Poole schools getting better claims council as league tables released

Last year the authority ranked second from bottom in England for the percentage of primary school pupils reaching the required standard in reading, writing and maths.

Since last year the government’s system for assessing schools has changed, making direct comparison with previous years difficult, but Poole’s results overall are now at the national average.

Councillor Mike White, cabinet member for children, said: “In particular, the combined attainment measure of reading, writing and mathematics is above the national level.

“This represents a significant improvement from last year’s results which has been recently acknowledged by Bradley Simmons, regional director of Ofsted South West.

“This improvement in performance reflects the strong partnership between the council and local schools, along with support from Poole Schools Association and Poole and Sigma Teaching Schools Alliance.”

He said the authority was still working to “ improve pupil progress and consistency” across its schools.

Once again Baden-Powell and St Peter’s Junior was ranked the top school in Poole, with 69 per cent of students meeting the required standard. Bottom in the borough was Branksome Heath Junior with only 24 per cent making the cut.

Bournemouth council told the Daily Echo yesterday that it had not seen the tables and couldn’t comment on them.

The borough’s top schools were St Katharine’s Primary and St Mark’s Primary, both with 71 per cent meeting standards.

Its worst performing school on the combined measure was Heathlands Primary Academy with 15 per cent.

In Dorset, Lulworth and Winfrith Primary had 89 per cent of students meeting the standards, in stark contrast to one of Purbeck’s other schools. Bere Regis School had only seven per cent up to scratch, according to the tables.

Overall, due to government changes to expected standards, most schools in the county appeared to have a smaller percentage of pupils making the required gains.