Southampton primary schools conitnue their climb in latest SATs exams

That was the pledge by education boss Cllr Dan Jeffery in response to the city’s best ever set of results for primary school children – and an endorsement by Ofsted that the city was well and truly on the up.

In Southampton and Hampshire the improvement continues onwards and upwards with schools building on the successes of last year.

Yesterday Ofsted highlighted the ongoing improvement of the city’s schools, drawing particular attention to secondary school successes and how the city was delivering quality education for pupils from all backgrounds.

Today sees the publication of the Key Stage Two results, commonly known as SATs, which are tests taken by every child at the end of their primary school education.

Pupils at Harefield Junior School

Last year saw the city go above the national average for the first time and this year schools have consolidated that with Southampton children performing two per cent better than the national average.

According to the figures the percentage of pupils gaining the expected level four in maths, reading and writing in Southampton for the academic year 2013/14 was 81 per cent.

In Hampshire that figure was one per cent more at 82 per cent, nationally it was 79 per cent.

The news was roundly welcomed by education leaders, including Cllr Jeffery, who said the improvement was a credit to the schools in Southampton but that the plan was ultimately to have the city ranked among the best in the country for education provision.

“We have set ourselves the ambitious target of having every child attend a good or outstanding school by the end of the decade. We want to be in the top 25 per cent of top performing education authorities.

“We have high aspirations for our children and this is an ambitious target but we want this for the future of our city.”

He added that this year’s Key Stage Two results showed that Southampton was continuing to move in the right direction and that the collaboration between schools was paying dividends.

However, he acknowledged there was still work to be done. According to league tables Southampton still has more than one in eight schools not hitting the floor standard of at least 65 per cent of pupils getting a level four in all areas .

Beechwood school scored an almost perfect set of results with 100 per cent in almost every key marker, which head teacher Sue Rees attributed to a good team effort of staff, pupils and families. That feat was equalled by Portswood primary school, which recorded yet another set of impressive scores.

The success of the Thornhill primary continues ever upwards as its latest figures show that every single pupil progressed at least two levels in all areas – another key government marker.

Harefield Primary was also celebrating success today with a five per cent rise in their overall headline figure – taking them to a ‘top of the class’ 100 per cent.

Head teacher Gary Hampton said: “A large part of it is the ethos of the school giving our children better opportunities to move forward. The school community has bought into that, including families, staff and pupils, it has been years of work and that is now all paying off.”

His words were echoed by counterparts at Ludlow school, where pupils there did their school proud posting an almost 10 per cent improvement in figures when compared to last year.

Head teacher Simon Watkins said: “Our continually improving performance is testament to the hard work of the whole school community.“ We are especially proud of the dedication shown by the staff team, which in turn inspires and motivates our wonderful pupils to achieve their very best.”

Hampshire schools were also toasting success with a host of schools achieving top marks.

More pupils than ever achieved the benchmark levels and schools seeing some of the best improvements in their results included Fair Oak Junior School.

Last year it was rated as a school which required improvement with 68 per cent of youngsters hitting the benchmark figure but following a change in leadership the school is now celebrating a clutch of fantastic results leading to 90 per cent of youngsters hitting the mark.

Head teacher Jane Laurie said: “We have a fantastic team here and it really is a reflection of all their hard work. When I came in one of the first things we did was look at our Year six and put that extra support in to raise the results and so that has paid off.”

The smell of success was also in the air at Knightwood Primary where the headline result rose from 84 per cent to 92 per cent.

Head teacher Paul Haydon said: “We are obviously delighted and proud that our children have not only attained high standards but made fantastic progress as well.

They have worked really hard and deserve the accolades. Our success as a school is testament to the dedication and commitment of all teachers, support staff and governors, past and present,who make up our Knightwood team. Our children are such happy, enthusiastic learners and they are fortunate to have parents who support them every step of the way.”

Councillor Peter Edgar, executive member for education at Hampshire County Council, said: “I congratulate Hampshire’s children and their schools for the outstanding results achieved in this year’s Key Stage Two Standard Assessment Tests (SATs).

“Of the children who sat these tests in May 82 per cent achieved the nationally expected Level 4 or above in all areas, rising from 78 per cent in 2013 and 25 per cent reached the higher standard of Level 5 in each of the subject areas of mathematics, reading and writing. Our primary schools are among the very best in the country and these results reflect the high standards and hard work of our children, teachers, governors and local authority staff.”