CHILDREN and staff at Buckland Monachorum's St Andrew's Primary were celebrating this week with the announcement it had been named the 13th top school nationally, according to the latest SATs curriulum figures. Efforts by the school have seen it placed top of the table in the West Country by the Department for Education and Skills, who were measuring the abilities of 11-year-olds in maths, science and English. On a scale of one to five, where five is excellent, St Andrew's pupils achieved 80%level five in English, 83% level in maths and 96.7% level five in science. The school has been described by the DfES as among the 'Best in the West'. Sarah Pendle, the acting head at St Andrew's, was delighted with the results. She said: 'It is a wonderful achievement for everybody at the school. It reflects the very hard work of pupils, teachers and parents — it's a real team effort. It is certainly an honour to be called best of the west.' John Smith, Devon executive councillor for Children and Young People, said he was delighted with the results that the schools in the county, including St Andrew's, had attained. He said: 'The best results are always achieved through a partnership between heads, teachers, school support staff and children, with the active support of their families and our own education staff. I would like to pay tribute to their hard work today.' Devon also has three schools, including Bere Alston, that came in the top 100 nationally, according to the improvement they achieved between Key Stage One and Key Stage Two. Kim Wild, headteacher of Bere Alston School, said: 'We are very, very pleased that our school is in the top 100. It is down to the commitment of staff and children across the school and the suppport of parents. We encourage children of all abilities to attain a good standard of education, and not just in English, maths and science but also in other subjects.' She stressed that the results should not be seen just as a reflection of being part of the time but for the work that is done between the ages of seven to 11 and even before.
