Minister Heaps Praise on City for Successes

SCHOOLS minister Jacqui Smith today congratulated pupils and teachers in Birmingham for making “real progress” in the city’s schools.

The Redditch MP said: “Seven schools in the city are among the top 100 most improved schools in the country in the list we publish today on results of 14-year-olds.

“This is a trend that’s happening across the city.

“In 1997, only 54 per cent of Birmingham’s 14-year-olds were doing well in English. Now that figure is up to 69 per cent. And there have been similar improvements in maths too.

“These achievements are not to be knocked. Many schools that have made the most progress are facing additional challenges – with high numbers of deprived pupils, and many pupils for whom English is a second language.

“What these schools show us is that with the right levels of teaching and support, every child, regardless of their background, can have a fair chance of doing well.”

The minister added: “Those first few years in secondary school are crucial. Children who do well early on in secondary school are much more likely to achieve at GCSE and beyond.

“Last year’s results show we can be confident that more children are getting to grips with the basics and building a solid foundation for achievement later on in life.

“But there is still much to do. Not every school is a good school. And too often it’s the poorest pupils that lose out, with only around a third of children in Birmingham entitled to free school meals doing well at GCSE.

“That’s why we are determined to continue improving things. Our Education Bill builds on what we know works to raise standards in all school. In particular, those schools where the pattern of poor results and low aspirations has proved so difficult to shift.”