Yahoo News Schools perform badly in league table
WEYMOUTH and Portland secondary schools are facing 'significant educational challenges' due to deprivation which is hindering pupils' progress, it has been suggested.
It comes after they received bottom of the table rankings in relation to a particular performance measure.
Scores based on exam results has ranked schools in the Dorset Council area based on how well they perform against the national average.
It's known as a 'progress 8 score' and it gives each school an indication of how well students have progressed from SATs to GCSEs.
A score above zero means pupils made more progress, on average, than pupils across England who got similar results at the end of these exams. It is based on results from 2022/23 in particular qualifications.
The Weymouth and Portland schools said progress 8 is "commonly acknowledged to disadvantage schools that serve communities with high levels of social deprivation".
Ferndown Upper School is the only school to have performed well above the national average. Two other schools also scored above average results in the top five - The Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis and Thomas Hardye School, Dorchester.
Atlantic Academy on Portland is at the bottom of the table with a score of -0.80, considered well below average.
The three Weymouth schools performed below average. Budmouth Academy scored -0.55 and All Saints Academy scored -0.52, both are considered well below average. Wey Valley Academy scored -0.46, considered below average.
Only academy or maintained schools that are government funded are featured.
The data is to be viewed with caution as in 2022/23, qualifications returned to pre-pandemic standards. Performance measures based on qualification results will reflect this, and cannot be directly compared to measures from 2021/2022 and there are still ongoing impacts of the pandemic.
A joint statement from Budmouth Academy, Wey Valley, Atlantic Academy and All Saints Academy said: “Progress 8 is just one of a number of school performance measures. It is also commonly acknowledged to disadvantage schools that serve communities with high levels of social deprivation.
"Ten areas in Dorset are within the top 20 per cent nationally for high levels of multiple deprivation; nine of these are areas are within Weymouth and Portland.
"Furthermore, in 2018, south Dorset was ranked 533 (last) among the 533 parliamentary constituencies in England, for social mobility.
"Whilst we are proud of our students and their many successes, this brings significant educational challenges.
"We are therefore unsurprised to learn that our schools perform less well in this particular measure when compared to schools working in a very different and much more advantaged context."
The statement added: "All four of our schools have been working tirelessly in recent years to secure good pastoral care and strong outcomes for our students, and we are pleased that we are all enjoying rising levels of attainment.
"An increasing number of our students now achieve the high grade passes at GCSE level which enable them to move onto Level 3 courses in their Post-16 study. We think this is something to be proud of, and staff continue to work incredibly hard to secure high standards for the young people of Weymouth and Portland.”
Secondary schools' progress 8 scores in the Dorset Council area:
Ferndown Upper School: 0.72
The Woodroffe School: 0.29
Thomas Hardye School: 0.26
The Gryphon School: 0.14
The Purbeck School: 0.08
Lytchett Minster School: 0.05
The Swanage School: -0.02
Queen Elizabeth School: -0.07
Dorset Studio School: -0.09
Beaminster School: -0.13
Gillingham School: -0.16
Shaftesbury School: -0.36
Sir John Colfox School: -0.30
Wey Valley: -0.46
Sturminster Newton High School: -0.51
All Saints Church of England Academy: -0.52
Budmouth Academy: -0.55
Atlantic Academy: -0.80
