TWO West Devon primary schools are to receive prestigious Quality Mark awards tomorrow (Friday) in recognition of their success in teaching literacy and numeracy.

The national director of the Basic Skills Agency, Alan Wells, will present the awards to St Andrew?s Primary School in Buckland Monachorum, and Horrabridge Primary School. Both schools had to satisfy ten criteria in English and maths to gain the awards.

Bill Houldsworth, headmaster of St Andrew?s, said: ?External assessment of this kind is always very useful and it underlined the fact that we have been working well within the fields of literacy and numeracy.?

Headmaster of Horrabridge Primary School, Martin Iddon, said: ?We are delighted to have been awarded the Basic Skills Agency?s Quality Mark. It?s a real tribute to everyone who works with our children in improving standards in literacy and numeracy.?

Devon County Council?s primary science adviser, Chris Banbury, who oversees the assessment process, praised the winners: ?I want to congratulate all the schools who have achieved this latest award. It is a demonstration of real improvement across the board for all abilities and is a measure of the hard work put in by both teachers and pupils.?

The Quality Mark awards were introduced in 1997 to provide schools with a framework for the continuous improvement of the basic skills of all pupils.

Elements assessed include performance of pupils in key stage 1 and 2 tests, staff development and training, and involvement of parents and governors in improving basic skills. Schools must demonstrate a commitment to improving standards of numeracy and literacy, which involves producing an action plan.