Joy as two Sheffield schools named among top 250 in the country by Sunday Times

Westways Primary School, in Crookes, and Anns Grove Primary School, in Heeley, were judged to be two of the highest performing in their category by The Sunday Times in its latest ‘Parent Power’ guide published on Sunday, November 22.

The guide features the top 250 primary schools from across the country, with Westways and Anns Grove ranking 216th and 247th respectively – the only two in Sheffield to appear on the list.

Based on the 2019 Sats results, schools are ranked by the aggregated scaled scores achieved by children in reading, grammar and maths.

Sam Fearnehough, the executive headteacher of Westways and headteacher of Anns Grove, said: “It’s a real accolade for both schools to be recognised among the 250 state schools by The Sunday Times, we’re delighted about it.

"It came as a complete surprise, we were really stunned to find ourselves on this list – there is such a range of schools from across the country, from London to Leeds and Leicester. But, to be the only two in Sheffield is quite something really.”

Mrs Fearnehough said it is the first time that either Westways and Anns Grove have appeared in the Parent Power Guide.

She added: "It’s a huge recognition of our children’s achievement and the teaching that goes into that. To say that schools are run in very similar ways and are doing very similar things, we’re clearly doing something right so that we get children to achieve these high standards.

"All children from all backgrounds do very well and I think that’s because we focus on individuals and we look at individual achievement, putting support and the correct teaching in place to meet the childrens needs.

"It’s important to us that children succeed and do well because we send these children out into secondary school with the skills for success and that makes a big difference in their lives going forward into their GCSEs and beyond.

"We do consistently good teaching in both schools every week. I’m proud of our children for what they achieve and our staff who are relentlessly positive in the way they approach teaching and the way they work with children.”

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