Intensive work in the classrooms means North Ayrshire is set to return to near pre-covid pandemic levels in standards this year.
That was the message from chief education officer Andrew McClelland to the cabinet after it was revealed that levels of literacy and numeracy were showing a positive five-year picture.
He said: “We have invested in additional staff for primary schools where the 2022 attainment data was further away from where they were before the pandemic. We have targeted support to these schools are benefiting from that.
“Our estimates for this year show we are more likely to just about show a return to pre-pandemic levels at all stages this year so that would mean the pre-pandemic dip before covid would be recovered from.”
Council leader Marie Burns said: “There are lots of really positive signs around this paper, particularly around literacy, numeracy and positive destinations for pupils.”
Cabinet education portfolio holder, Shaun Macaulay, added: “I have been lucky enough over the last year to visit and meet teachers and pupils and there is a real strong ethos within all the learning establishments we have about driving this improvement agenda forward.”
North Ayrshire schools remain above or in line with the Virtual Comparator, the SWEIC authorities and the National Performance in all five years of analysis.
North Ayrshire school leavers increased the gap between their achievement and the Virtual Comparator and National Performance with 95.07 per cent achieving at level four with 83.75 per cent achieving level five.
The 2022 annual participation measure showed that of 5,785 of those aged 16 to 19 in North Ayrshire, 90.8 per cent were in education, employment or training and personal development; the second highest on record.
Combined numeracy achievement for P1, P4 and P7 is 76 per cent, which represents a nine-percentage point increase on the previous year, and is almost back to the achievement levels before the pandemic.
Similarly, combined literacy achievement for P1, P4 and P7 is 71 per cent, which is eight percentage points higher than the previous year - again almost returning to pre-pandemic levels.
P1 pupils are expected to attain the early level in literacy components and numeracy by the end of their first year in school. For P4 pupils it is first level and P7 pupils second level.
S3 pupils are expected to achieve level three or better in literacy and numeracy, with some having also achieved level four by the time they finish their broad general education.
At 96 per cent, the proportion of leavers in North Ayrshire moving into an initial positive destination is the highest on record, above the Virtual Comparator and National Performance.
To maximise the percentage of school leavers entering and sustaining positive destinations, schools continue to work hard in strong partnership with Skills Development Scotland.
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