Agenda item

A report by Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director, providing an overview of pupil performance at the end of each key stage and comparing Wiltshire’s attainment with national expectations across all phases is attached. 

National publication of the examinations for young people aged 16 and 18 has been delayed and will not be available until 26 January 2012. As a consequence the detail in this paper concentrates on pupil performance in the Foundation Stage and at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3.  A supplementary paper will be prepared as soon as the validated results for Key Stage 4 and Post-16 become available. It is anticipated that it will be possible to provide a verbal update for this meeting.

Julie Cathcart, Head of School Improvement, will attend to answer Members’ questions.

A report was received from Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director, providing an overview of Wiltshire school pupils’ performance in 2011 and comparing Wiltshire’s attainment with national expectations.

Julie Cathcart, Head of School Improvement, presented the report and answered members’ questions. National publication of the attainment for young people aged 16 and 18 had been delayed until the day of the meeting, so a report containing these results was tabled. The results were summarised as follows:

·         The percentage of children achieving statutory targets in the Foundation Stage Profile (FSP) was 1% above the 2008 and 2009 outcomes, but slightly below the 2010 figure.

·    At Key Stage 1, the best ever outcomes were secured at level2+inreading, writing and mathematics, bringing all three key measures in line with or exceeding national figures.

·    At Key Stage 2, results in English and Maths combined remained at 1% above the national average, 0.7% above statistical neighbours and represented a 7% improvement for Wiltshire since 2005. Key Stage 2 performance in English at level 4 remained in line with statistical neighbours and performance in Maths showed a 1% improvement, exceeding statistical neighbour averages.

·         It was reported that improvements at KS1 and KS2 were the result of developing good subject teaching plus improved pupil performance tracking and effective early intervention including one-to-one tuition and target programmes like the Every Child programmes.

·         At Key Stage 3, English at both Level 5+ and Level 6+ had improved on 2010 outcomes and reflected the best ever results for Wiltshire. 

·         At Key Stage 4, Wiltshiresecureditsbestever performance in terms of pupils achieving 5+GCSEs at A*-E (inc. GCSEEnglishand maths). TheLevel2 performancemeasureof5+ GCSEsat A*-Cfigureroseby 4.2%.

·         At Key Stage 5, Wiltshire’s level 3 (GCE A level) average  point  score  per  examination  increased to 215.9,  in  line with national figure.

·         Data for vulnerable groups at KS4 and for post-16 provision was yet to be released and would be circulated at a later date.

The following points were discussed:

·         The removal of modular GCSEs could lead to lower attainment figures in future years, making comparison with previous years’ figures difficult. Members asked that future pupil performance reports remind members of changes to the attainment measures used.

·         It was noted that community schools showed the lowest average attainment as compared with other school types. Future pupil performance reports could yield interesting comparisons between the attainment of academy schools and non-academy school types.

·         If the local authority had concerns about an academy school’s performance then its only formal avenue would be to approach Ofsted. However, in such cases the Council would always first offer the school support to help improve their performance.

·         It was anticipated that most headteachers would continue to seek to offer their pupils a broad range of education, including vocational courses, despite the Government’s increasing focus on academic qualifications.

Resolved:

1.    To note that a further report containing the final pupil performance figures, including those relating to the English Baccalaureate, would be circulated to members once available;

2.    To congratulate all children and school staff whose key stages have shown an improvement in their attainment levels for 2010/11, as well as officers involved in implementing the effective improvement programmes detailed in the report.