Wakefield's Stanley St Peter's Primary School placed in top five per cent in country for progress

A letter from Damian Hinds praised the school for the exceptional progress the children made in their Key Stage Two assessments.

Last year, pupils at Stanley St Peters achieved progress scores of 8.3, 7.3, and 10.6 in reading, writing and mathematics, respectively.

Headteacher Michelle Wiggins said: “We just worked so hard with those children to get them back up.

"We changed everything: the behaviour policy, the entire curriculum, everything about us changed.

"They have done amazingly.”

The progress is measured by comparing pupils’ statutory assessment scores from tests taken in Year Two (Key Stage One) with tests taken in Year Six (Key Stage Two).

Michelle explained that a score of zero would indicate the pupil was making sufficient progress, and that “anything above five is pretty much unheard of.”

The Year Six children had to sit an hour long reading test, two mathematics papers and an arithmetic paper. 49 per cent of the pupils were above the expected standard for reading, and 46 per cent for mathematics.

The letter states: “In terms of the progress your pupils make between Key Stage One and the end of Key Stage 2, your school is amongst the top five per cent of primary schools in the country."

"The government wants to ensure that every child has the fluency in reading, writing and mathematics necessary to prepare them for a successful secondary education and beyond, which was why I was delighted to see your results.”