Primary school proves to be in class of its own

THE headteacher of Yorkshire’s top performing primary has warned that league tables do not recognise the hard work done in all schools as he celebrated the results.

There were 265 primary schools across the country which saw 100 per cent of pupils achieving the expected level in both English and maths in this year’s national curriculum tests.

Crowlees Juniors and Infants School, in Mirfield, was ranked as the best in Yorkshire and the seventh highest nationally because of the high numbers of pupils who achieved this.

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The school in Kirklees had 60 11-year-old pupils who made the grade this summer.

Only six schools across England had more pupils achieving level four results in English and maths standard assessment tests (Sats).

Headteacher David Hardcastle said: “These results reflect the hard work and commitment of the children and the staff and the support of parents and governors. While we celebrate this achievement we recognise that the hard work done in other schools is not necessarily reflected in league tables.

“League tables are just one piece of the jigsaw.”

Mr Hardcastle said that the getting a large year group to all achieve the expected standard in English and maths was a great achievement because there is a “likely to be a broader mix of abilities” in bigger schools.

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He added: “It is something we are very proud of here that we have maintained high standards over a long period.”

There were 17 schools from Yorkshire named among a table of the top 200 in the country.

Bentley High Street Primary, in Doncaster, had 42 pupils making the grade in the two core subjects.

It was ranked second highest in Yorkshire and 20th nationally.

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Embsay School in Skipton, Totley School in Sheffield, Beecroft and Moortown Primaries in Leeds and Spring Grove Juniors, Infants and Nursery in Huddersfield were also among the Yorkshire schools celebrating 100 per cent pass rates.

Although Crowlees was named as Yorkshire’s top performer in a table measuring how many pupils reached the expected standard in English and maths, St Mary’s School in York managed to achieve the best results in a table showing how many children exceeded the standard expected of 11-year-olds.

The majority of the school’s pupils achieved level five scores in both English and maths.