South Ayrshire Council News

The efforts of pupils, staff and parents at primary schools in South Ayrshire have been applauded this week, as South Ayrshire Council learned that performance in key stages of reading, writing and mathematics are some of the best recorded.

During 2009/10, 89% of all primary 3, 4, 6 and 7 pupils reached key levels in reading appropriate to their age. This is the best performance recorded by pupils over the last five years and builds on a trend of continuous improvement going back to 2005/06.

Pupil performance in mathematics was similar, with 90% of pupils attaining levels appropriate to their age. Again, this is the best performance recorded, mirroring the year on year trend of improvement shown in reading since 2005/06.

A very slight decrease was noted in levels of writing attainment appropriate to age, with 82% of pupils achieving results consistent with their age, a dip of just 2% from 2008/09.

Welcoming the results, Councillor Hywel Davies, Portfolio Holder for Lifelong Learning commented: "These results are exceptional and show a marked year on year improvement in reading and mathematics. Standards in writing are consistent and we will work to improve, but we are clearly getting it right for our pupils, as these figures show.

"New national assessment processes to align with Curriculum for Excellence are being introduced during the 2010/11 session and I am confident our approach and commitment to making education fun, stimulating and exciting for all pupils in South Ayrshire will continue to deliver excellent results.

"I would like to commend the teachers, parents, staff and particularly the pupils, for their hard work and dedication to making sure South Ayrshire has gained a reputation for the quality and excellence in the delivery of its education programme."