Page 19 - link magazine

See us on the net @ www.swindonlink.com The Link Magazine • October 2000 19
Boys buck the trend and do the biz at Greendown
A dozen years ago, performance at GCSE level by boys attending Greendown School was not impressive at all and the playground chat
amongst year 6 parents was not positive. However results have been steadily improving across the board and are well above national
averages. And for the second year running, boys at the school have produced more 5+ A to C GCSE passes compared with girls.
This is completely opposite to considerable effort had been put sidered as uncool. We've intro- "Working with parents, we try
the national trend where boys' per- into working out why boys do not duced a range of measures to coun- to give praise, particularly to boys,
formance has been declining do as well as they should and tak- ter these outside influences and to to keep them focused on the future
against girls, causing worries in ing positive steps to deal with it. try to deal with the 'macho' cul- benefits of passing their exams
education circles about the reasons "There is a anti-achievement, anti- ture. with good grades."
boys are not doing well. boffin view in society; to be seen to "Student potential is identified
Headteacher Ian Matthews said work hard at school is often con- at an early stage in their career at The Greendown GCSE 5+ A-C
Greendown, individuals who need Boys Girls
Seven of the nine Greendown boys who achieved A in GCSE Maths a year early
extra teacher attention are targeted 1997 35.19% 52.17%
pictured in the new Future Schools maths computer suite which opened in
during the GCSE course and we 1998 36.49% 54.17%
September. Front, Leon Foster, George Tilley, Danny Dunn, James Towers,
sometimes run single sex classes 1999 51.69% 42.60%
Daniel Roberts, Kris Collict, Craig Gilbertson. Not pictured, Alex Povey and
Danny Ridge. In total 25 boys and girls passed with A-C in year 10. to help boys concentrate on the 2000 57.61% 51.16%
work they have to do.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY
'k' DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

Part-time Courses in Swindon and Shrivenham
Starts
Portrait of the Artist 27 Sept. 00
An Introduction to
the National Monuments Record 28 Sept. 00
Poetsand Painters 10 ]an 01
Understanding Past Landscapes 18 Jan 01

Community plays to plot To enrol phone 01865 270308/270360/270391
town's history in twelve parts
Swindon's history could be explored in a bonanza of creative writing
by primary and secondary school children, after Swindon Commu-
nity Arts Foundation awarded a grant of £2,000 towards a project
proposed by Greendown School teacher Tim Noble.
It will involve twelve primary Swindon as a resource. It has huge
schools who will take a period of potential and will extend children
history in Swindon and create their well beyond the curriculum."
own plays. Business readers who would like
John Orum of the Colway Thea- to know more should call Tim on
tre Trust, Britain's most experi- 874224.
enced community theatre com-
pany has already committed him- OU 1
self to working with the project.
"Obviously Swindon's railway The Open University holds an
heritage is a major feature of the open day at the West Swindon li- Check out: ,
town's history and provides a great brary on 3 October where infor-
deal of source material," said Tim. mation on courses will be avail-
"But there is a lot of evidence from able and tutors will be on hand to * The Courses
other periods: the Romans, the ca- discuss requirements. See the ad-
nal builders and post-railway vertisement on page 17.
times."
Tim was responsible for coordi- OU 2 The Facilities G
nating the ground breaking West Oxford University's Department
Swindon Shakespeare Festival for Continuing Education is run-
during the last academic year. The ning a course on Understanding The Tutors -.
lyv tT
mammoth effort was supported Past Landscapes with a focus on t^ ti^
by lottery funds and grants from West Swindon in conjunction with
organisations outside Swindon, the National Monuments Record
but the support from local busi- Centre.
ness was non-existant. As a result The twenty week course will
New College
there is little chance of organising study Lydiard Tregoze and Swindon
such a major project again. Lydiard Millicent using historic
Tim hopes the new initiative will and aerial photographs, archae-
attract greater interest from busi- logical and architectural surveys.
ness sponsors. "I'd like to think There will be four field trips to
that companies will be keen to back study the landscapes.
an educational project which uses For details, call 01865 270308.