Valence Primary School in Barking and Dagenham has been celebrated under a new programme set up by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to recognise exceptional schools in the capital.
Schools for Success is part of the Mayor's drive to help tackle education inequality and increase standards for all schoolchildren across the capital, whatever their background.
Schools for Success celebrates schools that are achieving academic success with all their pupils, in particular disadvantaged or vulnerable students who started off behind their peers, or those affected by circumstances that could have an impact on their learning. In 2016 there were more than 39,000 pupils at the end of primary school and 30,000 at the end of secondary school who did not reach expected levels.
The new programme creates a network for these schools to share best practice with others across London through events, school visits and online profiles. More than 100 eligible schools are invited to join the programme, with 27 boroughs represented at this year’s Awards. This cohort, refreshed annually, represents approximately six per cent of the capital’s schools.
London’s schools are outperforming the rest of the country with last year’s GCSE results showing the city as the top English region for the ninth consecutive year.
“Valence Primary School has been recognised in the Schools for Success Awards, because we identified that in the academic year 2015-2016, our Reception children were achieving below national average in maths on entry (only 38% at expected level) and developed a maths curriculum to support progress and achievement in this area and to adequately prepare the children for Key Stage 1. Linking to our whole school priority of raising the achievement in mental maths, ‘Maths is a Hoot’ was written for the EYFS curriculum and used EYFS practice to promote accelerated learning in this area.
The children are taught in groups at their own level and pace and gaps in learning are closed. By the end of the 2015-2016 academic year, the children had excelled in Maths with 89.3% at or above age related expectations.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: 'Congratulations to Valence Primary School for its outstanding achievements and for the hard work of its pupils and teaching staff. London has some of the best schools in the country, and Schools for Success shows the huge difference good quality teaching can make to pupils who started off behind in their studies. By sharing best practice with other schools across the capital, we can help every young Londoner reach their full potential, and ensure no child is left behind.”
102 schools have been recognised in Schools for Success, the first year of the scheme. They are being asked to share their good practice through seminars and hosting visits to their school so that other schools can learn from their successful approaches.
