Flying high! Schools across the Borough have reason to celebrate

That's the message as figures have revealed 98 per cent of primary school children in the area go to a school rated by Ofsted as "good" or "outstanding".

And the corresponding figure for secondary school pupils in the Borough stands at 93 per cent.

This is a huge improvement from 2014, when the figure stood at just 46 per cent for secondary school pupils across Stockton-on-Tees.

Councillor Lisa Evans, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "Schools in our Borough really are performing incredibly well and I'm very proud of all our staff and pupils - as well as the parents, carers and governors who support them.

"It's an unbelievable turnaround from those figures in 2014 and we've also been able to not only sustain the success from last year, but actually improve from 86 per cent to 93 per cent for the number of secondary school pupils attending a good or outstanding school.

"Of course, we can't lose sight of the fact that an Ofsted rating is just one measure of a school's success - and that's why we are far from complacent.

"We will continue to support the Borough's schools and their pupils in any way that we can.

"And this all comes at a time when we're investing £52 million in transforming school buildings across the Borough."

Councillor Evans added: "One of the key reasons for our success has definitely been our united approach to work closely with schools regardless of whether they are academies, Diocesan schools, free schools or Council maintained.

"In other parts of the country there isn't this feeling of all pulling in the same direction and focusing on what is important, which is of course the education of our young people.

"We've got so many brilliant schools with lots of great staff and I'm delighted they are performing so well. They certainly deserve an enormous amount of credit when you consider the many challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic too."