Newton Farm Nursery, Infant and Junior School in Harrow, north London, has written to parents telling them that test scores in maths and a new spelling, punctuation and grammar exam had been annulled after an official investigation. The move by the Government’s Standards and Testing Agency was made after doubts were cast over the validity of a series of SATs papers taken by 11-year-olds in May. A probe by the body, which is part of the Department for Education, revealed that at least five test papers had been altered. It comes just 12 months after Newton Farm was hailed as England’s best-performing state primary school, with pupils achieving a higher average points score than any other school in the country. The school was also rated Outstanding in its last Ofsted inspection.
The school has a very small catchment area and has attracted parents who bought houses nearby to send their children to this high performing state primary. Think twice before you uproot your family in order to attend a school with impressive SATS results!