TWENTY-TWO local primary schools are failing to meet basic education targets.
Figures just released by the Department for Education (DfE) show that 15 schools in Kirklees and seven in Calderdale were below the floor standard in 2011.
The DfE was carrying out a national survey of Key Stage 2 students, typically aged 11.
Schools are considered to be below par if less than 60% of its pupils get Level 4 and above in both English and mathematics.
The figures mean that 9% of schools in Calderdale and 15% of schools in Kirklees have failed to meet basic national standards. The national failure rate is 10%.
Details of the schools have not been released by the councils, despite a request from The Examiner.
In Kirklees, 730 pupils failed to make the expected progress in English, compared with 102 in Calderdale. In Kirklees, 730 pupils failed to make the expected progress in English, compared with 102 in Calderdale.
The figures were similar for maths in Kirklees, with 16% – or 720 pupils – not making the grade, compared with just 13 pupils in Calderdale.
Kirklees officials said their performance was in line with the national average.
The DfE report also took into account the racial origins of pupils. In Kirklees the 3,448 pupils eligible for the study who speak English as a first language achieved a Level 4 success rate in English of 82%, compared with 78% of the 1,188 pupils whose first language is not English.
In Calderdale, the 2,096 native English speakers had an 79% success rate, compared with 82% of the 374 with a different mother tongue.
In both local authority areas, black and Asian children performed below the average for the districts while the few number of children from Chinese backgrounds excelled with 100% success rates in both areas.
A Kirklees Council spokesman said: “The Kirklees LEA focuses on pupil progress and achievement and works in partnership with schools to continue to raise standards in this area.”
Bids are now being invited to help poorer children catch up with the 3 R’s.
Schools, charities, local authorities, universities and other organisations are being invited to apply for funding. The Government has set aside £10 million to help youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their reading and writing skills.
Results from the latest Key Stage 2 statistics show that around one in six pupils nationally fail to master the basics of reading at the end of primary school and one in four fall behind in writing.
Some projects will be fast-tracked through the bidding process so they will start from this September, while others will begin in 2013.
Bids from local organisations could include extra support such as:
Small catch-up classes
One-to-one tuition using innovative approaches
Vouchers given to parents for literacy tuition for their children.
The scheme will be run by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) charity.
