Primary performance tables: Headteacher ‘thrilled’ as Carlton Junior and Infant School named among top three in country for reading and maths

Carlton Junior and Infant School was named England’s second best for pupil progress in reading, while it was placed third for progress in maths in the latest primary school league tables which were published last Thursday, December 14.

Headteacher Rizwana Mahmood-Ahmed said: “This is truly well deserved for all my team and especially for our children.

“This success hasn’t happened overnight, it’s actually been gradual over the last few years due to a number of changes and improvements. It is years of hard work; recruiting strong professionals who genuinely care and are willing to learn, streamlining the curriculum and making it contextually appropriate and highly ambitious, with opportunities that accelerate learning beyond the statutory curriculum.

“In a nutshell, it’s about having the absolute belief that all children can if the conditions of learning environment and nurture are right for them and this includes parental commitment.

“The communities of Batley and Dewsbury deserve this recognition and are able to excel in life.

“We have put an extra emphasis on language and oracy, socratic questioning, complex problem solving, logic and reasoning as well as nurturing social skills such as public speaking, manners and character building techniques. We are now seeing the cumulative impact on children’s outcomes.

“We have also trained the staff at a much higher level, equipping them to have that mental resilience to deal with children who bring with them lots of emotional issues and barriers to learning. That has not happened overnight either, recruiting people with a moral compass who can be trained to a high standard takes time.

“With the aftermath of the COVID lockdown, when children returned to school, we needed to work on their emotional resilience first and foremost. Physically and mentally the children weren’t where they should have been. So a lot of emphasis was put on pastoral work. We had to completely reorganise the curriculum and set measurable targets.

“We had to build back their core muscles, as some didn’t have the chance to go and play out. We had to make several adjustments to the curriculum and timetables to meet their needs.

“The children of Carlton know that we care and they are happy in school.”

Praising her staff, she said: “The care for the children is genuine - my staff are particularly strong on this. I have got people that are morally and ethically all for the children and they go that extra mile. Nobody is asked to stay and work long hours because staff wellbeing matters, but they do it out of their own goodwill.

“The productivity of my team is high because respect at Carlton is mutual. As a leader, I make a point of doing the job they do, so I teach as well and ensure visibility.”

However, Mrs Mahmood-Ahmed has warned of the “constant pressure” headteachers and schools face to “sustain” the demands of performance tables and Ofsted visits.

She said: “It is constant pressure. And with Ruth Perry’s death I hope it has made the powers-that-be realise this is not an easy job. It is not a nine-to-five job.

“On the one hand, I am delighted and grateful that my staff have worked so hard and put this school where it is. However, cohorts do vary, which means that year on year, results may vary.

“Since COVID, our younger cohorts bring with them more special educational needs and more trauma issues, looking ahead to the future, who knows where the school will be ranked.

“We must be mindful that league tables and Ofsted do not depict other successes of schools and I am saying this on behalf of my headteacher colleagues in Kirklees and beyond who work tirelessly.

“We have some amazing schools in Kirklees and every single one of these school leaders and teachers need to be celebrated for all the work we do behind the scenes to help our children and their families.

“Carlton is a very popular school and is fast becoming a school of parental choice- our waiting lists are increasing too and it's good to see that more parents are conscientious about their child's education.”