Hartlepool has region’s highest rate of primary education improvement AND secondary school exclusions

New Seaton ward councilor, Leisa Smith of party Putting Hartlepool First.

Schools inspectorate Ofsted has issued its Education, Children’s Services and Skills Annual Report for 2018/19 today, Tuesday, January 20.

It shows the number of primary schools rated good or outstanding in the town in 2019 was up by 7%, to 93% – three points higher than the regional average.

The percentage of secondary schools rated good or outstanding was unchanged at 40%, 18 points lower than the wider North East.

Sixty-eight per cent of children were reaching the expected standard at reading writing and maths in key stage 2, three per cent better than nationally.

But 2017-18 figures show secondary schools excluded 965 of a total 5,483 pupils – a rate of 17.6%.

Ofsted Regional Director for the North East Emma Ing said: “Education for younger children in the North East is excellent, with a higher proportion of nurseries, pre-school and primary schools achieving good or outstanding than the national average.

“The picture is not so positive in secondary schools.

“One area of real concern for me is the number of exclusions being made in our secondary schools.

“Use of exclusion is a legitimate option for schools but it must always be justified and in the very best interests of all learners, because exclusion is not always the best thing for those excluded

Councillor Leisa Smith, Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Children’s and Joint Commissioning Services Committee, said: “We are extremely pleased Hartlepool has had the highest rate of improvement across the region – Hartlepool’s percentage of good or better schools is 87%, which is better than the North-East and the national picture.

“However, this does not mean that we are in any way complacent – we are absolutely committed to ensuring all children in Hartlepool get the best possible start in life and we are working extremely hard to ensure that all of our schools are good or better.”

“We acknowledge the very high exclusion rates in secondary schools during 2017/18. However, since then the number of exclusions has reduced dramatically. We expect this to be reduced even further.”