Glowing report for our schools
South Lanarkshire school pupils are outperforming the national average for literacy and numeracy according to a recent report.
The achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2022/23 has been released and it shows a range of areas across primary and secondary schools where pupils are outshining the national average.
Across primary one, primary four, primary seven and third year, the overall literacy rate of 73.5 per cent and the numeracy rate of 81.6 per cent for CfE are higher than the Scotland-wide rates of 72.7 per cent and 79.6 per cent for 2022/23.
The report also highlighted that literacy and numeracy for primary one, primary four and primary seven are at their highest since 2016.
Councillor Lynsey Hamilton, chair of the council’s education committee, said: “There is so much fantastic work going on in every one of our early years establishments, primary and secondary schools, and this report allows us the opportunity to stand back and be proud of the tangible results it achieves.
“Literacy and numeracy above the national average, and a much welcome narrowing of the attainment gap, are hugely significant. The outcomes are very positive from our very youngest children to our young adults, in secondary school, to our amazing education workforce.
“Just a few years on from the pandemic, the work put in by every child, parent, carer, teacher, and member of staff has ensured that the undoubted effects of Covid lockdowns will not hold back progress, or our ambitions for the future of our young people.”
The report also showed that the poverty-related attainment gap for primary one in listening and talking as well as for literacy and numeracy for levels three and four is narrower than the national average.
And the attainment gap in all aspects of literacy across primary one, four and seven has also reduced.
Executive director of education resources, Carole McKenzie, agreed: “These results are hugely encouraging. We, in South Lanarkshire Council, are committed to building on them by continuing to place our focus on the skills all children and young people need to be literate and numerate.
“I am personally very proud of our schools who are working so hard to both drive forward excellence and ensure the poverty-related attainment gap continues to close. They are well supported to do so by both the primary and secondary central attainment teams. Well done to all.”
South Lanarkshire Council collected the data for the report for 14,837 pupils across 142 schools.
Lanarkshire police are urging residents to report domestic abuse.
Every nine minutes officers across Scotland are called to attend an incident of domestic abuse.
Domestic abuse is not just physical; it can also take the form of psychological and emotional harm, controlling behaviour, coercive behaviour and financial abuse.
If you have concerns about your partner, or the partner of someone you know, police officers are asking you to report it as soon as possible.
Reporting concerns is confidential and the person at risk will never be told who reported it.
You can contact the police about your concerns by calling 101 (or 999 in an emergency) and speaking to them directly; using the police’s Contact Us online form for reporting incidents (not to be used in an emergency); or using the Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS) service.
If you are not comfortable speaking to police, you can speak to any of the force’s partner organisations who can provide practical and/or emotional support, including advice about reporting it to the police.
The Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS) gives people the right to ask about the background of their partner.
It also gives concerned relatives and friends, the right to ask about someone else’s partner, while they can ask the organisation to check if they have been abusive in the past.