Pupils at two Salford primary schools have been given top marks for being amongst the best in the country.
Youngsters at Lower Kersal primary school did so well in their Year 6 exams that their school is now amongst the top 100 in the country while Year 6 at Mesne Lea primary school, Walkden landed their school in the top 200. There are nearly 16,000 schools in the country.
At Lower Kersal every single one of their Year 6 pupils achieved the expected levels in reading, writing and maths with over a third of these pupils exceeding these expectations by reaching Level 5 in all three areas.
At Mesne Lea every single pupil achieved level 4B or above in reading and maths and level 4 or above in writing.
Both schools received an official government letter praising their achievement and telling them the good news.
Lee Ashton, headteacher at Lower Kersal, said his school helped children to succeed by ensuring that the curriculum was tailored to every child’s individual needs and that his team of Year 6 teachers and support staff were relentless in their pursuit of excellence and higher standards.
“Their desire to achieve the very best impacts massively on our pupils,” he said.
“In turn this motivates our children on to reach even greater heights. By the end of the school year our children want these results even more than the school does – and this is the key to our success.”
“This is the second consecutive year that we have managed to achieve top marks in our Year 6 exams and I am very proud of everyone who works so hard to ensure that all of our children are given the best possible start to their high school education. I am very lucky to have an amazing team working with me; they do an amazing job with the pupils in their care.
“To have a letter from the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb MP, letting me know that Lower Kersal Primary School is now in the top 100 of best performing schools is simply fantastic and recognises the huge improvements we have made in our school.”
Mesne Lea Headteacher Julie Finlay said she was very proud of her school’s achievement.
“Before our Ofsted inspection in 2014, we were classed as a school requiring improvement. Everyone has worked together to rapidly improve and achieve these excellent results and we are now working towards being outstanding.
“Being good at reading, writing and maths are essential skills that set pupils up for life. Whatever they go on to study, whatever career they pursue and even whatever hobbies they choose to follow , reading, writing and maths are essential to help them succeed and enjoy.
“We work very hard to make sure pupils really enjoy their reading and are fluent and confident readers. We get the children interested by using IT to explore books and reading right across the curriculum and by linking writing and maths to real life.
“Being told we are in the top 200 schools in the country is a lovely start to 2016!”
Councillor John Merry, executive lead member for children’s services, praised pupils and staff.
“This is a fantastic result and they should all be very proud. It’s important children have mastered these skills before they go on to secondary school and these youngsters are clearly top of the class,” he said.
