Year 6 Pupils Hit All Time High

East Riding of Yorkshire Council would like to congratulate schools on their success as shown in the confirmed Key Stage 2 results, which were released today.

Results for 11-year-old pupils clearly demonstrate the health of primary education in the East Riding.  This places the East Riding as the highest performing authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region for both English and mathematics and as one of the most improved authorities nationally.

Results are clear evidence of continuing strong performance –

For English the authority is 20th out of 150 councils and for mathematics, 27th.  Both results are well above the national average.  This places the East Riding performance in the top 20% of LAs nationally.

The combined result of 78% of pupils achieving level 4+ in both English and Mathematics is a 5% improvement on 2009 – the last year when all schools completed the tests

A local authority and schools’ focus for improvement is writing and this has improved by 7% which has led to the significant improvement in English, which has improved from 2009 – +3% to 85%– the last year for when full data was available. Mathematics has also improved by 3% to 83%.

This has to be seen in the context of the poor funding which the authority receives; it has slipped to the 8th worst funded authority in the current financial year.

With English at 85% and mathematics at 83% Level 4 and above, these are the best overall results in the past 5 years, clearly demonstrating the impact that schools are having on the life chances of children. It bodes well for future achievement of this successful cohort of children who will transfer to secondary education well prepared to face the challenges of the senior school curriculum.

Councillor Julie Abraham, portfolio holder for children, young people and schools, said: “These excellent results are a testament to the support that has been given to our primary school children, by schools, by the school improvement team and by parents and carers.

“Together with the transitional support that is given to Year 6 children before they transfer to their secondary school, these results will enable them to move on as confident young people.”

East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s head of improvement and learning, Mike Furbank said:

“I would like to thank all of our head teachers, the teams they lead and the children and parents for the efforts they have put into making these outcomes happen.

“We recognise clearly that this is as a result of creative and innovative approaches to teaching and learning in all key stages not just what happens in year 6 where the tests are taken.

“Schools in the East Riding deliver excellent focused teaching of literacy and numeracy in the context of a rich and vibrant curriculum.  This embracing of the twin concepts of “Excellence and Enjoyment” has meant that there has never been a better time to be a primary aged pupil in the East Riding.

“It should be remembered, however, that poor funding impacts on class size and that the resourcing of schools both in staff and physical terms is directly related to our position as 8th worst funded authority.  East Riding’s results remain positive and above the national average despite years of under investment by central government.”

“We are not however complacent and see this as a stepping stone to our published commitment to top 10% performance as enshrined in our corporate improvement strategy Striding Ahead.”