Does Helston Have a Best School?

This summer, A-level and GCSE students at Helston School achieved their best ever set of results proving that the town’s one and only secondary school is a safe bet when deciding where to educate your children.

We’re actually quite lucky given that all of Helston’s schools are pretty decent. In town we have, as mentioned, one secondary and there are also three primary schools. Prior to writing this article i asked a number of people for their feedback on each of them and the response was overwhelmingly positive from both parents and pupils, past and present. But what’s the official line? I’ve been taking a look through the most recent Ofsted reports to find out.

Helston Community  College

According to the Ofsted report from 2008, Helston Community College is a good and improving school. The report says some aspects of its work are outstanding and teaching is good overall. Standards achieved are above average and on the whole, it says, the majority of students behave well.

Parc Eglos School

When speaking to people about schools, Parc Eglos is very highly rated. It’s the largest primary school in Helston and Ofsted last visited in June 2009. They rated Parc Eglos as good and said it had significant strengths including “excellent care, guidance and support and curricular provision, and exemplary links with parents.” Across the school as a whole, standards are above average.  It has also won several awards including Investors in People, Dyslexia Friendly, Healthy School, Activemark and Football Association Development awards.

Nansloe Community Primary School

By contrast, Nansloe School up on Bulwark Road is quite a small school. Again it was rated as good by Ofsted who last visited in March 2007. In the report, Nansloe was described as “a good school which understands that pupils’ personal development and well-being are key to their success.” Standards are pretty much average and achievement at the school is good. Nansloe has also won awards for its healthy living programme.

St Michaels VC CoE Primary School

St Micheal’s has also been rated as good by Ofsted who last visited in October 2008. They say that “this is a good school in which pupils achieve well. The school is particularly effective in ensuring that virtually all pupils make at least the expected progress and attain the average national standard in English, mathematics and science.” They also note that the curriculum is broad and gives pupils the chance to learn subjects like French and there are also good opportunities for sport, exercise and adventure with a range of clubs that pupils enjoy.

So it’s official, Helston doesn’t have a bad school. For more information on these schools and those in the surrounding area why not take a look at our school performance tables here.

What are your views on schools in town? Which one do you think is best?

(Photo courtesy of Frank Juarez on Flickr)