Classy show by Wiltshire schools (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Classy show by Wiltshire schools

11:29am Thursday 3rd December 2009

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Village schools have again shone in the primary school league tables with Sherston, All Cannings and Box taking three out of the top four spots in Wiltshire.

Sherston is celebrating being top of the class after it was ranked the best primary in Wiltshire.

The village school topped new league tables published yesterday which graded schools on Key Stage Two pupils’ performance in English, Maths and Science. All of its pupils passed the tests with at least a level four, which is the standard expected by the Government, at age 11.

Sherston headteacher Nick Bowditch was delighted the hard work of staff and pupils has paid off.

He said: “We had a very good year group who worked very hard and achieved a great deal. All the staff are very pleased for them and very proud.

“The great thing is it is not just Year 6 but a cumulative process as they go through the school and build on previous work. I’m especially pleased that they have exceeded our expectations from Key Stage One.”

He added: “We knew the results were very good in July but didn’t know the context within the county until now.

“I think part of the success comes from the relationships between teachers and pupils.

“We try and encourage pupils to take some responsibility for their learning and with the right support, help them to identify some of their own needs.

“It’s a busy school but hopefully a school where children feel they have a chance to shine.”

Some of Sherston’s neighbouring primary schools also performed well with Dauntsey coming 11th, Brinkworth Earl Danby’s 23rd, Crudwell 33rd, Oaksey 37th, Minety 44th and Malmesbury 53rd.

Delight at All Cannings Primary School in being third in the Wiltshire primary school league tables, announced this week, has been tempered with the belief that it is only a small part of the education picture.

Headteacher Richard Borman said he and staff are delighted with the figures.

He said: “One of the main reasons the school does so consistently well is that the teachers really know their pupils and can constantly set them new targets.

“As a result, the children really want to do their best and this is what shows up in the league tables.

“But we don’t measure our success simply through SATs, although good results like this keeps the children positive.”

Other schools in the Devizes area also did well. Holy Trinity School in Great Cheverell turned out fourth equal in the county while Dauntsey’s Aided Primary in West Lavington came 11th.

Rowde Primary came a creditable 27th and St Joseph’s RC Primary not far behind at 35th.

Staff and pupils at Box Primary School had reason to celebrate as the primary school league tables were released and they came fourth in the county.

Headteacher Jo French was delighted with the results.

But she said the school focuses more on the improvement of their children key stage 1 to key stage 2 than their curriculum results.

The school achieved a 100 per cent pass rate in English and Science and 95 per cent in Maths.

Mrs French said: “We are really pleased with the results, which are higher than last year, however we are more interested in our value added score which is also very high.

“I don’t think the league tables reflect the value added scores as other schools who are lower down the league tables may have a better value added score than us.”

The value added score is calculated on how well each child progresses from the end of Key stage 1 to Key stage 2.

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