Hastings and St Leonards schools celebrating big improvements

Castledown Primary Academy, Blacklands and Little Ridge, which are all part of the Ark network, have seen big rises in standards.

Ark said the most noteworthy results were achieved by Ark Castledown Primary Academy, which joined the network in September 2017.

Last year, prior to joining Ark, only 27 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, Ark said.

This year, 73 per cent reached the expected standard, a 46-point increase, and nine points above the national average of 64 per cent. Castledown’s estimated primary reading writing and maths progress score of 4.5 was high enough to place it among the very best schools in the country for this measure, Ark added.

Lorraine Clarke, regional director, said: “It’s a tremendous turnaround and we couldn’t be more pleased with the progress that we’ve made at Ark Castledown Primary Academy.

“It’s all down to the hard work of the staff, students and the wider community.

“We want every child to succeed and we want to make sure they do so in an environment that is supportive and engaging.”

Ark’s two other primary schools in Hastings also had excellent results.

The number of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Ark Little Ridge rose from 55 per cent to 79 per cent, a 24-point rise.

Ark said Blacklands continued to maintain its outstanding status with 85 per cent of its students reaching the expected standard – up 11 points from last year.

Ark added that all three Ark primary schools in Hastings have benefitted from developing closer links with each other, enabling staff to collaborate and share best practices.

Lorraine added: “All three Ark primary schools in Hastings really do all work very closely to support each other and share expertise.

“We are all constantly working to improve teaching and learning and to provide more opportunities for the children in our care.

“We have extremely high expectations of all of our schools and all of our students and we know that the town of Hastings has high expectations of us. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far and we look forward to accomplishing even more in the future.”