A Grimsby school has risen by more than 1,400 places in school league tables in new rankings.
For many years the Government’s method of evaluating secondary school performance, known as the Progress 8 measure, has not taken into account factors including the number of children from poorer backgrounds at each school. The Fairer Schools Index goes some way to redress the ‘false narrative’ of a North / South divide in Government league tables.
Developed by the University of Bristol, the index adjusts for factors including pupil demographics, ethnicity, and deprivation. And the steepest riser in Yorkshire and Humber compared to Department for Education (DfE) league tables is a Grimsby school.
The results – revealed exclusively by the Mirror – show the schools where teachers are beating the odds to make the greatest positive impact on pupils up to the age of 16. Oasis Academy Wintringham is ranked 1,256 in the Fairer Index, up 1,437 places compared to its DfE ranking.
A senior Oasis Community Learning figure has said the Fairer Index is a “fantastic recognition” of staff’s hard work at Oasis Wintringham and Oasis Immingham. The latter is ranked 1,070 in the Fairer Index, up 1,256 places compared to the DfE ranking.
John Whitgift Academy is the highest-ranked North East Lincolnshire school in the Fairer Index, at 204. This is up 973 places on its DfE ranking. Meanwhile, in North Lincolnshire, Melior Community Academy in Scunthorpe vaulted up 937 places to 1,296 in the index, compared to Government league tables.
Both are run by Delta Academies Trust and a spokesperson said: “We are pleased the report recognises that schools in challenging regions of the country need exceptional leadership and practice to bridge the gap between disadvantaged students and all students nationally. These results underscore the impact of the phenomenal leadership and practice both at John Whitgift and Melior academies and across all Delta Academies Trust schools.”
Critics of the Government’s Progress 8 measure say it risks hiding systemic inequalities and providing potentially misleading conclusions about school performance, with regions like the North East seeing its schools unfairly marked down because the areas they serve are not taken into account. Ofsted is reported to be considering a new range of measurements for schools that will better inform parents.
Oasis Community Learning’s regional director for North East (secondaries), Heidi Stennett, said: “It is great to see both Oasis Academy Wintringham and Oasis Academy Immingham recognised in the Fairer Index rankings. It is a fantastic recognition of all the hard work that our staff put in, every day, doing everything they can to make sure that every young person has the very best start in life.”
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The Fairer Schools Index has been highlighted by the campaign group Northern Powerhouse Partnership, as it calls for a better way of evaluating schools in different areas of the country. Its chief executive Henri Murrison said: “The Fairer Schools Index exposes the shortcomings of Progress 8 being used to measure any school’s performance on its own.
“By failing to account for a number of different variables related to pupils’ backgrounds, the last government labelled many schools in areas like the North East of England as under-performing while failing to account for demographic differences in helping drive higher outcomes in London schools.”
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