School league tables make compulsive reading for every parent. Tonight, the small print will be studied with interest by those who have children of primary age and younger. Schools will be compared and contrasted, their relative performances noted.

All very unfair, of course. The league tables rank schools using crude statistics that take no account of the prosperity or otherwise of their catchment area. Moreover, because they are based on the percentage of good grades achieved, a small primary school's position can fall or rise dramatically on the performance of a handful of pupils.

Put simply, school league tables are flawed, but they are still better than nothing. The disclosure of examination results has made schools more accountable. If information were included about an individual school's progress, year on year, tables would be more useful still.

Concern was expressed today about the timing of the publication of primary school tables. Problems with computer software have been blamed for delaying their compilation until after most parents have chosen a school for their child.

That is not necessarily a bad thing, however. Parents who select a school on the basis of the league tables alone are doing their child no favours.

A few columns of figures cannot begin to express the heart and soul of a school. To learn about that, a parent must visit the school. Only after seeing the children in lessons, looking at their work on the walls, talking to staff and finding out about pastoral policy and extra-curricular commitments can a true picture emerge.

It is our good fortune that North Yorkshire boasts many excellent primary schools. That is clear whether you look purely at examination grades or at their wider achievements.

Today Sheriff Hutton Primary School was among three schools in the region celebrating the fact that all its 11-year-olds had reached the targets set in English, maths and science tests.

But even here the importance of school tables is kept in perspective. Head teacher Pam Powell stressed that it was the school's aim "to help each child to achieve high standards and to become a confident, happy and well-balanced individual".

That laudable aim says more about Sheriff Hutton Primary School than the league table ever can.

see NEWS 'Village school top of tables'

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