Primary school pupils across Southampton and their teachers have reason to celebrate Christmas early this year after the Key Stage 2 (KS2) league tables were published today (December 15), confirming the city’s school’s continuing improvement.
Southampton has shot up the national league tables and broken in to the top 100 after the city’s schools recorded their highest ever proportion of children reaching the government’s target of Level 4 and above (L4+) in English and maths.
Southampton’s 9 percentage point improvement over the last two years - from 64 per cent in 2009 to 73 per cent in 2011 - was the second largest recorded by any of the country’s 152 local authorities in this year’s tests for 11 year olds.
The city’s L4+ English and maths combined rank is expected to be 95th. This represents a dramatic improvement from two years ago when Southampton was ranked 151st in the country.
A number of Southampton schools are among the most improved in the country. Shirley Warren Primary recorded the biggest year-on-year improvement – 50 per cent of pupils achieved the government benchmark last year which rose to 90 per cent in 2011. Over at Thornhill Primary in 2009, 24 per cent of pupils hit the expected level in 2009. This year 81 per cent made the grade – a huge leap of 57 percentage points in just two years.
Councillor Jeremy Moulton, Southampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, commented: “Southampton’s much-improved position in this year’s Key Stage 2 national league table results represent more good news for our children, our schools and for the city as a whole, demonstrating beyond doubt that all the hard work that has been going on in our schools in the last few years is paying off.
“I’d like to congratulate our children on their achievements and thank our teachers for their fantastic effort and commitment, and parents for their continued support in making this possible.
“There are too many success stories to mention each individually but I’d like to highlight the fantastic improvement at Shirley Warren Primary and offer my congratulations to everyone connected with the school.
“It’s been an exciting year for schools in Southampton, with improving results across the board, a raft of positive Ofsted reports and a great deal to look forward to in 2012. Southampton schools are fast-becoming self-improving environments, with successful school-to-school partnerships helping drive up standards and raise aspirations across the city.
“Our goal is for Southampton to be a city with learning at its very heart, where every school is a good school, providing excellent education for all our children and young people. With today’s news it’s clear we’re making good progress towards this.”
Clive Webster, executive director of Children's Services, said: "We have every reason to be very proud of these results. They arise out of a determination on the part of all junior and primary schools across the city to do their very best for pupils, parents and, thereby, their communities.
"Head teachers, teachers, support staff and governors continue to work relentlessly to massively improve the life chances of children. These results show just how much progress is being achieved. We can now have even greater confidence in our collective ability to go further, well beyond national averages, and be one of the very best cities for education in the country."
Southampton City Council
