Ofsted report reveals decline in good or outstanding secondary schools in Barking and Dagenham
The number of secondary schools with the top Ofsted ratings has fallen File picture: Ken Mears - Credit: Archant
The number of secondary schools in Barking and Dagenham to be rated good or outstanding by Ofsted has decreased in the past year.
Figures revealed as part of Ofsted’s annual report found that 73 per cent of the borough’s secondary schools had one of the top two gradings as of August - a decline of 16 percentage points on the same time last year.
It is the second biggest drop across London and puts Barking and Dagenham as having the fourth lowest proportion of top-rated schools.
Across the capital, 89pc of secondary schools boast a good or outstanding rating.
But the primary school figures paint a different picture, with 95pc of schools making the grade - an improvement of 5pc and above the London average of 94pc.
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The report also found that 62pc of primary children were reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in Key Stage 2 - below the London average of 66pc.
And the progress of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 was below that of their peers, with the average A8 score - attainment in eight GCSE subjects - being 46.2 compared to the capital-wide 48.6.
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Mike Sheridan, Ofsted’s regional director for London, said: “For most young people, London is a great place to grow up.
“We have some of the best schools, colleges, social care and early years provision to be found.”
But he added: “There remains too much variation in performance between the London boroughs.
“We want to see all children in London receiving high quality education and care – regardless of the area they live in.”
A council spokesman said: “We are delighted to see our primary schools are continuing to improve and performing very strongly - the Ofsted inspections place them above London, and well above national, results.
“Barking and Dagenham is ranked among the top 20 local authorities in the country for Progress 8, the Government’s key performance figure on pupils improvement during secondary school, and during the summer our pupils achieved record-breaking GCSE grades.
“While the Ofsted performance of secondary schools has dipped, this can be attributed to two new schools having their first inspections. We remain determined to continue to improve, and we are working with the sponsors of these schools to support rapid improvement and ensure the young people of our borough have the best educational opportunities.”
