Mixed picture for Yorkshire in primary results

There were celebrations yesterday in the East Riding, which saw the biggest year-on-year increase in England of the proportion of children leaving primary school with acceptable levels of both English and maths – putting its results second only to York within the region overall.

But there was grim news at the other end of the table, where Wakefield schools tumbled down to 148th position of the country’s 151 local education authorities (LEAs) after a four per cent fall in the number of children achieving basic standards since 2010 – one of the biggest drops in the country.

Bradford too saw a sizeable fall in standards in this year’s Sats, while schools in Hull and Rotherham continue to languish in the bottom 10 for LEAs nationwide.

The overall picture for the region was bleak, with 72 per cent of children achieving basic standards of English and maths, the joint-lowest in the country, two per cent behind the national average and four behind the North West.

Elaine McHale, Wakefield Council’s corporate director for family services, did not try to hide her disappointment at the dismal figures for the authority’s schools in this summer’s Key Stage Two tests, but added that younger children in Wakefield were performing well.

“The Key Stage Two outcomes overall are very disappointing, particularly standards in reading and mathematics,” she said.

“Officers have carried out a detailed analysis of results.

“Particular projects will be run with schools to improve outcomes in these areas. In addition, schools will be encouraged to form partnerships to secure improvements in outcomes where needed.

“This year Wakefield maintained performance above that of the national picture in the Early Years Foundation Stage, and secured improvements on all measures at Key Stage One. We will build on these strategies to improve outcomes at Key Stage Two. “

In Bradford, where results also fell sharply, the local authority stressed the test results are only preliminary and said the year-on-year comparison may have been distorted by the fact many schools boycotted the exams last year.

But Bradford Council’s strategic director for children’s services, Kath Tunstall, admitted she was “concerned” by the three per cent fall in the proportion of local children achieving basic standards, and said major improvement in the area’s schools was now required.

“The results are only indicative at the moment, and will be confirmed later in the year,” she said. “This means we do not have a full picture for the district.

“However, we are obviously concerned with this provisional picture at Key Stage Two, and recognise significant improvement is needed. Raising educational outcomes is our highest priority.”

In East Riding the picture was very different, the authority posting an impressive five per cent increase in the number of youngsters achieving basic standards – the biggest improvement in all England.

In total, 78 per cent of 11-year-olds achieved the basic standards, putting the area 24th out of the country’s 151 LEAs and only just behind York, which again posted the highest results in the region.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s head of improvement and learning, Mike Furbank, said the results were the culmination of many years’ hard work, and were achieved despite the authority being once of the worst-funded in the country for education.

“I’d like to thank all our head teachers, the teams they lead and the children and parents for the efforts they have put in,” he said.

“We recognise clearly this is a result of creative and innovative approaches to teaching and learning in all key stages - not just what happens in Year Six.”

Results also showed progress is being made in Rotherham, though its schools remain among the worst-performing in the region.

Senior schools director Dorothy Smith said: “These figures show improvements are being made in Rotherham, as we are closing the gap on the national and regional averages in English.”