CONCERNS about the progress being made by the borough’s five-year-olds were raised at a full council meeting.
Cllr David Armstrong, Labour opposition spokesman for education and children, referred to council figures which he believed showed the performance of children aged five achieving a good rate of development was ‘significantly worse than the England average’ although the borough was one of the wealthiest in the country.
Education and children chief Cllr Mark Stocks (Con) said he had provided a detailed response of almost three and a half pages to Cllr Armstrong.
In 2011, 56 per cent of children in the borough had achieved a good level of development at the early years stage.
This was below the national average of 59 per cent and the borough was ranked ninth in a league table of 11 similar authorities.
The gap in performance between the lowest achieving 20 per cent and the rest was 31.6 per cent, similar to the national average although the council was ranked eleventh against its neighbours.
“Clearly things needed to improve,” explained Cllr Stocks.
“The Early Years Team put in place an action plan to target support on under performing schools and settings. So far, 53 schools have completed their audit and we have seen clear improvements in practice.
“Performance improved in 2012 and 64 per cent of children achieved a good level of development, ranking us sixth against our neighbours.
“The gap in performance between the lowest achieving 20 per cent and the rest was better than the 2011 position and ranked us sixth against our neighbours.”
