Wyvern St Edmunds Celebrates Community and Academic Successes

Teachers and pupils at Wyvern St Edumund's Secondary School in Laverstock are celebrating after recording record-breaking GCSE results and a range of successful activities.

The activities included a whole-school-sponsored walk that raised around £10,000 for two charities. 

The school also won the Young Carers in Schools Award for its work identifying and supporting young carers in the community. Community is a word that comes up time and time again when pupils and teachers alike talk about the environment in which they learn and teach. 

Head Girl, Lilia, explains, "Wyvern St Edmunds is more of a community than a school. The pupils are well cared for, and everyone is made sure to feel welcome and included. 

She continued, "Everyone fits in; there are no outsiders. Everyone works as a team and myself, I feel like I fit in perfectly because everyone is so welcoming."

Pupils were heavily involved in organising the sponsored walk and worked with staff to ensure it ran smoothly. Lilia said, "The charity was mostly based on a girl in year 11 last year. She underwent heart surgery and that charity, chuff. We wanted to raise money for that to support her and all other children that had heart surgery."

Student life at the school is more than just the academic side of things; students have a large say in what happens in terms of extracurricular activities. Head boy, Rune, says, "All of the lessons are so engaging, and the teachers just make it so interesting. And I've been part of so many clubs, and I just feel such like a part of the community here. 

"I've been like in a poetry club. I even went to Harry Potter club, to sports clubs, football club. There's something here for everybody."

Rune also talked about how the school community has channels to express what they want the school to do for them. He said, "The main way you do it is through the student leadership teams. That'd be through us.

"So you could come and talk to us, and then we can relay that back to the head teacher and organise it."

When you talk to staff, it's clear they have high aspirations for all pupils in the school regardless of academic ability. Deputy Head Dan Hill spoke about the school being inclusive, raising standards, and focusing on growth. He said, "High-quality teaching and learning, fostered alongside really strong working relationships between our staff and students, are our two pillars.

"Those two things come together to create an environment whereby young people feel they can go on to break the glass ceilings that they think might be holding them back and above them, but actually to break through that and go on to be the best they can be.

"We've got a fantastic student voice system here, and from that we'll pick up on any avenue or any group that actually would like to be celebrated more. So last year we actually created on the back of the students, requesting it a culture day to be able to share and embrace each other's cultures. One community, one Wyvern community. But within that, a series of different cultures that people are proud about, that they want to celebrate with their peers."

Beyond the community aspects, Wyvern St Edmunds recorded its highest-ever GCSE results, with 74% of pupils achieving a grade 4 or higher in both English and Maths. 

Head teacher Bruce Burley believes there is something really special happening at the school. He said, "I'm an ambitious soul for the children here on this site and for Salisbury as a whole. We're really pushing on for us to become the number one school of choice in the area.

"It's great to be able to apply that knowledge that I've acquired over the course of 26 years and a whole myriad of jobs I've had in education, from being a SENCO to a head of department, head of year and and so on. It's all contributed to this moment where we're able to then crystallise a really clear vision, an ambitious vision which staff and students can unite behind.

"It was just such a joy to hear from Lillia and Rune because for me, that's that's an outcome. That's an outcome of really, really good teaching that they've had over five years and an outcome of confidence developing and character shaping through their journey here at WSE."

To achieve its results, the school saw a large improvement from the previous year. Mr Burley added, " I think with the results, the staggering thing for me is the swing that we've seen within the last year. 

"We've made the most progress in terms of attainment jumps up to 46.0, which is, around the kind of the national average. So to be top in Wiltshire for that is, is staggering and a testament to the efforts that everyone has put in the students, the staff and the parents in terms of that journey.

"I'm super proud of the matched passes at grade four and grade five, because now they are above the national average and we are not an average school. We're better than average. And to start seeing those results going above the national average. It's Incredibly exciting!"