A NEWPORT school is teaching classes of as little as 11 pupils in a drive to improve exam results even further.

Headteacher at St Julian’s School, Denise Richards has cut the size of Year 11 class sizes in the core subject of Maths from 30 plus to as little as 11.

This is in a bid to help pupils achieve their best and gain top grades in a key subject area.

The reductions have come after some pupils have taken their Maths GCSE early, achieving top grades and meaning they no longer need to take the subject.

The Argus reported in March how 136 pupils at the school had taken their Maths GCSE early with 110 receiving grade C or above and 10 achieving an A*. More have since taken the exam.

Mrs Richards said around 30 to 40 pupils had achieved a grade they were happy with and are now using their time to study in other subjects.

This meant current Maths class sizes could be reduced.

Mrs Richards, who took over the role of headteacher at the school in September, has brought in the changes after working with senior management to target more teaching in key subject areas.

Mrs Richards’ previous job as deputy headteacher at Priory Community School in Somerset saw her help reduce classes to as little as five. At the time the school was named the 24th most improved school in the UK out of more than 3,500 secondary schools.

Mrs Richards said: "Smaller class sizes inevitably lead to more quality individual teaching time for pupils, so we will aim to continually reduce the sizes as much as we can."

Mrs Richards said English classes have been slightly reduced to around 24 but it is hoped that if the move with the Maths classes proves to be successful, more class numbers can be reduced in the future.