New figures show that five year olds at Ark schools are outperforming the national average by over a fifth (22%).
81% of pupils at the academy network’s primary schools secured a ‘Good Level of Development’ in the early years, compared to 66% nationally.
Venessa Willms, Director of Primary at Ark said: “All the research shows how important it is to get the best possible start in the first years of school to do well at GCSEs, A levels and then at university. If we want to close the attainment gap, we need to give young children a secure foundation for the rest of their education.”
At the end of the Early Years (the end of the academic year in which the child turns five) teachers assess a child’s development, helping to support a smooth transition to Year 1.
Children achieving a ‘Good Level of Development’ are those achieving at least the expected level within the following areas of learning: communication and language; physical development; personal, social and emotional development; literacy; and mathematics.
Ark Bentworth Primary in Hammersmith saw the number of pupils getting this level up by 43 percentage points, while Ark Rose in Birmingham was up 27 points.
Every Ark school improved other than Ark Conway in Acton, the best performing school in the network, which stayed at 90%.