THERE may have been resignations and suspensions, but this year was also a year of record results for the region's schools.
Results reached an all-time high in both Hull and the East Riding for the number of 11-year- olds hitting the benchmark in reading, writing and maths tests.
The last of Hull's £400m Building Schools for the Future schools were opened. With them came more fantastic facilities for pupils and communities to enjoy.
And there was plenty to shout about at Sirius Academy as the Anlaby Park Road South school in west Hull was classed as outstanding by Ofsted.
In the six years since it opened, there has been a steady rise for the academy, which replaced Pickering High School Sports College.
But for others the news was not so positive.
The year started badly for Thomas Ferens Academy in north Hull with a government warning over poor GCSE results.
Principal Juliet Strang and governors were give a pre-warning notice to improve results or face intervention.
By the summer, the news got even worse for the Hall Road academy.
On GCSE results day, it was revealed just 21 per cent achieved the benchmark of five A* to C grades including English and maths.
That same day, the school was criticised for refusing to hand out results to children whose parents had not paid off the bill for the tablet computers the students had been using.
A swift apology followed, and a week later, principal Juliet Strang resigned because of the poor results.
But things were to get worse still.
The academy, which had been open for just two years, found itself placed in special measures by Ofsted just a week later.
Plans were quickly put into place with Sirius Academy stepping in to help shore up the failing school and make the kind of rapid improvements the Government was looking for.
The hope is that at least 40 per cent of pupils will reach the required GCSE standard this summer.
Goole High School Academy also hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.
In September the governing body was dissolved and eight members of staff suspended in the wake of allegations of historic exam irregularities.
The suspensions included co-headteachers Danuta Tomasz and Dave Flowitt, teaching as well as support staff. Although six members of staff have returned to work, the co-headteachers remain suspended.
Wakefield City Academies Trust, which had recently taken over the troubled academy, said it had taken swift and decisive action to get to the bottom of the issue, which alleged that about 30 pupils who were sitting an online exam received assistance.
Elsewhere, after a sustained improvement over the past five years, GCSE results took a hit in Hull in the summer.
Provisionally, 44 per cent of pupils reached the benchmark, compared with 50 per cent last year.
The slump, which is expected nationally, has been put down to changes to the way GCSE results are counted.
Pupils must get a third GCSE as well as English and maths, rather than three vocational grades. Only their first exam entry now counts, which hit some schools hard.
Nevertheless, it was still a biter disappointment for the city.
League tables, which will be published in January, will confirm the final results.
Vanessa Harvey-Samuel, learning and skills manager at Hull City Council, said despite the dip in GCSE results the year had brought improvement in education.
She said: "We were disappointed in our GCSE results but there were some excellent results. We know it is about keeping focus, keeping going and we need to accelerate the pace of improvement. We are working with schools to really understand the GCSE challenge."
She said there was clear evidence children were moving in the right direction in other areas.
She said: "I think in Hull what is really important is we continue to make progress and we have done that on most of our key indicators. We have 72 per cent of our schools judged by Ofsted as good or outstanding and that's the highest number we have ever had.
"Looking forward, our target is to get to national level, which is 81 per cent.
"We have had good key stage two success with more 11-year-olds than ever before having level four in reading, writing and maths and in our primary schools, the number of children making the expected progress is now better than the national figure.
"These are key because this is a springboard for secondary education. We have improved attendance in primary schools and secondary schools for the third year running."
Results in the East Riding were expected to also have dipped slightly. Indications in August were 60 per cent of pupils had hit the gold standard compared with 61 per cent the year before.
Both Hull and the East Riding will find out the final GCSE results next month when the annual performance tables are released by the Government.
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