"There's so much to be proud of": Schools in the Borough continue to perform strongly

Schools across the Stockton-on-Tees Borough continue to show a "strong overall performance" to beat national trends, a report has revealed.

Figures show 93 per cent of primary schools in the area are rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' by Ofsted, better than the average in England.

And 69.7 per cent of the Borough's children achieved a 'Good Level of Development' in Early Years in 2023, comfortably above the national average of 67.2 per cent.

The number of Year 1 children meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check was a healthy 81.2 per cent. This is an improvement of 3.5 per cent from 2022 and expected to beat the national average.

And in Key Stage 2, 63 per cent of children reached the expected standard for Reading, Writing and Maths, compared to the 59 per cent national average.

In secondary schools, 69.5 per cent of pupils achieved a 9-4 grade in English and Maths, which is expected to be higher than national figures.

Councillor Lisa Evans, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "The massive impact of Covid on the Borough's schools cannot be underestimated and it's pleasing to see how schools continue to bounce back with a very strong performance.

"There's so much to be proud of in this report, like the fact that outcomes for pupils in primary school are above the provisional national average on every measure.

"The fact that so many children attend a primary school rated 'Good' or Outstanding' is a reflection of the excellent work of our schools, our Multi Academy Trusts and the combined education improvement services in monitoring, challenging, intervening and supporting the sector.

"And the results in secondary schools are particularly impressive when you factor in that this is the first time no allowances were made to the results since before the pandemic 2019.

"Of course despite this encouraging report, we remain far from complacent and will continue to support the Borough's children any way we can.

"Finally, I must say how especially proud I am of our school leaders, staff, pupils, parents, carers and governors as I know it is a real collective effort to achieve great outcomes like this."

The report on the Borough's schools will be considered by Councillors at the Council's Cabinet on Thursday (October 12).

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