Cllr Joe Caluori, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Children & Families, writes about Evening Standard analysis that shows Islington’s schools are in the top 10 in the country for attainment of disadvantaged children in the ‘Three R’s’.
Islington’s Community of schools delivering opportunity for all
I was really pleased to see that according to the Evening Standard’s analysis of the Key Stage 2 SATS results for England and Wales, Islington comes in 9th for the proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieving level 4 in Reading, Writing and Maths -; ‘The three R’s’.
This is testament to the excellent work done by our fantastic primary schools, and I want to send out my heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful teachers that made this happen -; but also of course to the pupils who worked so hard, and the parents that encouraged them.
The quality of teaching and learning children receive is a crucial factor in determining their future educational attainment, and this is especially important to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. As a Borough with the third highest rate of child poverty it is incredibly important to us that primary schools do their bit in tackling inequality of outcomes, and they do so with gusto.
These results also show how a local authority working in partnership with local schools can drive real improvements for children. The Tory Government have said that they want every School to be an academy or Free School, and that they want to end the role of local councils working with their local schools.
These results show a light on how wrong they are to pursue this policy. In Islington we have a family of schools who work closely with each other and with us, and that is how these impressive results are possible. We can go toe to toe with academy chains and show that out family of schools has got what it takes, and will continue to do so, whatever David Cameron, George Osborne or Nicky Morgan say.
Cllr Joe Caluori, Executive Member for Children & Families
