PRIMARY school pupils in Swindon are achieving well above the national average according to performance tables published by the Department of Education last week.

Statistics revealed that 81 per cent of year 6 pupils achieved a level 4 or higher grading in reading, writing and maths tests – more than the national average of 79 per cent.

Swindon pupils are also better prepared for secondary schools than the national average, with 69 per cent of 11-year-olds achieving the benchmark of a level 4B or above in their reading and maths tests and a level 4 or above in their writing tests compared to 67 per cent of children nationally.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, in Rodbourne, was the top performing school in the town with 93 per cent of its year 6 pupils achieving the benchmark, with 98 per cent of pupils achieving a level 4 or higher across the three R’s.

Meanwhile, its sister school, St Catherine’s Catholic Primary School in Stratton, came a close third in the league tables with 90 per cent achieving level 4 or above.

Clare-Marie Burchall, the headteacher at both St Mary’s and St Catherine’s, said: “We are naturally delighted about St Mary’s being ranked first in Swindon with 98 per cent of our pupils gaining Level 4 or above in maths, reading and writing.

“But what is more important and more satisfying is being ranked top for our pupils achieving Level 4B and above in reading and maths.

“Level 4B is the benchmark for pupils to be academically ready for the secondary curriculum “Nationally, only 67 per cent of pupils achieved this compared to 93 per cent at St Mary’s.

“As executive head of St Catherine’s, the sister parish school, I am also thrilled that they were ranked third for pupils achieving 4B and above in reading and maths at 90 per cent compared to 67 per cent nationally.

“This is an excellent result for our parish federation of St Mary’s and St Catherine’s with both schools being ranked first and third in this area.”

Swindon schools’ success was also welcomed by Coun Fionuala Foley, the council’s cabinet member for children services.

She said: “I am thrilled that we are continuing to improve the attainment of our primary school children and are now above the national average for the percentage of pupils achieving Level 4 or above in reading, maths and writing.

“Not only that, but the percentage of pupils who are entering secondary school above the expected level is also above the national average and that fills me with great pride as it shows our schools are doing a fantastic job.”

Other schools, like East Wichel Primary School, did not t fare as well, with 36 per cent of pupils declared ready for secondary school after achieving a level 4B or higher, and 55 per cent achieving level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths.

But headteacher Caroline Henham said the league table statistics failed to give a realistic picture of how well pupils were actually doing at the school. She said: “What these results fail to show is the progress these children have made while they have been with us.

“There are only 11 students in our Year 6 class, and these are the results of just one test, and not all of our pupils have been here for the whole of KS2.

“We are a very new school and still haven’t many numbers, and this means that every child’s result accounted for nine per cent.

“While we are disappointed we are confident that next year’s cohort will do much better.”

Fifty per cent of pupils at Abbey Meads Community Primary School achieved level 4B or above, although 67 per cent still achieved a level four or above across the three Rs.

Headteacher Robert Buckley said: “The results this year were not typical of those achieved normally at Abbey Meads and were specific to that particular year group.

“Ofsted visited in September – with no notice – and HMI acknowledged that this specific group had a number of circumstances that explained the results this year and considered the school to be a Good school with an impressive curriculum.

“Sometimes it is more important for parents to look at the real work being done in schools, and this is captured in the Ofsted report, rather than focusing on a misleading league table based on the test scores of a small number of children last May, with no understanding of their needs, current circumstances and previous achievements.”

To view the data visit www .education.gov.uk/schools/ performance/index.html