Interesting as the Wiltshire schools league table as reproduced in the Gazette and Herald was I feel that, as an educational tool, it is fatally flawed.
As a parent with a child at Wansdyke Community School I know that the school is excellent, yet according to the data offered it is not performing as well as some other schools in Wiltshire.
This is a totally wrong assumption because not only is Wansdyke providing a high standard of education for mainstream pupils but it is also doing the same for their colleagues with special needs.
The raw data used to provide the statistical charts covers all the children in the Key Stage, therefore it unfairly counts the special needs pupils as under performing, which in turn impacts adversely on the total score given.
It is high time that Government recognise that league tables are a mistake and are largely meaningless and an unnecessary burden upon hard-pressed teaching staff.
As a matter of urgency league tables should be discontinued, or at least recognise those good quality schools who integrate special needs pupils.
Geoff Brewer,
Downlands Road
Devizes
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