Wendy reports on the recently released National 2008 Key Stage 2 (KS2) results for 11 year olds and raises a few questions while presenting her views on what might be causing the problems. Ed
The National 2008 Key Stage 2 results for 11 year olds in England, published last week, made gloomy reading, with the Isle of Wight coming fourth from the bottom of the table, a much lower position than in previous years. In 2006 the Island had climbed to 88th of 150 local authorities, but in 2007 it slipped back to 194th and in 2008 it sank to 147th.
It looks like it’s a decline in performance, not just a decline relative to the rest of the country. Between 2006 and 2008 the Island’s aggregate score for pupils achieving the expected level 4+ in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science fell from 240 to 230, while the aggregate for pupils achieving higher than the expected level (5+) dropped from 103 to 80. Full results are on the DCSF website.
Cllr Alan Wells, Cabinet member for Children and Young People, described the results as “disappointing” and argues that “it once again highlights the problem that we have on the Isle of Wight with the current educational structure where pupils move schools in the middle of Key Stage 2 “¦ instead of at the end at age 11.”
Threatened reorganisation causing uncertainty?
Given that Key Stage 2 results were improving to 2006, perhaps the recent decline has more to do with the uncertainty schools have faced during threatened reorganisation, with middle schools knowing that the council wants to axe them by September 2011 in its aim to move from a three-tier to two-tier education system.
Chris Welsford of Standards-Not-Tiers believes the council have further contributed to the problems: “They’ve phased out the Key Stage 2 cluster management for primaries and middle schools that allowed them to share best practice.”
He believes that if primary and middle schools had continued to work together, the upward trajectory would have continued.
Three Island schools get great results
It must be emphasised that some schools have performed extremely well in spite of everything: Solent, Nodehill and Ventnor Middle all achieved above the England average in the 2008 KS2 tests.
Image: atomicjeep
