Fall in number of Sunderland secondary schools rated good or outstanding

But the city is performing better than the national average for reading, writing and maths, according to Ofsted.

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

It shows the number of secondary schools rated good or outstanding in 2019 was down by 11%, to 39% percent – 19 points lower than the regional average.

Sandhill was rated as ‘requires improvement’ in its first inspection since converting to academy status in March 2018, while Kepier in Houghton was downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ in January 2019.

The percentage of primary schools rated good or outstanding was unchanged at 93%, three points higher than the wider North East.

Sixty-six % of children were reaching the expected standard at reading writing and maths in key stage 2, 1% better than nationally.

Secondary schools excluded 928 of 15,596 pupils in 2017-18 – a rate of 6%, just under the regional average.

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. Too many secondary pupils are simply not getting the education they need.

“Use of exclusion is a legitimate option for schools but it must always be justified and in the very best interests of all learners.

A spokesperson for Together for Children Sunderland said: “In 2018/19 93% of primary schools in Sunderland were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, a great achievement.

“All our secondary schools work hard to support pupils. The decline in those rated good or outstanding may be attributed to two schools and we are supporting those particular academy trusts.

“We welcome changes to the Ofsted inspection framework that were introduced in September 2019 and we are working with schools to develop a clearer understanding of the new process. Schools that have been inspected in the city since September have had a positive experience and we have begun to see some very encouraging outcomes.”