These North-East secondary schools are classed as under-performing - is your child's among them?

GOVERNMENT policies are largely to blame for underperforming schools, according to one of the largest teaching unions in the region.

New data released this week shows that 11.6 per cent of state-funded mainstream secondary schools in England - 346 in total - fell below the Government’s minimum standards in 2018.

A total of 33 schools across the North-East are on the underperforming list, including three in Darlington; Polam, St Aidan’s and Wyvern Academy.

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Schools fall below the government’s performance threshold if pupils fail to make enough progress across eight subjects - with particular emphasis given to English and maths.

The data shows Yorkshire and Humber has the lowest proportion of underperforming schools, while the North West has the highest.

Simon Kennedy, regional organiser for teaching union NASUWT in the North-East, said the reasons for underperformance in schools were ‘manyfold’ but the government had to take responsibility for the negative impact of its policies.

He said: “If parents want to go into classrooms today in all of these schools they will see fantastic lessons delivered by committed teachers who encourage pupils to do the best they can.

“But there are significant issues about funding and we have a huge issue of recruitment and retention problems for teachers and other adults in the classroom in terms of teaching assistants because of funding.

“And we have had nine years of austerity. These are very real issues that affect pupils in schools.”

Mr Kennedy said that teachers can only do so much when faced with pupils who may have a myriad of other problems brought about by poverty.

He said: "The teachers can do the best they can for the pupils but if the pupils are going home and not getting fed properly, or if they don't have reasonable accommodation and are living in a B&B or whatever because of the consequences of austerity and the government policies, the schools can't be blamed for that and that is the reality of what is happening in the North-East."

Shockingly, Mr Kennedy also claimed that 50 per cent of teachers currently in the profession want to leave.
He said the government's "obsession" with restructuring the education system, such as introducing academies, was not improving educational outcomes.

"The government put in place the high pressure results-based system that teachers have to work in and these are the consequences," he said.

"In effect, the government is reaping what they are sowing."

Nationally, the Department for Education figures show the proportion of pupils achieving a grade 5 or above at GCSE in both English and maths has increased, from 42.6 per cent last year to 43.3 per this year.

And the number of pupils taking maths and science at A Level has increased, including a rise of around 7 per cent in the number of girls taking at least one of these subjects.

The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and others increased slightly, rising by 0.6 per cent between 2017 and 2018.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said: “It’s been clear for some time that standards are rising in our schools and today’s data underlines the role academies and free schools are playing in that improvement, with progress above the national average and impressive outcomes for disadvantaged pupils."

UNDER-PERFORMING SECONDARIES IN THE NORTH-EAST

Here is the list of the state-funded mainstream secondary schools in the North-East that did not meet the Government's floor standard for performance in 2018.

The information reads, from left to right: name of school, town/city (where appropriate), local authority.

The schools appear alphabetically by local authority.

North-East England

NCEA Duke's Secondary School, Ashington

Berwick Academy, Spittal, Berwick-upon-Tweed

The Blyth Academy, Blyth

The Hermitage Academy, Chester le Street

Polam Hall School, Darlington

St Aidan's Church of England Academy, Darlington

Wyvern Academy, Darlington

Durham Community Business College for Technology and Enterprise, Ushaw Moor, Durham

Fyndoune Community College, Sacriston, Durham

Joseph Swan Academy, Gateshead

Thomas Hepburn Community Academy, Felling, Gateshead

Manor Community Academy, Hartlepool

St Hild's Church of England Voluntary Aided School, West View, Hartlepool

Hetton School, Hetton-le-Hole, Houghton le Spring

Kepier, Houghton le Spring

Hillsview Academy, South Bank, Middlesbrough

Saint Peter's Catholic Voluntary Academy, South Bank, Middlesbrough

Unity City Academy, Middlesbrough

Benfield School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Walbottle Campus, Walbottle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

John Spence Community High School, North Shields

Norham High School, North Shields

Rye Hills Academy, Redcar

Freebrough Academy, Brotton, Saltburn-By-the-Sea

Seaham High School, Seaham

Tanfield School, Specialist College of Science and Engineering, Stanley

Castle View Enterprise Academy, Sunderland

Farringdon Community Academy, Sunderland

Monkwearmouth Academy, Seaburn Dene, Sunderland

Red House Academy Red House Estate, Sunderland

Thornaby Academy, Thornaby

Washington Academy, Washington

Here is a list of local authorities ranked according to the proportion of state-funded mainstream secondary schoolsfound to be under-performing (defined as being below the Government's floor standard for 2018).

