Mixed picture on Shropshire youngsters' progress

Over the last school year, 71 per cent of Telford pupils reached this standard in the early years assessment, up from 70 per cent in 2017.

But in the Shropshire Council area, the reverse happened, with 70 per cent of the pupils reaching the standard, down one per cent from the year before.

The average rate for the whole of Shropshire for the proportion of five-year-olds achieving an acceptable standard is below the average for England, which is 71.5 per cent.

The department benchmark for children with a 'good level of development' is to achieve the minimum expected level in five of the seven areas assessed.

These are personal, social and emotional development, physical development, communication and language, mathematics and literacy. Pupils are also assessed in understanding of the world and expressive arts and design.

The evaluation is made by the teacher in the final term of Reception.

The subject where most pupils met the minimum expected score was physical development. About 86 per cent of the pupils hit the mark in Telford and 91 per cent in Shropshire.

The lowest level of achievement was in literacy – just 70 per cent of pupils met the Government's minimum required mark across the whole of Shropshire.

The greatest improvement was in mathematics. In 2017, 76 per cent of children met the expected level in Telford & Wrekin, but this year it was 77.5 per cent. The figure in Shropshire remained steady at 79 per cent.

A total of 2,345 pupils were evaluated in Telford & Wrekin in 2018, 1,108 girls and 1,237 boys. A total of 2,983 pupils were evaluated in Shropshire in 2018, 1,435 girls and 1,548 boys.

Girls did better than boys, scoring on average 2.5 more points in Telford & Wrekin and 2.7 per cent in Shropshire.

Rosamund McNeil, assistant general secretary at the National Education Union, said that assessments help teachers and parents know more about children's capabilities.

She said: "The purpose of this assessment is to gather information and help teachers plan the next stage for that child. Practitioners are really supportive of it and they are very worried because they feel the Government does not like it because it is not just limited to numeracy and literacy."

Commenting on the better performance by girls, she added: "Gender is one of the factors, but not critical at this stage. You also have to take into account that 20 per cent of the kids may have some additional need and it really matters which month in the year children were born.

"Every child develops at a different pace from the age of three to 18, and that is something that everybody has to understand."

Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, said: “I want to make children’s literacy and narrowing the early years gap a national cause, a national mission.

"That’s why in July I set out an ambition to halve the number of children leaving reception without the right early communication and reading skills within the next 10 years.

"Later this year, I am hosting a summit bringing together charities, businesses and other organisations to look at how we can provide practical support for parents to help them encourage their children to learn and develop.

"This will range from simple practical tools and guidance to investment in projects that have a proven track record of helping families most in need."