PRIMARY school children have kept the county’s test scores in SATs steady but Oxfordshire is no longer ahead of the national average.

Government guidelines say 11-year-olds should be achieving a level four or above in the three exams for reading, writing and maths.

More than 6,400 pupils across Oxfordshire sat the exams in the summer, with 78 per cent hitting the benchmark, in line with last year’s results, but one percentage point below the national average.

Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for education Melinda Tilley said: “I am really pleased the national average has gone up, that’s wonderful for those children, but Oxfordshire should be above it. We need to get our act together and do something about it, and we will do that.”

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Headington’s Windmill Primary School was celebrating after the percentage of children getting level four and above in all three tests rose from 72 per cent to 93.

Headteacher Lynn Knapp said: “We were delighted with our SATs results, which were the best we have ever had.

“We put the children’s success down to a combination of consistent, high quality teaching and a creative and challenging curriculum. This has resulted in the children having high levels of motivation and a great attitude to learning.”

At Bicester’s Bure Park Primary School, the percentage of pupils meeting the benchmark fell from 91 per cent to 85 per cent.

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  • Bure Park headteacher Rob Pearson with pupils

Headteacher Rob Pearson said: “Test results vary every year depending on the cohort of pupils. We’re really encouraged by the progress the children are making from key stage one to key stage two. It’s really, really high.”

Aston Rowant CoE Primary School, near Chinnor, saw its percentage of successful pupils almost double, going from 43 to 82 per cent.

Headteacher Judith Lawson said: “We are a very small school which skews things a bit – this year there were 11 pupils, whereas last year there were only five. The children all did extremely well, it was a good year.

“We have done a lot of refurbishment and have much better facilities now. It enables us to provide better teaching and learning experiences. We’ve also had a changeover of staff so there’s a strong team here.”

The national average increased three percentage points from 76 per cent to 79.

Mrs Tilley added: “What we will do now is talk to our schools about what we can do to improve. It’s about communication and how we can share good practices between schools. I don’t think throwing money at the problem will do much good.

“It’s about school leadership teams and parents being more involved and being more aware of what their children can achieve, no matter what their background is.

“We know exactly which schools are causing concern and sent officers in. We need to move fast on this and we know which need to improve.”

STATS AT A GLANCE

  • Level four or above in all three tests in 2013: 78 per cent of pupils 
  • Level four or above in all three tests in 2014: 78 per cent of pupils 
  • Level four or above in maths in 2013: 86 per cent of pupils 
  • Level four or above in maths in 2014: 86 per cent of pupils 
  • Level four or above in reading in 2013: 87 per cent of pupils 
  • Level four or above in reading in 2014: 88 per cent of pupils 
  • Level four or above in writing in 2013: 88 per cent of pupils 
  • Level four or above in writing in 2014: 89 per cent of pupils

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WHAT ARE SATs?

  • SATs (Standard Assessment Tests) are given at the end of year 6, when children are 11
  • They are used to show pupils’ progress compared with other children born in the same month
  • As well as a maths test there is a reading test – to check comprehension and English skills – and a writing exam to check punctuation, spelling and grammar. These are marked externally and the Government expects children to get a level four or above
  • Level three marks are below expectations for key stage two
  • Level five shows the child is in the top one per cent of children in the country.

 


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