In this summer's examinations, Bartholomew School was once again the highest performing state school in Oxfordshire at generating the all important core examination results for its students.

More than 73 per cent of all students gained the essential baseline of five or more grades A*-C including English and maths, while 98 per cent gained five-plus GCSEs, with 80 per cent gaining five-plus at grades A*-C.

At A-Level too, the school continues to demonstrate the highest levels of academic performances, with 83 per cent of all entries gaining grades A-C.

This has been the fourth year running where the school's students have produced record results. A highly successful academic environment is therefore assured but only tells half the story about the school.

Come and see the rest in action at our open evening on September 25, between 6-8pm, or at our open mornings on September 30, and October 2, between 9-11 am.

Bartholomew School is a mixed comprehensive school which offers an excellent and exciting educational environment for 1,000 students aged 11 to 18.

There has been a school in Eynsham village since the original school was founded in the early 1700s by John Bartholomew. The new school was founded in 1958, and since that time we have seen the development and expansion of educational opportunities for the young people of the area.

The school is justly proud of its successes, and its provision of the highest standard of academic education.

This excellent academic record is built upon the efforts of highly effective, hard-working and enthusiastic staff, well-motivated students and very supportive parents and governors.

It is enhanced by the excellent variety of extracurricular and other educational experiences we offer to each student during their time with us.

The quality of the pastoral care we provide for our students is seen as a model of good practice throughout the county.

While our examination results have been consistently excellent for many years, it is equally delightful to see our students gaining success in the widest range of activities and seeing the sheer quality of the young people who leave the school as mature and confident young adults.

Thoughtful and perceptive parents recognise that the school provides richness for all areas of a child's education.

Bartholomew School has a firm foundation as a community school and is a focus for wider community educational activities.

We work closely with the Eynsham Partnership of our feeder Primary schools to generate better educational programmes for our young people, as well as improving our transition activities for students who will be coming up to Bartholomew.

We use our status as both a technology college and a Leading Edge School to enhance the activities undertaken in all our schools. We maintain an ordered, positive and purposeful atmosphere so that when our students leave they will have experienced academic success and social development in a challenging but caring environment.

We value all contacts with parents highly, as we see a successful education being a true partnership between the parents, students and the school.

By working together, we are able to achieve our main aim of ensuring that all who come to Bartholomew School find it a challenging, stimulating, caring and happy place to work towards gaining the education that will guarantee them future success.

AS Hamilton, headteacher