THE worrying trend of Dumfries and Galloway primary pupils lagging behind in attainment levels has been highlighted once again.
Pupils in P1, P4, and P7 were found to be behind the Scottish national average in all four key areas of learning: reading, writing, literacy and numeracy.
Assessments are carried out again when pupils reach S3 in high school, but by that time only their numerical skills have caught up with the country’s national average.
The figures have been collated in a new attainment report, which is due to be tabled at Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Nithsdale Area Committee next week.
It comes a month after a teaching representative told councillors that attainment levels are suffering due to a lack of staff and limited resources.
The attainment summary report for the 2022/23 school year gives a breakdown of attainment figures for primary schools in Nithsdale, regionwide, and also compares them to the Scottish national average.
In P1/4/7, teacher judgements cover reading, writing, listening and talking and numeracy. Pupils for whom the teacher has been unable to make a professional judgement are not included.
At last month’s education committee, a teacher warned councillors that it is becoming “impossible” to properly educate youngsters in Dumfries and Galloway classrooms due to a lack of staff.
Julie Irving, who teaches at Gatehouse Primary, claimed many teachers are too busy struggling to manage pupil behaviour rather than teach. She called for an increase in learning assistants and said: “I’m speaking from personal experience, but I’ve also had a lot of teachers contact me saying they are struggling to teach because all we are doing is managing stressed behaviour.
“We’re doing the best we can with the resources we have, but those resources are limited. We don’t have enough staff to help us support these children displaying these distressed behaviours.
“As teachers, we want to help them and get them an education, enjoying our classrooms and learning.
“But their behaviour has a knock-on impact on how we can teach, on when we can teach, on what we can teach – and therefore attainment.”
Attainment levels for Dumfries and Galloway
P1 pupils in 2022/23, with the Scottish average figure in brackets: reading – 74.7 percent (80.6 percent); writing – 72.7 percent (78.4 percent); literacy – 68.5 percent (75.7 percent); and numeracy – 78.1 percent (84.7 percent).
P4: reading – 70.8 percent (77.9 percent); writing – 63 percent (70 percent); literacy – 59.7 percent (69.7 percent); numeracy – 69.5 percent (76.9 percent).
P7: reading – 75.4 percent (80.3 percent); writing – 69 percent (75.2 percent); literacy – 65.5 percent (73 percent); numeracy – 73.7 percent (77.7 percent).
