Staffordshire schools buck poor national trend

Schools in Staffordshire are bucking a national trend in education at a time when more than 250,000 young people across the country are attending failing schools.

A total of 329 schools across the country are failing to meet Government minimum targets, which means hundreds of thousands of children are missing out on a decent education, according to the publication of the latest school league tables.

But in Stafford, education bosses point to the fact that 81 per cent of schools in the county are rated good or outstanding as proof of an improvement in opportunities available to youngsters.

In 2013, the number of schools in Staffordshire classed as good or outstanding was 64 per cent.

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Council bosses have recently claimed that more than 14,000 pupils across Staffordshire are receiving a better standard of education compared to three years ago.

Ben Adams, Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for learning and skills, said: "The education landscape has changed significantly in recent years and now head teachers and governors are directly responsible for their school's performance.

"It's their job to form alliances and work together with counterparts to share best practice and achieve high standards, while parents should challenge them on their school's achievements.

"The council's role now is to monitor what's happening, encourage and intervene where necessary – often by commissioning specific training for staff and governors through our school support service Entrust.

"In recent years we have focused on reviewing schools' performance regularly and intervening quickly and strongly when needed, which is why the number of schools rated good or outstanding has risen to 81 per cent, and the ratio of children receiving a good or outstanding education has risen 13 points in three years to 76 per cent.

"Clearly we want every child in Staffordshire to receive a good or outstanding education and we will continue to work with schools across the county to either improve, or maintain the highest standards."

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The number of pupils in Staffordshire gaining five or more good GCSEs has also risen over the past year.

The top school in the county for GCSEs was Chase Grammar School in Cannock, which saw all 17 of its pupils gain five or more A* to C GCSEs including English and maths.

Across the county, 56.1 per cent of pupils gained the Government's benchmark of five or more GCSEs at A* to C, including English and maths.

The figures see Staffordshire rise seven places in the national tables to 94th out of 152 local authorities.