LEAGUE TABLES SPECIAL: CHURCHFIELDS School has suffered a huge slide in its GCSE results in its first year since the integration of pupils from the closed Oakfield School.

Government performance tables published today show only 22 per cent of its pupils achieved five or more A*-C grades this summer a big drop from last year's 43 per cent pass rate.

But the chairman of the Swindon Association of Governors today claimed the mismanagement of the closure of Oakfield School by Swindon Council was mostly to blame.

The controversial decision shocked many at the time, not least the school, and was a major criticism in the council's Ofsted inspection report in September.

It meant Churchfields, which was already struggling after failing an Ofsted inspection in January 2000, and Dorcan School had to try to integrate hundreds of children from Oakfield with their existing pupils.

The management of that move has been criticised by Dick Millard, chairman of the Swindon Association of Governors.

He said: "The decision to close Oakfield was aimed at saving money, but it has cost more to help out Churchfields and Dorcan, so has not worked on that basis.

But even more importantly, the decision was not taken in the context of how it would affect the pupils and the schools they were sent to. These children were transferred to new schools without proper arrangements and standards have dropped as a result."

Churchfields' acting headteacher Steve Flavin, who took over from Lynne Dunford earlier this month when she went on extended sick leave, said: "When a school has an influx of students as a result of a closure of another school, it's inevitably going to have an impact.

"It is important to be aware that this year's results are for a year group within which a number of our students had their education disrupted by the closure of Oakfield at a very important time in their school careers.

"Despite the best efforts of the staff, some of these students found it difficult to recover from this disruption. But I would stress that it is not fair or accurate to say the closure was the only reason for these poor results."

He said the school was seen to be improving by regular visits by Government inspectors, and next year's results were expected to be much better.

"We have projected a pass rate of 47 per cent for next year, based on results at earlier stages for that year group. We are extremely confident that is realistic and achievable.

"There are also many positive things to build on from these results and it should be remembered that league tables only provide raw data they never take into account factors which impact on a school's improvement.

"Many of our students exceeded the individual results which were predicted for them. Such individual achievements should not go unnoticed, as they are a reflection of the hard work and dedication of students and staff alike.

"In the overwhelming major-ity of subject areas, all of the students who were actually examined achieved or exceeded their predicted grades and in many subjects, the school exceeded the targets set by the council."

Greendown School also suffered a drop in its pass rate from 54 per cent to 46 per cent.

But headmaster Steve O'Sullivan said the pass rate was actually 50 per cent if based on students eligible to take the exams, rather than the number who started the school year.

He said a scheme in which struggling pupils were taught part of the time outside the school meant the pupils did not enter the exams but were still counted on the school roll.

"League tables don't always reflect the achievements of the schools and individual circum-stances. Our results have dipped this year, but they follow continuous improvement and we expect them to rise again next year. The quality of teaching continues to be our strength."