SCHOOL NEWS: Swanmead improved SATS results are some of the best in country

SWANMEAD Community School in Ilminster has been celebrating some fantastic results in the Year Six SATS tests – making it one of the best in the country for improvements on the previous year’s performance.

The children took the tests back in May and Swanmead headteacher Mark Walker has been bowled over by the results.

“Children and their parents have received individual copies of these results, however, I thought it was really important for parents to know how well the children and the school did collectively,” he said in the school’s latest newsletter.

The key measure is what percentage of children achieved “expected standard” or above for reading, writing and maths combined.

And Mr Walker said: “We are delighted to tell our school community that Swanmead sits above the national average for this which caters for all primary, middle and junior schools.

“Even bigger is the improvements we have made compared to last year’s collective data and in terms of increase I am told that these are some of the highest percentage leaps forward of any school in the whole of the country.

“It is a great way to end the year and my congratulations to all the children, staff and parents for collectively being responsible for these staggering improvements.”

The combined percentage score for Swanmead for reading, writing and maths was 63 per cent which is just above the national average of 61 per cent, but has gone up from the school’s 2016 rating of 36 per cent.

Swanmead polled 73 per cent for reading as opposed to 53 per cent in 2016 with the national average at 71 per cent, while the school gained a 76 per cent mark for writing which is equal to the national score and just above what it achieved last year.

There is still room for improvement in maths at Swanmead with the school getting a 69 per cent mark this time around which is six per cent below the national average. But, on a positive note, Swanmead’s score is 26 per cent up on what it achieved last year for maths.

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