(a)

the Key Stage 1 results were final, and the Key Stage 4 and 5 results were provisional;

(b)

results for primary aged children were similar to those of last year;

(c)

Plymouth’s results for five year olds were two percent below the national average and had been five percent above last year; national results had increased by eight percent this year and the gap between Plymouth’s results and national results was now wider than last year;

(d)

the percentage of five year olds who had reached a ‘good level of development’ (GLD - having the essential skills, knowledge and understanding to be ready for starting the national curriculum) had increased by one percent on last year;

(e)

16 percent more girls than boys in Plymouth reached a ‘good level of development’, which was in line with the national gender gap of 17 percent;

(f)

school judgements were moderated and teacher assessments challenged if necessary by the Local Authority;

(g)

Early Years settings received ‘no notice’ inspections from Ofsted; 89.6 percent of Early Years settings inspected had been graded as ‘good’ or better, two percent lower than last year;

(h)

the number of Early Years settings judged ‘inadequate’ had increased as Ofsted had raised their expectations of the standard of education and teaching that three and four year olds received;

(i)

Early Years settings that were failing were supported by the Local Authority, and placed on a six month improvement plan; if they did not improve within that timescale their Early Years funding was removed.  Funding had been removed from one setting within the past 12 months, and several settings had been placed on an improvement plan with some achieving a ‘Good’ at re-inspection;

(j)

the Year 1 Phonics Test measured the ability of six year olds to decode text using phonics; results had improved by four percent this year, lower than the national improvement.  74 percent of the city’s seven year olds had passed the Phonics Test, which was in-line with the national average;

(k)

Key Stage 1 results had improved or were the same as last year, which mirrored the national results; however Plymouth’s results were already below national averages;

(l)

significant improvements had been seen this year in the standard of reading, which had improved by more than the national improvement, along with writing and maths;

(m)

areas for improvement included the attainment of more able pupils and standards in writing, particularly for boys where there was a nine percent gap in reaching the national gender average;

(n)

there had been an improvement in reading at Key Stage 2, with an increase of three percent at L4+;

(o)

the test for grammar,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

(1)

the ‘Plymouth Education Catering Services – Local Authority Trading Co-operative Company’ agenda item is added to the Work Programme for 30 March 2015;

(2)

‘School organisation/Published Admission Numbers (PAN)’ is added to the Work Programme for 30 March 2015 – members will receive this update in report format;

(3)

the ‘Youth Services’ agenda item for the 19 January 2015 meeting is amended to reflect that members will received this update in report format.