From left to right, the list shows: name of local authority; region of England; number of schools; number of under-performing schools; percentage of schools that are under-performing.

Knowsley North-west England 6 5 83.3%

Blackpool North-west England 7 4 57.1%

Redcar and Cleveland North-east England 9 4 44.4%

Darlington North-east England 7 3 42.9%

Halton North-west England 7 3 42.9%

Sunderland North-east England 17 7 41.2%

Hartlepool North-east England 5 2 40.0%

Isle of Wight South-east England 5 2 40.0%

Southampton South-east England 11 4 36.4%

Derby East Midlands 14 5 35.7%

Salford North-west England 14 5 35.7%

St Helens North-west England 9 3 33.3%

Wigan North-west England 18 6 33.3%

Reading South-east England 7 2 28.6%

Manchester North-west England 25 7 28.0%

Liverpool North-west England 29 8 27.6%

Blackburn with Darwen North-west England 11 3 27.3%

Oldham North-west England 11 3 27.3%

Tameside North-west England 15 4 26.7%

Bath and North East Somerset South-west England 12 3 25.0%

Plymouth South-west England 16 4 25.0%

Rochdale North-west England 12 3 25.0%

Torbay South-west England 8 2 25.0%

Coventry West Midlands 17 4 23.5%

Sandwell West Midlands 17 4 23.5%

Gateshead North-east England 9 2 22.2%

Sefton North-west England 18 4 22.2%

Walsall West Midlands 18 4 22.2%

Northumberland North-east England 14 3 21.4%

Stoke-on-Trent West Midlands 14 3 21.4%

Bexley London 15 3 20.0%

Bournemouth South-west England 10 2 20.0%

Newcastle upon Tyne North-east England 10 2 20.0%

Portsmouth South-east England 10 2 20.0%

Thurrock Eastern England 10 2 20.0%

Wirral North-west England 20 4 20.0%

Derbyshire East Midlands 42 8 19.0%

Greenwich London 11 2 18.2%

Milton Keynes South-east England 11 2 18.2%

North Tyneside North-east England 11 2 18.2%

Slough South-east England 11 2 18.2%

Southend-on-Sea Eastern England 11 2 18.2%

County Durham North-east England 28 5 17.9%

Leicester East Midlands 17 3 17.6%

Wolverhampton West Midlands 17 3 17.6%

Lincolnshire East Midlands 52 9 17.3%

Bradford Yorkshire & the Humber 30 5 16.7%

Bury North-west England 12 2 16.7%

Central Bedfordshire Eastern England 12 2 16.7%

Luton Eastern England 12 2 16.7%

Peterborough Eastern England 12 2 16.7%

Cumbria North-west England 37 6 16.2%

Cheshire West & Chester North-west England 19 3 15.8%

Telford and Wrekin West Midlands 13 2 15.4%

Cheshire East North-west England 21 3 14.3%

Croydon London 21 3 14.3%

Lewisham London 14 2 14.3%

Middlesbrough North-east England 7 1 14.3%

Nottingham East Midlands 14 2 14.3%

Kent South-east England 94 13 13.8%

Devon South-west England 37 5 13.5%

Havering London 15 2 13.3%

Herefordshire, County of West Midlands 15 2 13.3%

Hampshire South-east England 68 9 13.2%

Lancashire North-west England 78 10 12.8%

Barnsley Yorkshire & the Humber 8 1 12.5%

Doncaster Yorkshire & the Humber 16 2 12.5%

Nottinghamshire East Midlands 42 5 11.9%

Staffordshire West Midlands 53 6 11.3%

Islington London 9 1 11.1%

