"Fortune Favours The Bold" Says Putney High Headmistress

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As school celebrates record breaking A Level results

Putney High School is today celebrating record-breaking A level results with more than 95% of entries achieving A* - B grades. Some 70% of entries achieved A* or A grades, with almost one quarter earning an A*. Of the 73 students who sat A Levels at Putney this summer, almost half earned A*s or As in at least three subjects.

At least six Putney students are heading for Oxford or Cambridge universities to study subjects ranging from Music, Experimental Psychology and History to Modern & Medieval Languages.

Four students scoop straight A*s. After earning four A* grades each, Katherine Monks is now off to read Natural Sciences: Physics at Cambridge while Yanyi Li will study Economics at the London School of Economics. With three A* grades each, Ailsa Cookson will read Spanish and Portuguese at Oxford and Charlotte Wootton will read Biological Sciences at Durham.

STEM-ming the decline
While debate rages about the need to engage girls in STEM subjects, at Putney more than two thirds of the cohort took at least one STEM subject, with 66 per cent of those entries achieving at least a grade A. Three girls are now off to read engineering-related courses at university while a fourth, Sarah Linnell, has secured a one-year placement on the prestigious Year in Industry scheme before she continues her studies. Kimberley Marsh and Madeleine Ovenden will both, meanwhile, be studying veterinary science, at Glasgow and Nottingham respectively, while at least three other students will study Medicine.

The results come after the Girls Day School Trust spoke of the value of empowering young women by encouraging so-called ‘disruptive’ behaviour such as asking questions and challenging information. In June Putney High School challenged its sixth formers with lessons in improvised comedy, to encourage them to think on their feet and take risks.

Dr Denise Lodge, Headmistress of Putney High School, said:
“We help students not only to excel academically but also to develop the intellectual confidence and curiosity needed for the next stage of their lives. That does mean putting forward ideas, being bold. It is by being adventurous and ambitious in their learning that young women develop those skills sought by universities and ultimately, employers. They’re feisty, fearless and fun!”

At Putney, subjects with 100% A* or A grades include German, Latin and Music. Every entry for the Extended Project qualification – much valued by universities - achieved an A*or A grade.

August 15, 2013