Children attending early education in West Dunbartonshire are progressing well in reading, writing and numeracy, a new report has shown.

The educational services committee received the report which noted an improvement across early years education in the past seven years.

A seven per cent increase was observed in writing skills, with 26 per cent of children already at the benchmark set for the end of primary one, reflecting an increase of 15 per cent.

Councillor Martin Rooney said: “It’s important that our early years children get the best start in their educational journey.

“It’s great to see our investment in early years having a significant impact on children’s learning.”

The service also reported significant progress in the Early Arithmetical Learning Programme, which is a key driver for raising attainment in numeracy and will work alongside the new numeracy programme, ‘Count with me in WDC’.

Twelve per cent of children have met this benchmark which spans to primary one, indicating an increase of eight per cent.

A further 71 per cent of children are projected to reach the benchmark, marking a six per cent increase.

Laura Mason, chief officer of education at West Dunbartonshire Council, said: "We are committed to early learning and it’s great to see the progress being made across all learning in our ELCCs.

"This is testament to the commitment and dedication of our colleagues who ensure children within our centres learn and achieve every day.

"Our regular literacy and numeracy assessments allow us to monitor and track children’s progress to ensure we are on course to meet our ambitious targets.

"These ongoing assessments means we are continually reviewing and assessing our practices which is having a positive impact on the services we deliver within all our centres."