Across St Helens this year 65.4 per cent of Year Six pupils achieved the expected standards in reading, writings and maths, according to the Key Stage Two results, an increase of two per cent on last year and in line with the interim 2019 national average.
And a three-year growing trend has seen more young pupils achieve the expected standards of phonic deciding at the end of Year 1 than in previous years and again in line with the national average at 82 per cent. This is thanks to structured reading and learning approaches to phonics.
More Year 2 children completing Key Stage One this year also achieved the expected standard in the combined reading, writing and maths measures with an increase from 64 per cent to 65 per cent.
Collaborative working between schools and St Helens Council’s School Effectiveness Team has also helped deliver significant increase in standards for disadvantaged children including those in the council’s care.
And thanks to the introduction of the Early Years Hub and support for early years settings in 2018/19 70.3 per cent children left the foundation stage of education with ‘a good level of development’ an improvement from 69 per cent in 2018.
Primary schools across the borough have been generous in their school to school support. Consistently high achieving schools have offered their support to others through the sharing of effective practice, while the council’s School Effectiveness Team have continued to provide bespoke support through school reviews and achievement and improvement meetings.
Councillor Sue Murphy, Deputy Leader of St Helens Council and Cabinet Member for Developing Young People, said: “Well done to all of our young people who have worked hard to achieve these results. Thanks should also go to the devoted teachers and staff at our schools who have helped pupils every step of the way during their education along with the wider support networks of families and carers who support our children to dream big and achieve great success.
“We want all of our children to be ambitious and take the opportunity to learn and grow into confident, well-rounded people who will make a positive difference to St Helens. They will have our continued support and we will keep working closely with our partners in education to make sure standards are high so that our children get the most out of their education.”
