LAST summer saw the best pass rates at A-level and GCSE in the history of Kelly College, said headmaster Mark Steed during his speech at Founder?s Day on Saturday.
Pupils achieved a 100% pass rate at A-level and the proportion of pupils gaining A and B grades went up to 61% from 39% in 2002.
Improvements were also made at AS-level and at GCSE, the latter of which had a 91% pass rate.
Mr Steed said this meant the average Kelleian gained more than three B grades at A- level and it was therefore not surprising that 2003 saw a higher proportion of leavers gaining places at top universities.
Academic successes included two of the triathlon squad gaining offers of Oxbridge places, Christoph Lakner making the shortlist of five in the UK Young Business Writer of the Year Awards, and Luke Sutton one of the five pupils from the UK to have been awarded a scholarship to spend a month attending a private top grammar school in Dresden.
But the head was keen to stress that Kelly was about so much more than academic results, and for that reason the college refused to appear in league tables.
He said: ?I can honestly say that here what goes on outside the classroom is as important as what goes on inside it.
?In fact, we are no longer talking about an extra-curricular programme but a co-curricular one.
?At Kelly we value the whole person and the whole person does not spend all of his or her time in the classroom.?
This year saw the college?s first foray into the realm of vocational qualifications as part of its co-curricular programme, when nine pupils passed a shotgun safety course and a different nine sixth formers passed their foundation certificate in food hygiene.
Mr Steed also mentioned the report of a school inspection in May, to be formally published later this summer, which described Kelly as a successful and forward-looking school with many strengths and few weaknesses.
The head praised the staff whose dedication and commitment so often went above and beyond the call of duty: ?I would like to pay particular tribute to them for their professionalism and for all the work that they have done to make this one of the best small schools in the country.?
Leading expert in the field of e-learning Professor Steve Molyneux was the guest of honour at Founder?s Day.
Mr Molyneux was Microsoft professor of advanced learning technologies at the University of Wolverhampton and has also held the position of IBM chairman of information and communication technology.
Introducing the guest speaker, Mr Steed said he was one of five international scientists of the ?Learning Federation? a US Government/industry ?think-tank? advising on learning technology research initiatives, but above all Mr Molyneux was a great enthusiast for education and the possibilities that the various new technologies bring to it.