Inequalities are being reduced at a faster rate and vulnerable and disabled children are enjoying better life chances in Wandsworth than elsewhere, the education and child welfare watchdog has found.

These successes have helped Wandsworth achieve the maximum four star rating for the quality of its entire range of children’s services for the seventh year in a row. Only two other local authorities in England have received the same consistently high score from Ofsted over the same period.

In its annual assessment of children’s services published 9th November, the independent watchdog concluded: “Children’s services in the London Borough of Wandsworth perform excellently. 

“Achievement by very young children at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage is consistently higher than the averages in similar areas and nationally and improving.

“Very young children from families with low incomes also consistently do better than the same group nationally and the gap between them and their peers in the borough is narrowing well.

“Attainment for those from families with low incomes at this age (16-year-olds) is improving steadily, is much higher than average nationally and the gap with others in Wandsworth is consistently narrower than for the country overall.

“Educational achievements for young people by the age of 19 are improving faster than elsewhere and standards are in line with similar areas. Those from families with low incomes consistently do well in comparison to the same group nationally and are catching up with their peers in the borough.

In areas like child protection the council also scored highly:

The very large majority of services, settings and institutions inspected by Ofsted are good or better overall and provision of high quality helps children and young people learn and stay safe.

“An unannounced inspection of…….. arrangements for children in need and children who may be in need of protection…. found significant strengths.

Officials also found that children living in the borough are able to attend good nursery, primary and secondary schools and enjoy high quality early years education and childcare.

“For children under five, provision in nurseries and primary schools has improved well and the very large majority is good or better.

“The very large majority of primary schools are good or better, none are inadequate and overall effectiveness has improved further since last year.

“Standards achieved by 11-year-olds in national tests are higher than in similar areas, much higher than they are nationally and improving at a faster rate.

“Secondary schools have improved in their overall effectiveness since the last assessment and a third are now outstanding with none inadequate.

“Three-quarters of schools now have good or outstanding behaviour and persistent absence has reduced dramatically over the past five years and is now lower than in similar areas.

“Standards achieved by 16-year-olds in national tests have improved well and are in line with similar areas and higher than the national average.

“For Asian young people and those of mixed heritage, attainment is improving steadily and is higher than the national averages for the same groups.

Education and learning provision for young people children post GCSE was also praised: 

“The large majority of provision for learning after the age of 16 is good or better with a good general further education college and an outstanding sixth form college.

“Educational achievements for young people by the age of 19 are improving faster than elsewhere and standards are in line with similar areas. Those from families with low incomes consistently do well in comparison to the same group nationally and are catching up with their peers in the borough.

And the borough’s larger than average network of special schools also drew strong praise from the inspectors.

“For those requiring specialist provision, the quality of schools has improved further with seven out of eight special schools and two out of three pupil referral units now outstanding and the remainder good.

“Young people with special educational needs who follow the national curriculum consistently do much better than average nationally and the gap with others in the borough is narrowing against a widening gap nationally.

Wandsworth’s cabinet member for education and children’s services Cllr Kathy Tracey said: "We are absolutely determined to do everything we can to give all our young people the best possible start in life.  Our aim is to keep them safe and healthy, provide a good education, good training opportunities when they are older and ensure that those who are vulnerable or at risk in any way are properly protected and looked after.”

November 7, 2011