Helping residents to become better qualified and raising educational aspirations
Creating state of-the-art centres for learning
Two investment programmes in Hackney are providing new, state-of-the-art schools, which are transforming the education of Hackney pupils and providing first class facilities for the wider community.
The Building Schools for the Future programme continues to be delivered at Clapton Girls Technology College; Stoke Newington School and Hackney Free and Parochial Church of England School.
Hackney’s City Academies Programme is providing five new mixed, non-denominational, non-selective schools. The first to open, Mossbourne, has been described by Ofsted as ‘outstanding in every respect’ and has the best Key Stage 3 value-added results in the country.
The second, Petchey Academy, was described by Ofsted as a ‘good school with outstanding qualities’. The third, the Bridge Academy, is in its second year and has not been inspected by Ofsted as yet. The fourth, City Academy, opens in Homerton in September 2009, and the fifth, Skinners Academy on Woodberry Down, is on track to be completed in 2010.
Raising attainment in schools
Pupils at the three new academies that have already opened are yet to sit GCSEs, but our existing secondary schools continue to achieve improved exam results. Four out of seven have a higher percentage of pupils gaining five or more A*- C grade GCSEs (including English and Maths) than the national average.
The percentage of Hackney’s 16 year olds achieving five or more A*-C grade GCSEs has risen by over 80 per cent since 2002, and is now higher than the neighbouring boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Islington and Haringey.
Stoke Newington, Clapton Girls and Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls secondary schools all achieved ‘outstanding’ ratings from Ofsted and a further three schools were rated ‘good’.
Our primary schools also showed improved Key Stage results in 2008. Nine primary schools achieved ‘outstanding’ ratings from Ofsted and and another 15 schools were rated as ‘good’.
Furthering education
Hackney Community College and B6 Sixth Form College provide further education for more than 2,000 16 to 18 year olds, and 8,000 people over 19 years of age in the borough. Both colleges are in the top 5.5 per cent in the country for helping students aged 16 and 18 achieve significantly better than their previous grades predicted. Ofsted recognises that both colleges have made significant progress in the last three years by supporting more students to succeed.
Supporting children
A new pilot approach to pupil behaviour has achieved a significant drop in school exclusions, in some schools reducing these by as much as half.
To support primary school children who have fallen behind with reading and writing, a nationally-recognised programme known as ‘Reading Recovery’ continued to be rolled out in schools. This provides daily one-to-one sessions over 12 -20 weeks. Ninety per cent of the six-year-olds with reading difficulties who participated in the first year became independent readers and writers at levels appropriate to their age.
Leading by example
The Council and our partners continued to invest heavily in youth provision over the past year. The investment in the Youth Service is over four times what it was four years ago. Thirty one per cent of young people aged 13-19 have attended at least one of our youth projects, up nine per cent on last year.
A two year programme of positive activities for young people started in January 2009. This includes 34 projects providing arts, sports, youth enterprise and leadership and school holiday activities. Some of Hackney’s best-known voluntary sector providers, such as Hoxton Hall, Rising Tide and Laburnum Boat Club, received funding, alongside newer providers, such as Twist and The Crib.
Over half a million pounds was provided through the Capital Grant Fund to rebuild or refurbish a range of youth facilities such as the North London Muslim Community Centre, the Turkish/Kurdish Centre Halkevi and the Guinness Community Action Group centre.
Page updated: 15 Jun 2010
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