Image Credit: https://twitter.com/MerciaSchool/status/1542237950578249734
The Department for Education recently published its League table establishing the best and worst performing schools in the region according to ‘progress 8’.
Progress 8 refers to how much progress pupils at this school made between the end of key stage 2 and the end of key stage 4, compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.
The measure was introduced in 2016 in order to assess performance rather than school’s grades.
A score above zero shows that pupils made more progress, on average, than pupils across England who got similar results at the end of Year 6 while a score below means, on average, they made less.
The best performing school in Sheffield was Mercia School, having received an ‘outstanding’ report by Ofsted, it achieved an average of 2.22 and placed in the ‘well above average’ category.
Out of a total of 51 schools, just six schools in Sheffield were placed in the ‘well above average’ category, nine in ‘average’, and a combined total of 17 schools were placed in either ‘below average’, or ‘well below average’ – signalling a decline in progress made in schools across the region.
In second place was High Storrs School, receiving an average of 0.79, placing Mercia School firmly in the top spot, and in third place was Tapton School, with an average of 0.71.
The bottom three performing schools according to progress 8 were: Bents Green School, Holgate Meadows School and Heritage Park School.
All three are Special Schools and have reported financial difficulty in the last year and are now trying to join NEXUS Multi Academy Trust.
In a letter home to parents in June, Bents Green criticised the council as “no longer having the services and support we require to benefit our students.”
All of the top six performing schools making up the ‘well above average’ category, achieved 50 percent or above for students that received a grade 5 or above in English or Maths.
In comparison, only one school (Bradfield School) in the ‘below average’ category achieved above the 50 percent threshold where students received grade 5 or above in those subjects.
