Talented pupils at Staffordshire’s specialist dyslexia school, Maple Hayes Dyslexia School, have been celebrating today after enjoying GCSE exam success.
24% of pupils at the school scooped five A*-C grades, an exceptional achievement as many of them first entered the school unable to read or write.
All pupils achieved GCSE English with 14% gaining a C grade or above - an impressive result as it is the subject that has proven to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks throughout their school lives. 57% of the pupils also achieved grade C or better in Maths.
The results have seen many of the pupils now planning on going onto further education in September, an achievement that didn’t seem possible before they started at the innovative school.
Dr Daryl Brown, headteacher at Maple Hayes Dyslexia School, said: “Today’s results have been astounding and are a testament to the hard work of our pupils and staff.
“It’s been fantastic to see so many happy faces today - especially as a few years ago, some pupils never thought they could achieve the results they have done - and their success is definitely down to their hard work and drive. They deserve all the success in their future education and career. “
He added: “These results highlight that dyslexia need not be a life sentence of underachievement. It is not a student’s dyslexia that holds them back from learning but is often the teaching method deployed in the school. Through our unique teaching techniques, we ensure that our pupils are independent learners who can then apply our methods to future learning and jobs.”
Katie Barnaby, aged 16, picked up 8 GCSE’s today. She is going onto study catering at Nottingham College: “I'm very proud of my results today. I'm most proud of the C that I got in art. I'm looking forward to going to college and one day owning my own bakery.”
Joel Barke, aged 16 from Lichfield, said: “Getting my results today has been great. I'm really happy with them and feel like I've accomplished something. I was a bit nervous on my way here, and couldn't sleep last night, but I'm very proud now.”
The school - which takes on pupils from the whole of the Midlands - turns out bright, able pupils with competitive GCSEs year on year. Many continue learning once leaving Maple Hayes, going on to college, university and some even gaining PhDs. The school is proud of the fact that none of its pupils have joined the “Neets” (not in education, employment or training) statistics - despite youth unemployment increasing.
Maple Hayes Dyslexia School, which was founded in 1982 by educational psychologist and principal Dr Neville Brown, was set up as a lifeline for young dyslexics failed by mainstream education. It steers away from the widely-taught phonics approach, instead using a unique morphological teaching method that uses icons to indicate meanings of words.