LOCAL primary schools have had a mixed report in the latest government league tables, published today. While Woodborough Woods school has among the highest scores in the county, and Lowdham Primary has also achieved some respectable results, Lambley Primary is languishing in the lower part of the tables.
About 243 primary schools in Nottinghamshire were assessed by the Department for Education, based on the exam results from the end of the previous academic year (ie, exams taken in summer 2011). The tables record the percentage of pupils reaching expected levels in English and Maths, as well as measuring the progress of pupils in those subjects.
Woodborough is among just 19 schools in Nottinghamshire achieving 100% Level 4 passes in both English and Maths, placing it in the top 8% in the county. Lowdham achieved 84% on this measure, putting the school in the top 40%. Lambley had only 61% of pupils pass Level 4 in these subjects, which translates to a position in the lowest 15% of the table.
Lambley is the smallest of the three local schools, with 118 pupils on the roll, while Lowdham has 195 and Woodborough 207.
Of the three, Woodborough has the lowest annual expenditure per pupil at £3494, with Lowdham second at £3758 and Lambley the highest at $4140 – this is above the Nottinghamshire average, unlike Lowdham and Woodborough, and is almost exactly the national median.
Lowdham has the lowest pupil/staff ratio, at 18.9 pupils per member of teaching staff, with Lambley at 22.7 and Woodborough at 24.1. Woodborough, though, pays its staff the most: an average of £40,400 mean gross salary of full-time teachers, compared to £36,800 at Lambley and £36,200 at Lowdham.
The full league tables are published on the BBC and other websites, and the Nottinghamshire table (which can be sorted by the user according to various criteria) can be found on the BBC News site here.