Richmond upon Thames London 9 1 11.1%

Essex Eastern England 73 8 11.0%

Leicestershire East Midlands 37 4 10.8%

Somerset South-west England 28 3 10.7%

Dudley West Midlands 19 2 10.5%

Cornwall South-west England 29 3 10.3%

Barking and Dagenham London 10 1 10.0%

Brighton and Hove South-east England 10 1 10.0%

Bristol, City of South-west England 20 2 10.0%

North East Lincolnshire Yorkshire & the Humber 10 1 10.0%

North Somerset South-west England 11 1 9.1%

Oxfordshire South-east England 34 3 8.8%

Sheffield Yorkshire & the Humber 23 2 8.7%

Warwickshire West Midlands 35 3 8.6%

Kingston Upon Hull, City of Yorkshire & the Humber 12 1 8.3%

Stockton-on-Tees North-east England 12 1 8.3%

Warrington North-west England 12 1 8.3%

West Sussex South-east England 37 3 8.1%

Kirklees Yorkshire & the Humber 25 2 8.0%

Birmingham West Midlands 76 6 7.9%

Gloucestershire South-west England 38 3 7.9%

Ealing London 13 1 7.7%

Solihull West Midlands 13 1 7.7%

Stockport North-west England 13 1 7.7%

East Sussex South-east England 27 2 7.4%

South Gloucestershire South-west England 14 1 7.1%

Sutton London 14 1 7.1%

Wiltshire South-west England 28 2 7.1%

Lambeth London 15 1 6.7%

Rotherham Yorkshire & the Humber 15 1 6.7%

Wakefield Yorkshire & the Humber 15 1 6.7%

Southwark London 16 1 6.3%

Tower Hamlets London 16 1 6.3%

Bolton North-west England 17 1 5.9%

Buckinghamshire South-east England 34 2 5.9%

Hillingdon London 18 1 5.6%

Leeds Yorkshire & the Humber 36 2 5.6%

Enfield London 19 1 5.3%

Trafford North-west England 19 1 5.3%

Shropshire West Midlands 20 1 5.0%

Dorset South-west England 21 1 4.8%

Suffolk Eastern England 42 2 4.8%

Norfolk Eastern England 47 2 4.3%

Hertfordshire Eastern England 74 3 4.1%

Worcestershire West Midlands 30 1 3.3%

North Yorkshire Yorkshire & the Humber 40 1 2.5%

Surrey South-east England 53 1 1.9%

Barnet London 24 0 0%

Bedford Eastern England 8 0 0%

Bracknell Forest South-east England 6 0 0%

Brent London 13 0 0%

Bromley London 17 0 0%

Calderdale Yorkshire & the Humber 11 0 0%

Cambridgeshire Eastern England 29 0 0%

Camden London 10 0 0%

East Riding of Yorkshire Yorkshire & the Humber 16 0 0%

Hackney London 14 0 0%

Hammersmith and Fulham London 10 0 0%

Haringey London 11 0 0%

Harrow London 11 0 0%

Hounslow London 14 0 0%

Isles of Scilly South-west England 1 0 0%

Kensington and Chelsea London 5 0 0%

Kingston upon Thames London 10 0 0%

Medway South-east England 17 0 0%

Merton London 8 0 0%

Newham London 16 0 0%

North Lincolnshire Yorkshire & the Humber 13 0 0%

Northamptonshire East Midlands 38 0 0%

Poole South-west England 8 0 0%

Redbridge London 18 0 0%

Rutland East Midlands 3 0 0%

South Tyneside North-east England 9 0 0%

Swindon South-west England 10 0 0%

Waltham Forest London 17 0 0%

Wandsworth London 11 0 0%

West Berkshire South-east England 9 0 0%

Westminster London 10 0 0%

Windsor and Maidenhead South-east England 10 0 0%

Wokingham South-east England 9 0 0%

York Yorkshire & the Humber 8 0 0%