Henlow school one of the best in Central Beds for reading, writing and maths

A school in Henlow has been revealed as one of the best in Central Bedfordshire when it comes to reading, writing and maths.

The new data shows that 75% of students at Derwent Primary School met government targets for the three subjects – above the England average of 60%.

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

In Central Bedfordshire, Leighton Middle School led the way with 76% of eligible students achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year – followed by Derwent Primary School.

Executive headteacher Samantha Barlow said: “I am pleased to say that Derwent Primary has had excellent KS2 results which are significantly above the national mean. Derwent Primary is a quickly growing and very popular school in Henlow.

"The Derwent and Southill Federation leadership and staff team is working hard to ensure pupils leave primary education with standards in reading, writing and mathematics that ensure they have the best chance to be successful in secondary education and beyond. The federation is particularly proud of the steps we have taken to ensure a high level of professional development for teaching staff and collaboration as a team to include great research led practice in class.

"We know that as the local authority begins to put in place plans for a move from three to two tier for lower schools in the area – which includes Southill Lower School – we will have an outstanding curriculum and excellent teaching and learning in place to support KS2 outcomes for them, when that time comes too.”

However, 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% of key stage two children to meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. Overall in England, 60% of students met the standard in 2022-23 – up from 59% the year before but below 65% 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.