"large majority of services, settings and institutions inspected by Ofsted are good or outstanding"
Services for children and young people in Hounslow are among the best in the country, according to Ofsted.
The Government inspectors found "children’s services in the London Borough of Hounslow perform excellently," and "the large majority of services, settings and institutions inspected by Ofsted are good or outstanding.”
The judgement comes after Ofsted looked at the inspection results of different services provided for children and young people by the council, and how these compare with similar local authorities and national measures.
Cllr Lily Bath, cabinet member for children, young people and families at the council, said:
“This is a fantastic judgement and I’d like to thanks everyone who works with children and young people in the borough for their contribution to these findings.
“It is particularly pleasing to see the progress we’ve made since last year's report, which shows we are determined to keep improving despite the constraints we face.
"There are still some areas we need to work on, but we are clear in what we need to do and how we will do it.
"We will never stop working hard to make sure children and young people in the borough get the best start possible in life."
Cllr Steve Curran, cabinet member for schools, said:
“Ofsted have confirmed what parents and students already know: we have outstanding schools in the borough that do amazing work for our young people.
“It just goes to show that it doesn’t matter what your background, Hounslow’s schools give our young people the best start in life possible.”
The report, published this week, found:
§ The large majority of early years and childcare is good or outstanding and shows improvement since last year.
§ Most provision for early years education in nursery and primary schools is good or better and shows further improvement.
§ Achievement of five-year olds reaching a good level of development by the end of the foundation stage improved significantly last year, and shows a faster rate of improvement than nationally over the last few years.
§ The large majority of primary schools are good or outstanding and show slight improvement in outstanding provision.
§ The large majority of secondary schools are good or outstanding. All schools have good or outstanding standards of behaviour and poor attendance by some young people is reducing steadily.
§ At the age of 16 the proportion achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE, including English and mathematics, shows steady improvement.
§ Young people from low-income families achieve well and the gap with their peers has closed.
§ Attainment for young people with special educational needs is slightly above that found in similar areas and above the national average.
§ Provision after the age of 16 remains mostly outstanding in school sixth forms.
§ Above average and steadily increasing numbers of 19-year-olds gain higher level and other qualifications. This includes very high numbers of young people from low income families, and the gap with their peers has closed very well.
§ Special schools are mostly outstanding, as is specialist provision after the age of 16.
§ For looked after children, all arrangements for fostering and adoption are good and children’s homes remain good or outstanding.
The full report can be downloaded from Ofsted (pdf) or via the Hounslow page.
November 11, 2011