Classroom standards improve in Kent schools
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by political editor Paul
Francis
Classroom standards at Kent’s
secondary schools have improved yet again - but one school is among
the worst in England.
School league tables published by the
government indicate another year of improving standards, with
students posting another set of record-breaking results.
But the Bishop of Rochester Academy,
Chatham, had just 16% of pupils attaining the GCSE benchmark - the
third-worst in England.
Alongside Kent's overall good results, there was some cause
for concern based on results in the so-called English
Baccalaureate, a new measure of performance.
And there was a big gap in the
achievements of poorer pupils in their GCSEs compared with other
children.
Overall in the county, six out of ten
pupils achieved five or more good GCSEs at grades A* to C including
English and maths, rising to 59.4% in 2011 compared with 57% in
2010.
That was marginally above the national
average of 58.9%. All but 11 secondary schools passed the threshold
of 35% of pupils securing five good GCSEs set by education
secretary Michael Gove.
However, a new indicator showing how
well pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds did compared with others
revealed a significant gap.
For Kent, this revealed that pupils on
free school meals are half as likely to get five or more good GCSEs
than others. The tables show that 28% of disadvantaged children
secured five GCSEs compared to 63% for others.
That is likely to cause concern among
county education chiefs.
For the second year, the tables rate
schools on the basis of the proportion of children obtaining the
English baccalaureate.
This is awarded to those children who
achieve English, maths, a science, a foreign language and a
humanity such as history or geography.
The new measure is intended to reward
schools that offer a broad but academic curriculum.
In Kent, one
in five pupils passed the Baccalaureate and more than half - 66 of
all schools - saw less than 10% of children achieve the new
benchmark.
Of these, 29 of the schools saw no
pupils at all reaching the level of the Baccalaureate.
While the county’s selective grammar
schools came out top in terms of exam performance, non-selective
schools did well in terms of their added value score. This measures
the progress of pupils and takes into account deprivation
factors.
The secondary
school league tables - what's new?
The tables continue to show the number
of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including
maths and English as the main benchmark.
However, this year the tables also
include a new indicator known as English Baccalaureate to measure
performance.
This shows the number of pupils
achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A*to C in core subjects.
These are English, maths, one science, one foreign language and one
humanity subject.
The tables also carry more detail
about how well disadvantaged pupils are performing compared to
others.
This is measured by looking at GCSE
passes of those on free school meals or in care and comparing them
with those who are not disadvantaged.
The value added measure in the tables
is calculated by comparing each pupil’s best eight GCSEs and taking
into account their different starting points and progress since
arriving from primary school.
A score of 1,000 is the average so
everything above that is regarded as adding value.
Wednesday, January 25 2012
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