Those 66% success rates for the boys and girls are commendable considering their inner city locations combined with the fact that they're also non-selective. I'm sure that there have been steady improvements over a number of years and, from what I've seen at a couple of FH community meetings at Sydenham school where some of the senior girls have performed and made various presentations to the visitors, I think a lot of people out there would be pleasantly surprised (as was I) at the calibre of these students. There was a clear demonstration, in my opinion, of the fact that the school provided students of all abilities with the necessary tools and framework to allow them to thrive in their chosen subjects and fields. The head also spoke about the school and its ethos for both academic achievement and showing the girls how to make a positive contribution to society through involvement in the local community and in sports and the arts.

I don't know if I'm in the minority here, but I think that growing children benefit hugely from rubbing shoulders with a real mix of abilities and cultures during throughout their education instead of being stuck (as I was) in the top stream of a grammar school amongst a bunch of unwilling swots whose parents thought about little else except forcing their kids along a path to some profession or another, whether it suited the poor individual or not. No doubt you will have all gathered that I bailed out early. ];^)~