everybody; each individual is encouraged to do the best they can while they’re here, and I think it’s superb.

“The report that they’ve given us today is absolutely inspirational and it’s fantastic what the College has achieved. The whole ethos of the College is fantastic, and I think it sends a powerful message, not just to the rest of the Wirral, but to the rest of the country about what can be achieved if you have the right philosophy.”

Principal Kathryn Podmore said: “We were delighted to welcome the Councillors to the College as this truly is an exciting time to come here. It was fantastic to be able to share with them, as representatives for the entire Wirral community, not just the superb achievements that the College has to celebrate, but the core ethos that makes it a inspiring place for young people to learn and develop as citizens.

“The recent Outstanding Ofsted report, amongst other accomplishments, is wonderful recognition of the hard work of all the staff and the students at the College, and it represents the very high standards that we will continue to uphold into our exciting future developments.”