South Essex: Primary schools are on the up

Key stage two tests for ten and 11-year-olds show the county's youngsters are thriving.

Darlinghurst School in Pavilion Drive, Leigh, has leapt up the table by 106 points and now boasts commendable pass rates of 86 per cent in English, 73 per cent in mathematics and 91 per cent in science - all well above the national average.

The Dfee website has all the new school league tables online. To visit it, click one of the links below:

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Performance tables Headteacher Brenda James said: "We are fortunate to have hardworking and committed teachers throughout the school. The teachers have worked very hard as a team, sharing ideas and supporting each other."

Similarly Millhouse Junior in Tavistock Road, Laindon, was hailed the most improved school in Basildon -with a jump in results from 157 last year to 259 in 1999.

Ten and 11-year-olds at Eastwood Junior in Leigh also showed a vast improvement and Blenheim Primary in Leigh - which was on the special measures list until recently - has also had a remarkable turnaround.

Vange Primary School, in London Road, Vange, has dragged itself up from the bottom of the county's table with a jump from just 33 points last year to 91 this year.

Holy Family RC Primary in Benfleet scored top marks in south Essex with 285 points, closely followed by Trinity St Mary C of E in South Woodham Ferrers with 281.

Bulphan C of E Primary, Kingswood Junior in Basildon and Woodville Primary in South Woodham all scored 275 points.

Top of the table for Southend was St George's School in Eagle Way, Shoebury, with 274 points. St Georges consistently comes up trumps with the best results in the Southend borough.

Headteacher Mike Bardy said: "That is all down to the hard work of the teaching staff and co-operation of parents.

"As far as the league tables are concerned, almost all the schools in Southend are getting better. Although we are top of the table at this point, we do not expect to be there for long. Other schools are catching us up which is good news for the borough."

Barling Magna Primary in Barling scored a perfect 100 per cent in science while Holy Family in Benfleet did the same in English.

However, 14 schools in south-east Essex notched up lower marks than last year. A county education spokesman said the ability of students can vary from year to year.

He said: "We have to remember that the schools are not producing sausages, they are producing human beings which are all different.

Schools can expect the results to drop in one year because the group of children may have a lower ability. In a small school, that may look like a dramatic slump as the results of two or three children make a big difference."

Lubbins loopy about success

What a success story!

Staff and pupils at Lubbins Park County Primary in Zandi Road, Canvey, were celebrating after their hard work paid off and their exams results sent their school soaring up the league table.

Figures released today show the school increased its total key stage two exams points score for 1999 to 159, compared to 72 the year before.

It was the biggest points increase in Castle Point.

Headteacher Sharon Yallop said: "We are very pleased with the results.

"The pupils took their exams in the last academic year and although they are no longer at the school they have settled into their new secondary schools and are continuing to do well."

We're getting better - Lubbins' head Sharon Yallop cheers the success or her pupils in this year's Key Stage 2 tests

Picture: ROBIN WOOSEY

Trinity tops school league

An improving South Woodham Ferrers school was celebrating after topping local league tables.

Trinity St Mary's Cof E Primary saw its scores soar to take it into pole position.

The national league tables - out today - record the percentage of pupils achieving the pass rate for their age in maths, English and science.

The Dfee website has all the new school league tables online. To visit it, click one of the links below:

Homepage

Performance tables Improvement measures have then been calculated by adding together all the percentages to give a figure out of 300.

Trinity St Mary's improvement measure increased from 226 in 1998 to 281 this year - up 55.

Headteacher Keith Bannister said he was pleased at the achievement and it reflected the hard work of staff and the 204 pupils.

But he added: "We haven't done anything different to last year. Year groups do vary, which these tables don't take account of.

"We are proud of our consistent good results and next year's are also predicted to be good, if not quite so good."

The school also topped the maths and science results with 92 and 96 per cent respectively.

Woodville Primary in South Woodham had the highest pass rate in English, with 95 per cent.

Six schools in the Billericay, Wickford, and South Woodham areas received a lower improvement measure this year than last - Collingwood Primary in South Woodham, Crays Hill Primary, Downham Cof E Primary, North Crescent Primary in Wickford, Quilters Junior in Billericay, and St Peter's CofE Primary in West Hanningfield.

Of those St Peter's had fallen furthest, with a total score of 254 this year compared to 300 in 1998 - down 46.

But headteacher Nick Rudman said he wasn't worried because last year the school achieved 100 per cent in all subjects.

He said: "We had a fantastic result last year and we knew we had to go down.

"We're a small school with a fairly small number of children in each year group so we only need to have one child with special educational needs for the percentage to drop quite a lot.

"The tables are not a true reflection of a school's performance. They need to be looked at over three or four years to get the true picture. We have always had subject percentages at least in the high 70s."

The highest scoring school in the area was again Trinity St Mary's in South Woodham with 281 out of 300, with Crays Hill Primary the lowest at 155.

Its improvement score was down 11 this year and it had the lowest pass rates for English and science, both at 48 per cent.

Runwell Community Primary gained the lowest maths total, at 42 per cent.

Simply the best - Trinity pupils Michael Wakeling, Matthew Crease, Sophie Lythgoe and Gabby Browne cheer their school's success in the league tables

Picture: LUAN MARSHALL

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