WITH schools feeling the pinch more than ever it is becoming increasingly challenging to maintain standards, let alone improve them.

But this has been the goal in St Helens for a number of years, particularly in the borough’s underperforming secondary schools.

The performance of the borough’s schools in the 2018-19 academic year has been documented in a recent report published by St Helens Council.

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The report covers the progress of early years foundation, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and post 16.

To save you time, we’ve picked out some of the highlights from the report to keep you informed about how schools in your community are doing.

Early years foundation stage (EYFS)

In the 2018-19 academic school year, 70.2 per cent of children in St Helens achieved a good level of development, an increase of 1.2 percentage points on the previous year and a rate of increase greater than that reported nationally.

The percentage of children achieving a good level of development at the end of the EYFS is higher than the comparable regional average but remain below comparable national averages.

However, the attainment gap between St Helens and the national average has decreased.

As is the case nationally, performance still varies between each of the individual early learning goal.

Reading, writing and numbers continue to be the three early learning goals with the lowest percentage of pupils achieving at the expected level or above.

The percentage of children achieving the expected standard or above is below that achieved nationally in each of the individual 17 early learning goals.

Girls in St Helens, as is also the case nationally, continue to perform better than boys in all of the early learning goals.

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Key Stage 1

The overall collective outcomes for Key Stage 1 (KS1) pupils, in terms of achieving the expected standard, are broadly the same as 2017-18, matching comparable national averages.

In reading, more pupils reached the expected standard compared to the previous year. The proportion of those who reached the standard in reading increased by 1 percentage point compared to the previous year.

The percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard in writing and maths maintained the same as the previous year. The headline outcomes reported for St Helens at KS1, in terms of achieving the expected standard, are broadly in line with comparable national averages.

However, the percentage of pupils achieving greater depth in each of the three core subjects continues to be lower than comparable national averages.

As is the case nationally, more girls reach the expected standard than boys in all subjects.

In addition, the collective outcomes for disadvantaged pupils have declined and are below comparable national averages.

The largest reduction was in writing, with 51 per cent of disadvantaged pupils achieving the expected standard, down from 56 per cent in 2017-18. This is also below the comparable national average (55 per cent).

Similarly, the collective outcome for disadvantaged pupils in reading and in maths also reduced in 2018-19 compared to the previous year, and is below comparable national averages.

Key Stage 2

In 2018-19, 66 per cent of pupils educated in St Helens achieved the expected standard in the three core subjects of reading, writing and maths.

This is a 3 per cent increase on the previous year and slightly higher than the comparable national and regional averages (65 per cent).

At the higher standard, 10 per cent of pupils educated in a state-funded St Helens school reached a higher standard in reading, writing and maths compared to 9 per cent in 2017-18, an increase of 1 percentage point and broadly similar to the position reported regionally and nationally.

There is considerable variability in performance across the St Helens primary schools. The highest attaining primary school saw 91 per cent of pupils achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and maths while the lowest attaining primary school managed just 40 per cent.

The percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard or above in the reading test has decreased from 74 per cent in 2018 to 73 per cent in 2019, in line with the comparable national average (73 per cent).

The percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard or above in writing increased one percentage point in 2019 to 80 per cent, which is higher than the 2019 national (78 per cent) and regional (77 per cent) averages.

The percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard in maths has increased significantly by 4 percentage points, to stand at 78 per cent. This is in line with the regional average but marginally below the comparable national average (79 per cent).

Additionally, there has also been a significant increase in the percentage of pupils in St Helens achieving the higher standard in maths.

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Key Stage 4

The average Attainment 8 score per pupil achieved by students educated in St Helens decreased by 0.9 points, compared to 2018. This is below comparable regional and national averages.

The Attainment 8 scores for mainstream individual schools in St Helens range from 50.7 as the highest and 17.1 as the lowest.

The average attainment score in St Helens for English, maths and the English Baccalaureate subjects are below those achieved, on average, regionally and nationally.

In St Helens the average GCSE score per pupil in English and particularly the Baccalaureate (Ebacc) subjects are well below comparable national averages and within the lowest performing quartile of local authorities nationally.

The average grade achieved in 2019 by students educated in St Helens is lower than comparable national averages across all the subject areas of the Ebacc.

The average grade achieved in science (3.91) is more than half a GCSE grade lower than the comparable national average (4.50) and among the lowest reported by a local authority in England.

The proportion of pupils achieving a GCSE grade 5 or above in GCSE English and GCSE maths was 36.5 per cent in 2019, a decrease by 2.3 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The percentage of students achieving a strong pass (9-5) in both GCSE English and GCSE maths continues to remain below comparable regional and national averages.

Across St Helens there remains significant variation in outcomes between schools.

For example, 49 per cent of pupils at Rainford High achieved a strong pass in GCSE English and maths while just 28 per cent achieved this at Haydock High.

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Post-16

Five of St Helens’ secondary schools offer sixth form provision.

The borough also contains Carmel College, the largest A level provider in the borough one of the most successful sixth form colleges in the country.

While Carmel’s performance in academic subjects is strong in 2019, attainment and progress at A and AS level in the borough’s secondary schools are mixed.

The average A level grade achieved by students educated at a post-16 provider is broadly the same as that achieved, on average, regionally and nationally.

A level attainment in the St Helens state school sector in 2019 was below that achieved, on average, across the comparable state school sector regionally and nationally.

Conversely, St Helens post 16 settings continue to achieve, on average, positive outcomes with regard to vocational qualifications.

The average grade achieved in St Helens for applied 25 general and tech level qualifications is above that achieved regionally and nationally, with strong performances recorded by state funded schools.

Progress 8

Progress 8 is a measure that shows how much progress pupils at a school made between the end of KS2 and the end of KS4.

In 2018-19, the overall Progress 8 score reported for St Helens is -0.28, which is below comparable regional and national averages.

This shows that students completing their KS4 studies in 2019 made, on average, less progress than other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment starting points.

The Progress 8 score reported for St Helens continues to be below national averages, although it is an improvement on the previous year (-0.39).

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Additionally, on average, insufficient progress is being made by pupils educated in St Helens across a range of the individual core academic subject areas, for example, English, maths and the Ebacc subjects.

The majority of schools in St Helens recorded progress that is, on average, significantly below that achieved by other pupils nationally.

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In St Helens, the lowest overall Progress 8 score achieved by a school in 2018-19 was – 0.76 at St Cuthbert’s, while the strongest progress score was +0.21 at Haydock High School.

Most secondary schools in St Helens achieved Progress 8 scores that were either below average or well below average.

Cowley, Haydock, Rainhill, and Rainford achieved Progress 8 scores in 2019 that are judged to be broadly in line with national averages.