Schools celebrate being top of the league tables

Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School, which was recently ranked ninth in a national survey of the country's top 500 primary schools, has more reason to celebrate after the publication of the Government's School Attainment tables this week.

The school on Valley Drive was ranked second of all the primary schools in the district, based on the percentage of its pupils achieving the Level Four standard or above in English, maths and science tests.

All the primary schools in Ilkley and Addingham were inside the top 30 for the Bradford District, with two in the top ten.

Eldwick School, Bingley, took top slot in the Bradford District state primary schools' league table, and Burley and Woodhead Church of England Primary School gained the same attainment rate, but was ranked third in the table as it had fewer pupils sitting the Key Stage Two tests than Sacred Heart.

Of the 28 pupils at Sacred Heart who sat the tests, 100 per cent achieved Level Four or above in maths and science, and 96 per cent achieved the same standard in English.

Head teacher, Aileen Madden, had another reason to celebrate, in the wake of her school being ranked a national ninth in a Sunday Times survey.

She said: "That's really good news. The children have worked really hard as did the teachers and it's basically a team effort. The children are very well supported by their parents at home. I'm sure everyone will be really delighted."

Sacred Heart school was awarded Beacon Status in 1999, which provided it with extra resources to share examples of best practice and forge partnerships with other schools.

Burley and Woodhead Church of England Primary School was ranked just behind Sacred Heart although pupils hit the same standards in their tests.

All 25 children sitting the Kay Stage Two tests reached Level Four or above in English and science, and 96 per cent of them achieved that standard in maths.

Equal scores in the local authority school rankings are ranked by the number of pupils who sat the tests. Burley and Woodhead had three fewer children sitting tests in the year group than Sacred Heart, and as a result was ranked third in the district. Burley and Woodhead head teacher, Julie Speight, praised not only the work of staff, governors and pupils at the school, but also the supportive network which has been formed between Wharfedale's schools. She said: "We have such good children and lovely families and we're glad to have given them a good start."

Mrs Speight said the school has a 'happy atmosphere' and youngsters enjoy their school life. "The Wharfe Valley has a really good, supportive network of schools. We give each other a lot of support as well."

Another high-scoring Ilkley school was Ben Rhydding Primary, on Bolling Road, which was ranked eighth. Of its 31 Key Stage Two pupils who took the tests, 97 per cent gained Level Four or above in English and science and 94 per cent attained this standard in the maths tests.

Ashlands Primary School in Ilkley took 11th placed in the Bradford District rankings, and Addingham Primary was ranked 17th. All Saints Church of England Primary, on Easby Drive, came 26th place.

Ilkley and Addingham schools also performed impressively in the Bradford District's truancy rankings.

In a separate league table for unauthorised absence, Addingham Primary School was declared third best-performing school in the district, with a zero per cent rate for the 45 youngsters assessed. The unauthorised absence rate was calculated on the percentage of half-days missed by pupils for unauthorised absence.

Ben Rhydding Primary also had a zero per cent rate, but was ranked 30th, based on lower pupil numbers. All Saints and Ashlands were ranked 21st and 24th respectively, both with 0.1 per cent unauthorised absence rates, and Sacred Heart was ranked 53rd in this table, due to a marginally higher rate of 0.2 per cent.