Oaktree Primary School may have come bottom of the tables but the results show that many of the pupils are already making good progress in the recently launched new school.

And head teacher Ann Harris is confident that there will be a big improvement in next year's percentages.

She said: "We were very disappointed with the results overall but we were also pleased that more children achieved above Level 2 and closer to Level 4 so the average point score showed an upward trend.

"We have made a very careful analysis of the test results and put into place a whole range of strategies to raise standards and we are confident that we will see a significant improvement in next year's results."

The school opened in January after Park South Junior and Infants' schools were amalgamated and moved into one building in September.

In the Key Stage 2 tests the 53 pupils achieved a 15 per cent pass rate in English, 30 per cent in mathematics and 53 per cent in science. The 330 pupils at the school included 68 with special education needs.

Mrs Harris was a school inspector in Berkshire before she was appointed head and says she is well on the way to reaching her targets of creating a happy school and raising standards.

"This does take time but we can see standards raising already," she said.

In April a school council was formed to help give pupils a sense of responsibility and independence.

"The meetings we have had have been wonderful. The children are becoming more confident at expressing the views of their classrooms and they have brought forward some very sensible measures to help improve standards," said Mrs Harris.

League tables for Swindon, Wiltshire and Gloucester appear in the Evening Advertiser, edition Thursday, December 7.