Primary school league tables
The annual tables for primary schools in
Government Response: Department for Education and Skills
Education minister Stephen Twigg said: "Today's results show that primary schools are making huge strides. Parents and pupils can be confident that standards in schools are getting even better.
"I would like to congratulate the teachers and pupils of
"And well done to
"We have come a long way since 1997, when a third of our 11 year olds were failing to reach the expected standards. But we want to see more schools matching the achievements of Heath Mount and Sherington to ensure that children maximise their potential and are fully equipped with the skills they need for secondary school and beyond."
Party Response: Conservatives
Tim Collins, shadow education secretary, said: "The overall picture remains one of stagnation and there is very little reason to believe on these figures that taxpayers are getting value for money.
"On raising school standards, this government is all talk."
Stakeholder Response: NASUWT
Chris Keates, acting general secretary of NASUWT, said: "It is regrettable that the government is determined to cling to this unnecessary, annual ritual.
"League tables are divisive and demoralising. There are much more appropriate and effective methods of accountability.
"The value-added dimension offers the illusion of greater fairness but the true worth of the data remains questionable. The criteria are limited and fail to recognise the real achievements of the many working hard and successfully with challenging pupils.
"The tables encourage competition between schools at a time when the government is promoting collaboration.
"They put pressure on teachers to teach to the tests, when the government is pressing for curriculum breadth and enrichment.
"The government should abandon this practice which is increasingly at odds with its own policy."
Stakeholder Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers
Dr Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, said: "The continued reliance on tables is not really achieving the government's key objective – to raise standards of teaching and learning. Tables are based on what children revise, remember and quickly forget, rather than what they have learnt and understood and will be able to go on using.
"Too often teachers feel pressured to produce results which will position their schools well in the tables, rather than meeting the needs of individual pupils.
"Policy-makers have to face up to the fact that the tables are an unhelpful distraction if we want to promote high-quality teaching and learning."
Stakeholder Response: National Union of Teachers
Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Crude scores have to be treated with caution. One thing is clear even from this narrow information is that primary education is a success story.
"It was always inevitable that the plateau we saw last year would be reached but the criticism of primary teachers showed no understanding of the complexity of teaching in primary schools.
"The continuing improvement in the proportion of young people gaining the expected level four in English and maths is testimony to the hard work of those teachers and their pupils.
"The proportion of children gaining the higher level five in science shows what a continuing success story science is for primary schools.
"This is no time for equivocation, let’s celebrate the work of our primary teachers and pupils."
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