Stoke-on-Trent City Council has set out ambitious new targets to raise school standards, improve attendance and give every child a better start in life.
The Improving Education Strategy 2025-2030 includes clear measures to support children from the moment they start to learn and all the way through their education.
The attainment gap starts early, with fewer children in Stoke-on-Trent reaching a good level of development by age five – often because of early speech and language delays – but the picture is improving and that gap is beginning to close as increased early years work takes effect.
To address this, the strategy includes a commitment to increasing the number of children that reach a good level of development at reception age from the current figure (65 per cent) to 75 per cent by 2028.
To support this, the city council and its partners will develop a consistent, comprehensive model of school readiness and early years development. This will cover maternal health, positive parenting, speech and language development and good physical health.
In addition, the strategy aims to drive up outcomes in primary schools, while at secondary level, there is a clear target of increasing by 10 per cent the number of children getting a standard pass in English and Maths.
There will also be a drive to make sure the brightest children are able to achieve their full potential, with a pledge to increase the proportion achieving at least AAB grade at A Level to 15 per cent - the figure is currently 10 per cent - less than half the national average of 21.3 per cent.
The city council will develop a new city-wide attendance strategy, bringing schools and services together to reduce persistent absence and help more children stay in school every day.
This will include aiming to cut the number of children being educated outside the city, reduce exclusions and ensure more children with special educational needs can be supported in mainstream schools.
Local authorities now have more limited direct school improvement powers – with many schools part of academy trusts – meaning the council’s role will be to coordinate and promote best practice across education settings.
The strategy strengthens collaboration with schools, multi academy trusts, early years providers and national programmes such as the emerging Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) initiative to drive improvement across the city.
Councillor Sarah Jane Colclough, cabinet member for children’s services at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “Academic attainment is a key challenge in Stoke-on-Trent, but this strategy will help steer us towards improving outcomes for all children.
“We can’t achieve these ambitions alone. Real and lasting improvement will only come from bringing together organisations across the city and sharing best practice. By building on our partnership approach, we can tackle inequality by providing opportunities for every child to improve in their education and set themselves up for the bright futures they deserve.”
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