Praise for primary school

ST Martin’s Primary, Fitton Hill has been praised by Schools Minister David Laws.

The school is one of 105 primaries and 56 secondaries who have performed well in new “similar schools” tables, which rank schools with near-identical intakes of children.

The like-for-like comparison, published as part of the regular performance tables, matches state schools with others whose children have similar academic achievement levels. They are then ranked alongside each other by results achieved.

The top primaries have a 20 per cent greater success rate at the expected level of English and maths passes at the end of year six, compared to other schools in the group. In secondaries, the best schools are 10 per cent better than the rest at achieving at least five good GCSEs, including English and maths.

Mr Laws sent the top schools - including St Martin’s - a letter of congratulation: “For the first time this measure lets parents identify the schools that are getting the best from children.

“The schools I have written to show fantastic results can be achieved even with a challenging intake of pupils.”