Table-topping school wins the praise of MP

Carolyn Clarke, headteacher of Harrison Primary School in Fareham

Pupils at Harrison Primary School in Harrison Road, Fareham achieved ‘outstanding results’ in its Key Stage 2 SATs last week.

In total, 97 per cent of pupils achieved the expected standards in the core subjects of reading, writing and maths, compared with the average in the county of 57 per cent and the national average of 53 per cent.

Suella Fernandes, MP for Fareham, reserved special praise for the school following the achievement as it received some of the best results in the borough of Fareham.

She said: ‘I’m delighted to hear that pupils at Harrison Primary have achieved such outstanding results.

‘The excellent progress is a reflection of the hard work of the teaching staff and pupils.

‘It is also testament to the ambitious and pioneering approach of the school’s leadership.

‘I congratulate everyone at the school. I’m sure Harrison Primary will continue to excel.’

A breakdown of the results found that 97 per cent achieved the expected standing in reading, 98 per cent achieved the expected standing in writing, 99 per cent in maths and 94 per cent in grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Carolyn Clarke, the schools executive headteacher and Sara Gmitrowicz, the head of school, said in a joint statement: ‘We’re absolutely delighted with this year’s Key Stage 2 SAT results.

‘While we recognise the new curriculum and testing regime need to bed down, we celebrate the hard work and success of our pupils and the teaching team.

‘This is the culmination of two years of relentless focus on up-levelling the curriculum and ensuring our pupils have the skills and confidence to meet the demands of these new rigorous tests.’

It was the first time students took the tests since new measures were brought in with many schools falling short of the new standards on a national level.

Ms Clarke added: ‘We thank all those involved; the whole teaching team, children and their parents for ensuring our pupils had the very best opportunities to learn, develop positive attitudes and had the resilience to keep going.’