St.Aloysius gets special status<br><br>The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DSCF) has announced that St. Aloysius College will become a specialist mathematics and computing college.<br><br>It is the first Islington school to be awarded this status and comes on the back on a successful Ofsted report in November 2006 and its highest ever GCSE results in 2007 . St. Aloysius has a history of high achievement in mathematics, with 61 per cent of boys achieving A*-C grades at GCSE level last year. <br><br>Deputy-head of St. Aloysius, Danny Coyle said: "This attainment of special status will enable us to further develop the improvements made by the school in the past five years. We want to be able to take the school to the next level of teaching and learning and we're aiming to become one of the top schools in North London."<br><br>Executive Member for Children and Young People, Ursula Woolley said: "This is great news for pupils at St Aloysius. Congratulations to the teachers who made it happen. With new building work due to start soon on the school as part of Islington's Building Schools for the Future programme and big strides in academic attainment, it's an exciting time for St. Aloysius."<br><br>The substantial amount of funding that the school will gain from the specialist status will be used in a number of ways. Money will be invested in building work to provide new facilities and more teachers will be employed to further enhance learning for pupils. <br><br>The specialism will also enable the college to strengthen its links with the local community. St. Aloysius currently runs after school and Saturday classes for its own pupils, those of local primary schools and groups of parents. The new funds will mean that these programmes can be developed further, with the school offering courses in maths and computing to local businesses and organisations. Plans to provide classes to non-clinical staff at the nearby Whittington Hospital are already underway. <br><br>
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009