Devon County Council

From David Hutchings, Exeter 382594, December 07, 2007

A HIGH ACHIEVING South Devon primary is the top school in the county for the value it adds to children's education.

Stoke Fleming Primary was declared outstanding in every area of school life by education inspectors earlier this term.

Now, new Government performance tables for primary schools show Stoke Fleming has the best 'added value' in the county.

The school's VA score measures children's attainment between the exams they take at seven and their SATs exams at 11.

Pupils at Stoke Fleming do so well that their average attainment when they leave the primary school is what is generally expected of 14-year-olds.

This term's Ofsted report concluded that children start Stoke Fleming with skills and abilities in line with national expectations but, by the time they leave at the end of Year 6, they are attaining exceptionally high standards in English, maths and science.

The inspectors said this was as a result of excellent teaching and an excellent curriculum.

Headteacher Michael Rolls said of the latest accolade: "It is a fantastic achievement to be number one in Devon for the value added scores.

"This outcome reflects the dedication and hard work of the whole school community in ensuring that every individual child, what ever their starting point, makes good progress during their time at Stoke Fleming.

"What makes this attainment all the more special is that it isn't just a one off.

"Our children have consistently achieved at the highest level over the past three years, which was fully recognised by Ofsted in October this year when they reported:'This is an excellent school in which pupils' achievements are outstanding'."

"We believe that our success is largely down to the high quality of teaching and learning that is provided for all the children at Stoke Fleming and the breadth of curriculum on offer.

"Our focus is not wholly on the narrow curriculum that the National Tests measure, but on providing our children with a broad and exciting curriculum every day, which puts learning into a context and has meaning to every individual child."

NOTE FOR NEWS EDS: For more information and to arrange pictures, contact Michael Rolls on 01803 770244