Educational outcomes have improved in South East Wales over the last three years faster than they have across Wales as a whole, report says.
A new report by Estyn—the inspectorate service for education and training in Wales—found the collective work carried out by the Education Achievement Service (EAS) has led to improvements in pupil outcomes.
‘The rate of improvement in pupils’ outcomes in South East Wales in a majority of indicators at key stage 4 has been faster than that across Wales as a whole over the last three years,’ the report said.
The EAS is a school improvement service that serves five local authorities: Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport, and Torfaen.
Paul Matthews, lead chief executive for the region commented: ‘I’m pleased but not surprised with this very positive outcome.
‘Standards across the region have seen significant improvement over the last couple of years and this is in part due to the focus that the Education Achievement Service has brought to pupil level outcomes in every single school.
‘The five councils that make up the region took a bold decision several years ago to move services into a company structure. This decision is proving to be a good one and I expect to see further improvements in outcomes for young people this summer and in the years ahead.’
Responding to the report, EAS managing director Debbie Harteveld said: ‘I speak on behalf of myself, the company board and members of the joint executive group when I say that we welcome the Estyn report which largely reflects our own view of our strengths and areas for improvement.
‘We recognise the work of the dedicated staff within the EAS, local authorities, our school community and wider partners throughout the region who have worked tirelessly to improve life chances for our learners in South East Wales.’
‘We know that there is further to go to reduce variability in standards in secondary schools in particular; and this area remains a significant priority for us,’ Ms Harteveld added.
‘We are confident that collectively we can continue to deliver sustained improvements and strive to provide the best outcomes for all learners.’
