Sutton has many achievements to celebrate across all educational key stages this year for Children in Care and Care Leavers assessment and exam results. We are so proud of all the young people and it is fantastic to see them continue to develop, demonstrating their range of talents and abilities and paving the way to strong academic futures.
Of the children who took their early years assessments, 50% reached the expected level of achievement and 56% passed their phonics assessment in year 1. At the end of key stage 1, 67% reached age related expectations in reading and maths and 33% achieved this level in reading, writing and maths combined. At key stage 2, the majority of the children have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and made really excellent progress from their starting points.
Moving on to secondary school, 96% of Sutton’s Children Looked After in year 11 secured a positive education, employment or training destination to start year 12, which provides a great platform as they approach adulthood. It was positive to see 30% of the GCSE cohort achieve 5 or more GCSEs, many of these at grade 4 and above. At key stage 5, 72% of care leavers aged 18 progressed to further education, higher education, training or employment, with 7% increase in the number of care leavers achieving qualifications between level 1-3 and 54% of the cohort achieving academic qualifications at post 16.
We have had continuing success in Higher Education and are extremely proud of our care leavers, two of whom successfully graduated from University this year. Our first young person achieved a 2:2 degree in Computer Science at the University of Greenwich, and he is currently seeking a graduate role. Our other care leaver achieved a 2:1 in Radiography at St. George’s University. He will shortly be embarking on a career within the NHS trust working as a Therapeutic Radiographer. We currently have 3 young people starting University this year and a further young person due to start in January 2025.
We would like to recognise the collective partnership effort of so many people who relentlessly provide teaching, mentoring, support and encouragement to the young people to enable them to achieve their best educational outcomes.