Exam results 'among worst in the country'

St. Martin's Primary School, Fitton Hill

THE results of Oldham primary school pupils in controversial new Sats tests are among the worst in the country.

Only 47 per cent of 11-year-olds reached the new, higher standard expected of them in reading, writing and maths this summer ­- the 10th worst record in England and the lowest in Greater Manchester.

They were the first to sit tougher tests introduced as part of a "more rigorous" English and maths curriculum.

However, one trade union leader said the results are "are not worth the paper they are written on" after the tests "descended into chaos".

The government says schools are below minimum standards if they do not hit one of two targets.

At least 65 per cent of pupils have to achieve the standard in reading, writing and maths or it expects schools to achieve sufficient progress scores in all three subjects.

Overall five percent of primaries, a total of 665, fell below the government threshold this year.

But Education Secretary Justine Greening promised that no school would face outside intervention based on this year's data alone.

St Martin's CE Primary in Fitton Hill has the borough's best reading, writing and maths results with 84 per cent.

It also has the best score for pupils' reading progress, Richmond Academy for writing and Westwood Academy for maths.

St Martin's head teacher Helen Woodward told the Chronicle: "We are incredibly proud of the achievements o our students who thoroughly deserve these well-earned results."

One surprise was at St Joseph's RC Primary in Shaw which is usually near the top of league tables. The school had 48 per cent of pupils reach the required standard in the core subjects but met the progress standards.

It has had a challenging time with the long-term absence of both its former head teacher, who has now left, and a year six teacher who has returned.

Across England, 53 per cent of the almost 600,000 11-year-olds who took the tests reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths this year.

Schools standards minister Nick Gibb said: "This year's Sats are the first that test the new primary school curriculum in English and maths that we introduced in 2014. This new curriculum raises expectations and ensures pupils become more accomplished readers and are fluent in the basics of arithmetic, including times-tables, long division and fractions.

"Many schools have responded well to this more rigorous curriculum, supporting pupils to be leaving primary school better prepared for the demands of secondary school."

However, Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said the performance figures should not have been published by government.

"This data is not worth the paper it is written on. The governmenthas said it cannot be used to trigger interventions in schools, nor can it be compared to previous years," he added. "This year we saw the Sats system descend into chaos and confusion.

"Delayed and obscure guidance, papers leaked online, mistakes in test papers and inconsistent moderation made this year unmanageable for school leaders, teachers, parents and pupils.

Misleading

"The data gathered in primary assessment during 2016 is misleading. We warned the government that publishing this data in league tables could lead the public and parents to make poor judgements about a school's performance, but it has still chosen to do so.

"Parents should not be distracted by the 65 per cent attainment benchmark, which is based on badly designed and rapidly changing tests.

"Commentators also need to be aware that this does not mean a school is below the floor standard. Schools are measured on progress as well as attainment and over 94 per cent of schools are above the floor standard. The government must do more to communicate this fact rather than let schools be unfairly pilloried."