School test results soar since middle schools were axed
Monday, 3rd September 2012.
Huge improvements in writing and maths results in school tests in Haverhill have been put down to the demise of middle schools.
Schools that have moved to the two-tier system of education in Suffolk - like Haverhill - have seen as much as a 19 per cent improvement in some subjects at key stage two, new Standard Assessment Tests figures released today reveal.
Schools, such as those in Haverhill and Lowestoft, which started reorganisation from three tiers to two tiers in 2007, have achieved a 12 per cent improvement in writing and a six per cent jump in maths – in both cases double the rate of improvement across the rest of Suffolk.
The figures also reveal significant key stage two gains in schools across the county, with the percentage of children achieving the expected grade (level four and above) increasing in writing by seven per cent and maths by three per cent.
Children in 15 schools across the county aced their SATS with 100 per cent of them achieving level four or above in reading and maths. And schools in more deprived parts of the county did equally well, with a much as 30 per cent gains in reading and 25 per cent gains in maths achieved.
Graham Newman, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for education and young people, said: “These are by far the most encouraging education results we have seen in Suffolk for some years.
"They represent a tremendous amount of hard work by our schools, the county council’s Learning and Improvement Service and, of course, the children.
“I am particularly pleased to see schools in Haverhill and Lowestoft, which have gone through the whole Schools Organisation Review process, achieving such incredible results in such a short time.
"This provides the clearest evidence yet of the need to complete the re-organisation programme throughout the county.
“There isn’t a part of Suffolk which doesn’t have some positive news to take away from today. I hope this is just the start of great improvements to come.”
Today’s results also reveal other positive improvements:
Early Years (five-year-olds):
· A nine per cent improvement in Early Years attainment;
· The gap between the lowest 20 per cent of children and the rest cut by a third to six per cent since 2009.
Key Stage One (seven-year-olds):
· Percentage of children achieving level 2b and above or more increasing by one per cent in reading, writing and maths, placing Suffolk in line with, and in writing and maths above, the national average.
Key Stage Two (11-year-olds):
· Since 2009, a sustained, year-on-year, improvement in writing and maths - standards in writing have leapt 14 per cent since 2009;
· A six per cent increase in the number of children jumping two attainment levels in maths in the last year;
· Significant improvements by schools which will be undergoing re-organisation during the second and third phases of the school re-organisation programme (through targeted support);
· The number of schools achieving below expected levels (known as the ‘floor’) decreasing by 50 per cent from 22 to 11 since 2010, as a result of targeted support.
The Government is expected to publish national statistics by the end of September, at which point it will be possible to compare Suffolk’s improvements with the rest of the country.
Specifically in Haverhill writing results were up 19 per cent to 78per cent, and maths up seven per cent to 76 per cent.
Schools that have moved to the two-tier system of education in Suffolk - like Haverhill - have seen as much as a 19 per cent improvement in some subjects at key stage two, new Standard Assessment Tests figures released today reveal.
Schools, such as those in Haverhill and Lowestoft, which started reorganisation from three tiers to two tiers in 2007, have achieved a 12 per cent improvement in writing and a six per cent jump in maths – in both cases double the rate of improvement across the rest of Suffolk.
The figures also reveal significant key stage two gains in schools across the county, with the percentage of children achieving the expected grade (level four and above) increasing in writing by seven per cent and maths by three per cent.
Children in 15 schools across the county aced their SATS with 100 per cent of them achieving level four or above in reading and maths. And schools in more deprived parts of the county did equally well, with a much as 30 per cent gains in reading and 25 per cent gains in maths achieved.
Graham Newman, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for education and young people, said: “These are by far the most encouraging education results we have seen in Suffolk for some years.
"They represent a tremendous amount of hard work by our schools, the county council’s Learning and Improvement Service and, of course, the children.
“I am particularly pleased to see schools in Haverhill and Lowestoft, which have gone through the whole Schools Organisation Review process, achieving such incredible results in such a short time.
"This provides the clearest evidence yet of the need to complete the re-organisation programme throughout the county.
“There isn’t a part of Suffolk which doesn’t have some positive news to take away from today. I hope this is just the start of great improvements to come.”
Today’s results also reveal other positive improvements:
Early Years (five-year-olds):
· A nine per cent improvement in Early Years attainment;
· The gap between the lowest 20 per cent of children and the rest cut by a third to six per cent since 2009.
Key Stage One (seven-year-olds):
· Percentage of children achieving level 2b and above or more increasing by one per cent in reading, writing and maths, placing Suffolk in line with, and in writing and maths above, the national average.
Key Stage Two (11-year-olds):
· Since 2009, a sustained, year-on-year, improvement in writing and maths - standards in writing have leapt 14 per cent since 2009;
· A six per cent increase in the number of children jumping two attainment levels in maths in the last year;
· Significant improvements by schools which will be undergoing re-organisation during the second and third phases of the school re-organisation programme (through targeted support);
· The number of schools achieving below expected levels (known as the ‘floor’) decreasing by 50 per cent from 22 to 11 since 2010, as a result of targeted support.
The Government is expected to publish national statistics by the end of September, at which point it will be possible to compare Suffolk’s improvements with the rest of the country.
Specifically in Haverhill writing results were up 19 per cent to 78per cent, and maths up seven per cent to 76 per cent.
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