BUREAUCRATS have listed a school with six times more children with special needs than the actual figure.
Seven of the 82 pupils at Hartshead Junior and Infant School have special needs.
But Key Stage 2 results released by the Government last week claim the school has 43 children with special needs.
Head teacher Jim Lewis said: “I’m very disappointed about this. We’ve already had calls from parents who are concerned about their children coping in a school where more than half the pupils have special needs. This could be quite damaging for us.”
Last week’s Key Stage 2 results correctly showed that 87 of Hartshead pupils achieved Level 4 at English and 93% at maths and science.
But Mr Lewis said these true results had been distorted by the special needs blunder. He said: “If we had 43 special needs children then it would be quite something to have such a high percentage achieving Level 4. We’d be getting an invite to Downing Street.”
Mr Lewis has no faith in the testing system.
He said: “If you can’t trust the data what can you trust? The sooner they scrap the Key Stage 2 tests the better, they’re a waste of money and they distort the curriculum.”
Mr Lewis advised parents to treat Key Stage 2 test results with caution.
He said: “With only 15 children taking the test, our results will go up and down so parents need to take the data with a pinch of salt. They need to come in and see the school.”
