New report shows West Dunbartonshire's early years children doing well literacy and numeracy

Children attending early education in West Dunbartonshire are progressing well in reading, writing and numeracy according to the latest figures.

A report was presented to members of the educational services committee yesterday which showed improvements across early years education in the last seven years.

It also highlighted the attendance rate of pupils since August 2023.

READ MORE: Private early years facilities in West Dunbartonshire set to get pay rise

Across the early years setting, the service recorded a seven percent increase in writing with 26% of children already meeting the benchmark set for the end of primary one, an increase of 15%.

Strong progress has also been made in the Early Arithmetical Learning Programme which is a key driver for raising attainment in numeracy and will work alongside the new numeracy programme,‘Count with me in WDC’.

Figures already show 12% of children have met this benchmark which spans to primary 1.

The local authority has also been carrying out a more robust monitoring programme of children’s attendance on a monthly basis to help support and improve attendance in all early learning centres.

The average attendance for January, February and March this year was 80.6%, 80.3% and 82.71% respectively.

Speaking on the issue, council leader Martin Rooney said: “Early years children can have ailments and issues in the household so you wouldn’t expect them to maintain the 100% or 95% attainment rate.”

A council officer confirmed that monitoring it was a way to support families and help them create “good habits for the future.”

Following the meeting, Laura Mason, Chief Officer of Education, said: “We are committed to early learning and it’s great to see the progress being made across all learning in our ELCCs.

“This is testament to the commitment and dedication of our colleagues who ensure children within our centres learn and achieve every day.

“Our regular literacy and numeracy assessments allow us to monitor and track children’s progress to ensure we are on course to meet our ambitious targets. These ongoing assessments means we are continually reviewing and assessing our practices which are having a positive impact on the services we deliver within all our centres.”

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