Bolton primary schools praised for Key Stage 2 results

The Bolton News published the Government's primary school performance tables earlier this month based on the SATs results which can be accessed here.

Now Bolton's education chief has praised schools for their outstanding work with children.

Key Stage 2 results show how Year Six children performed in the 3Rs.

The data has revealed the primary schools with the highest reading, writing and maths scores for 2022 to 2023.

The Valley School

Pupils scoring at least a scaled score of 100 out of 120 will have met the expected standard in the test.

In Bolton, The Olive School Bolton was top with 92 per cent of eligible students achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year.

It was followed by Beaumont Primary School, where 88 per cent of pupils met the standard, The Oaks Primary School, where 88 per cent of pupils met the standard.

This was then followed by Lostock Primary School, Masefield Primary School, St William of York Catholic Primary School, St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Over Hulton and The Valley Community Primary School, where 83 per cent of pupils at each school met the standards.

Following the league tables being published, education chiefs have thanked schools for the hard work they have done to achieve these results after the Covid pandemic.

Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Cllr Martin Donaghy, said: “These results reflect a great deal of hard work by all our schools, the pupils, and their families, and we are incredibly proud of all of them.

“Bolton is lucky to have so many outstanding teachers and support staff who are always willing to go the extra mile to help children achieve their full potential.”

Beaumont School

The National Association of Head Teachers said government investment across the country is needed to help pupils recover from the pandemic, as figures show the proportion of students meeting the expected mark is well below pre-pandemic levels.

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School leaders' union the NAHT said ranking schools is simplistic and does not consider the context of the particular cohort or the community the school serves.

General secretary Paul Whiteman added: "No piece of data can provide an accurate picture of the effectiveness of schools, whose work goes far beyond that number, and league tables and ranking of schools should be scrapped.

"They can have damaging consequences and can actually be a barrier to improvement."

The Government aims for 90 per cent of key stage two children to meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Overall, in England, 60 per cent of students met the standard in 2022-23 – up from 59 per cent the year before but below 65 per cent in 2018-19, before the pandemic.

While Mr Whiteman said key stage two tests can identify "broad concerns", he added government investment is ultimately needed to see improvements.

He said: "Ministers failed to provide anything like the funding recommended by the Government's education recovery tsar to help pupils recover from the pandemic."

Sir Kevan Collins, former education recovery tsar, proposed a £15 billion long-term catch-up programme for children whose learning has been disrupted by the pandemic.

A Department of Education spokesperson said: “We know the pandemic had a significant impact on education globally which is why we have made £5 billion available since 2020 for education recovery initiatives, including just under five million tutoring course starts to date supporting pupils in all corners of the country."

They added England outperformed the international average in maths, reading and science.

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on X @chloewjourno.