81% of children aged between five and seven in Key Stage One in Barnet met the expected standard reports Andrew Dowdeswell, Data Reporter and David Floyd

The hands of a child playing with coloured plastic letters on a white board with red plastic border — Across England, 68% of Key Stage One pupils met the expected standard in reading, up from 67% in 2022 – (Credit – Radar)

Barnet children’s speaking and reading skills remain below pre-pandemic levels, new figures show.

Across England, children have improved their phonics skills in the last year, but they remain worse than before successive lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

The Association of School and College Leaders said the recent improvement is a testament to the “superb work of school staff” despite inadequate government investment.

Department for Education figures show 81% of children aged between five and seven in Key Stage One in Barnet met the expected standard in a range of phonics tests, which assess their speaking, reading and pronunciation.

This was up from 77% the year before, but remained below pre-pandemic levels of 86% in 2018-19.

Nationally, 79% of Key Stage One children met the expected standard in phonics assessment – up from 75%, but below 82% in 2018-19.

Barnet Council’s cabinet member responsible for education told Barnet Post that – despite the impact of the pandemic – the borough’s figures were strong compared to the overall national picture.

Cllr Pauline Coakley Webb, cabinet member for family friendly Barnet, said: “Barnet’s percentage of 81% of Year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard for phonics compares very well nationally and places our attainment in the top 30% nationally.

“The increase in Barnet for this measure between 2022 and 2023 was greater than the national increase. After saying that we realise that we have not returned to the pre-pandemic levels and the impact of the pandemic on children’s learning is well-understood.

“We know the pandemic has caused issues across the world on communication and literacy and Barnet is no exception. This is why we made this a focus in our schools to help work the way back up to pre-pandemic levels.

“I’d like to thank the teachers within our schools who are working so hard to help children with their phonics. Many schools are taking advantage of extra tutoring across the board to help with this.”

Tiffnie Harris, primary and data specialist at the ASCL, said the national figures were “great”, and heralded the hard work of schools throughout the pandemic.

Harris said: “Young children’s early learning was affected by that disruption and it is a testament to the superb work of school staff that results are improving despite the lack of adequate government investment in education recovery.

“However, schools are facing severe challenges because of staff shortages, underfunding, and high rates of child poverty, and it is vital that the Government addresses these issues.”

The figures also show more children in Barnet reached the expected standard in reading, with 68% and 72% displaying the requisite reading skills at Key Stage One in 2021-22 and last year respectively.

Similarly, children’s writing skills also improved in the last year, up from 61% to 64%.

Across England, 68% of Key Stage One pupils met the expected standard in reading, up from 67% in 2022. Similarly, 60% met the expected standard in writing, up from 58% in 2022.

However, attainment in both subjects remained below pre-pandemic levels of 75% and 69%.

A Department for Education spokesperson said it is “pleased to see that pupils are continuing to catch up on learning following the pandemic”.

They added: “We have made £5 billion available since 2020 for education recovery initiatives, which have supported millions of pupils in need of extra support.

“Our ongoing investment in English and maths curriculum hub programmes will support children to benefit from high-quality teaching in early reading and maths respectively, including through phonics and Teaching for Mastery interventions.”

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