It has been said, usually by the same few opposition councillors to be fair, by those who like to put down our town that our schools are doing badly, getting worse or we are falling asleep at the helm. Well they would, wouldn’t they?
I stand up, in turn, and say that that is a load of ‘old tosh’ (my favourite saying!). Well I would, wouldn’t I?
So how about some facts to back up what I say? That our town’s primary schools have improved and are offering a better standard of education (measured by attainment) than ever before.
There is still room for more improvement – I particularly want to work with improving maths in our local primary schools (Shout out to Rachel Riley: want to help us?). Our primary school staff & headteachers, the local authority and I will continue to work for improvement and not use these statistics to justify any future lack of progress. BUT, just for a moment, let us pause and review what has been achieved:
|
Key Stage 2 |
|
2009 |
2012 |
|
Number of KS2 Pupils on Roll |
1841 |
1886 |
|
|
% Better than Level 4 English |
83.1 |
83.7 |
|
|
% Better than Level 4 Mathematics |
82.7 |
81.8 |
|
|
% L4+ Maths & English combined |
74.5 |
76.7 |
|
|
% L5+ Maths & English combined |
20.4 |
26.4 |
|
|
% Two levels of progress English |
77.1 |
84.2 |
|
|
% Two levels of progress Mathematics |
79.4 |
83.0 |
|
Since 2009, the percentage of pupils attaining a combined Level 4 (Key Stage Two result) in English and Maths has increased by 2% with an impressive 6% increase in the percentage attaining a combined Level 5. Over the same time period, the percentage of pupils making two levels of progress in English has increased by 7.1% and in Maths by 3.6%.
Pupils eligible for Free School Meals are doing better each year too. In 2010, 80.6% made two levels of progress in English compared with 85.8% in 2012 and in mathematics, 74.3% made two levels of progress in 2010 compared with 78.5% in 2012.