Continuing to raise attainment and achievement
Highland has seen continued improvement in attainment and achievement of children and young people in schools.
A report to the Council’s Education Committee today noted that Primary attainment is improving year on year, and Secondary Senior Phase attainment is firmly in line with the national average.
Work will continue in the Council’s Education and Learning service, in collaboration with schools, to raise attainment. The report includes plans to work towards a key area of focus for primary schools. Highland literacy data, similar to national data patterns, has demonstrated a dip in attainment between primaries 1 and 4. The 2023 data has also indicated a 9% gap between Highland and national data, and therefore will be a key focus for improvement.
The service will also continue working with primary colleagues to improve accuracy of teacher assessment, moderation, and standardisation.
Cllr John Finlayson, Education Chair said: “As part of our ongoing journey of improvement, we are continuing to work on the quality of teacher assessments in the broad, general education phase.
“One of the many ways we are working closely with schools is through our newly established Primary Strategic Network. This a great opportunity to have direct input from representatives from right across the Highlands so that even our smallest schools can have their voices heard.
“We are fortunate to have many excellent teachers here in Highland who work hard to provide a high-quality teaching and learning environment for our children and young people. Our continued progression in attainment is encouraging but our next steps need to make sure that the good work taking place in schools is being reflected in the assessments. Continued professional development around sharing standards and developing consistent assessment and moderation procedures is an integral part of the work of any school and ASG. I am confident in the ability of all our hard working staff to evaluate what is currently in place and make it even better.”