PUPILS from deprived backgrounds in one of Scotland’s most successful education authorities have seen a remarkable improvement in their exam grades.

East Renfrewshire Council is home to some of the country’s most affluent suburbs and its schools regularly top league tables for exam performance.
However, new figures show the authority is also having a significant impact on attainment of pupils from its more disadvantaged communities, such as Barrhead, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Since 2011/12 pupils from the poorest backgrounds have seen a 22 per cent jump in overall exam performance, with officials saying testing and rigorous pupil tracking are behind the rise.

East Renfrewshire has also seen an improvement in performance from more affluent pupils, which shows the council is meeting the Scottish Government’s aim of closing the attainment gap between rich and poor at the same time as driving up standards for all.

However, it comes at a time when ministers have brought forward plans to shift power and funding away from councils, with additional responsibilities being placed on schools. 

Mhairi Shaw, East Renfrew-shire’s director of education, said: “We have strong evidence we are raising the bar for all while, at the same time, closing the attainment gap. Overall, this is a very positive picture, but regrettably some of our young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds do not achieve their potential with a persistent gap in attainment in the senior phase of school.

“Our ethos has always been to improve continuously, to build on past successes and ensure we take the necessary steps to improve outcomes for those who need our services the most.”

One of the schools that has seen a marked improvement in the number of pupils securing five or more Highers by the time they leave is Barrhead High. Although pupils from the poorest areas under-performed in 2015, the school has seen the proportion of young people achieving the Highers benchmark rise from 29 per cent to 39 per cent between 2013/14 and 2014/15.

Officials believe the improvement is based on the use of rigorous analysis of pupil performance by quality improvement officers, which have been axed in some council areas.

Mark Ratter, head of the team of quality improvement officers, said: “We provide head teachers with detailed analysis of how their schools perform in standardised tests, curriculum attainment and school-leaver destinations.
“We also analyse performance for key groups, for example by gender, ethnicity, looked-after pupils, lowest-performing 20 per cent and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

Andrew Sinclair, the school’s headteacher, added: “We can tell at a glance which pupils are doing well and which not so well and, importantly, which are on the cusp needing a more focused, intense approach.”

A further successful strategy the council has implemented at schools across the region is an ongoing commitment to developing a high-
quality and motivated teaching workforce.