A P GRAY, principal, Teignmouth Community College, writes:
In response to the attack on state education by Mr Hatcher, and in a week when famous old boys are setting the town alight, it seems appropriate to celebrate the outstanding success of Teignmouth Community College students in the recent public examinations.
The spectacular nature of this may have been missed in the opening report of it in the last edition of the paper, but the results at GCSE seem certain to be among the very best of Devon schools and in the top ten per cent of results in the country.
Seventy-three per cent of the 170 students gained at least five A*-C grades with 60 per cent of them achieving five A*-C including top grade passes in English and maths, the key government benchmark success measure.
Sixth form results were also excellent: top of the tree was Cambridge entrant Robin Lamboll with more than six grade As, but of those 70 entering for A level examinations, a staggering 97 per cent achieved 100 per cent pass rate.
The college and community of Teignmouth are rightly proud of their famous old boys.
They should be equally as proud of the achievements of the new generation of young people who have certainly worked hard in this state, fully comprehensive college, which serves the needs of the whole community, putting Teignmouth at the centre of good learning in Devon.