WHILE we applaud the local primary schools who have done so well in the schools' league tables, we stress these tables do not always reflect the school's achievements as a whole.

We must always keep reminding ourselves that the tables recognise academic achievements and nothing more. While most parents, rightly, feel that academic success is important, it does not mean that schools which fail to make the grade by this yardstick are necessarily badly run.

Mrs Pat Ashton, head teacher of Walmsley CE Primary School which was top of the class locally, makes the same point.

And we have considerable sympathy with headteacher Angela Smith who has branded the league tables "a nonsense".

She rightly points out that the tables do not take account of special circumstances facing schools such as Johnson Fold which has a large number of children with special educational needs.

We believe there are as many dedicated teachers in schools like Johnson Fold as there are at top-of-the-table establishments.

Perhaps, as many education professionals believe, the tables should be replaced by a system which measures how much each school improves the education of pupils in their charge.

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