Leeds Pupils' Chances Depend on Area

A child's chances of leaving primary school in Leeds with a good grounding in reading, writing and arithmetic still depend heavily on where they live, official statistics suggest. In some areas of the city, the vast majority of youngsters gain a Level 4 (the standard expected of 11-year-olds in national curriculum tests in the basics), whereas in others as many as 6 in 10 fail to reach this target. At one school in Seacroft, for example, 94% of their pupils are from disadvantaged backgrounds and only 48% of them managed to achieve Level 4 in reading, writing and maths. At another in Cross Green, 84% of their pupils are from disadvantaged backgrounds and only 35% of their 11-year-olds managed to achieve Level 4 in reading writing and maths. In comparison, most of the high-achieving schools seem to be in wealthier areas (apart from a few exceptions). At one school in Meanwood for example, 100% of the children achieved Level 4 or above in the 3Rs - none of the pupils were from disadvantaged backgrounds. Another in Roundhay saw 92% of the kids achieving Level 4. Just 3% were from poorer homes. While visiting St Margaret's Primary School in Horsforth today, we asked the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan what she plans to do about the achievement gap. "One of the things this Government has done is we've spent billions of pounds on the Pupil Premium," she told us. "This is money that goes directly to the schools and allows Heads to decide what is the best way to spend that money to support children, whether it's additional tuition, more time to practice for example reading and writing, whether it's best spent on sport - that is for the Heads to decide." When questioned about those schools that were consistently failing, the Minister said: "One of the things the Chancellor announced in the Autumn Statement was a package to invest in schools in the North to encourage those who are in need of improvement to become academies where we find that Head Teachers respond well to having the autonomy and the ability to make decisions for their schools themselves. "And then we need to make sure that there are sponsors to support those schools that decide to become academies." Across the country, the proportion of primaries failing to ensure pupils reach a good standard in the 3Rs has remained static this year. That's despite tougher Government targets which state that schools must ensure at least 65% of 11-year-olds reach Level 4 in reading, writing and maths, and meet national averages in pupil progress. Children working at Level 4 are considered able to spell, use joined-up handwriting, are beginning to use complex sentences, can calculate simple fractions and percentages and can multiply and divide whole numbers by 10 and 100. Overall, 768 schools failed to meet the floor standard this year, compared with 767 last year, the DfE said.