August 2017 Newsletter

GCSE results are in!… 

…Would you believe us if we said they are the best ever?!

But even before the exam results stress of last week, we’ve been busy over the Summer:

• Read about our first Collaboration Board run Summer Workshops HERE

Read about the following below:

1. GCSE results are in!
2. 2 days to triple your pledges!
3. 11 days to our student graduation
4. New programme – sign up to join our first One Degree hub!

If you are still on holiday – lucky you! If you are back to work – we’ve got some exciting things for you in September and October. And if you never left the office – I am with you there, where has the Summer gone?!

Hard work pays off…

In a year of grade boundary movements, cirruculum changes and reputedly the toughest exams since the 1980’s, we are proud to say that our students still achieved a 20-40% increase in grades!

As you can see from the graph above merging Westminster Academy (29 students) and Woodside High School (31 students), we have maintained a solid set of results yet again!

The below table compares our 2017 results for our 29 students at Westminster Academy with our 2016 programme at Woodside High School. This year, Westminster Academy benefitted from a longer programme of 18 sessions compared to 15 at Woodside High School last year. This additional Autumn programme gave an extra boost to their grades helping them reach a phenomanal *88% for English and 72% for Maths:

How does this compare nationally?

• Across the UK, passes at A* to C grades was at the lowest rate since 2008, while it was a similar story for A*-A grades – at the lowest level since 2011.
• A*-C or 9-4 has also fallen from 66.9 to 66.3 per cent.
• Girls out-performed boys in English and English Literature and boys outperformed girls in Maths.

How ever you look at it, our students, mentors and teachers did an exceptional job this year.

*Our full 2017 programme report will be available at the end of September 2017.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

Triple your donation:

With our fantastic recent results in mind, please remember that we can only reach students we have funding for. With school cuts for intervention programme like ours, we need all the help we can get to make the as much impact as possible.

One Degree Mentoring Charity chairman, Riaz Shah, will match any pledges made up to £2700 (the cost of over 5 students). This means that a pledge of £500 (the cost of 1 student) will be matched by Riaz Shah, then ultimately doubled by The Big Give – or put another way – if you pledge £500 you will have sponsored 3 students in total rather than just 1! Now that’s some serious impact! Pledge here by the end of August 2017: Pledge now HERE and you will only need to pay in December 2017.

Only 11 days to our annual student graduation…

…and this time it’s going to be all fun and games…literally!

Please join us on the 9th September we are going to have an afternoon of not just certificate presentations and speeches but also a private area for us to enjoy our own ten pin bowling alleys, table tennis, pool, arcade games, and of course food and drink! We have a private area at Namco Funscape, Southbank, SE1 7PB.

A day to celebrate, in true party fashion, the dedication and hard work of our 2017 students from Westminster Academy and Woodside High School.

…Have you got your ticket? Get it HERE!

All mentors, sponsors, teachers, alumni and supporters welcome!

Our first One Degree hub!

We are at present finalising details on our next mentor programme due to start in November 2017. Here is what we know so far:

1. For the second year we will be having a programme at Westminster Academy, but this time we are excited to annouce that we will be involving two or three different schools at this one location – making it our first planned One Degree hub!
2. The new programme will start in November 2017
3. You can register HERE to become a mentor!
4. You can sign up HERE for mentor training and mentoring session that suit you!

Congratulations again to our 2017 cohort!