Grade A effort after two Rotherham schools top performance tables

Wickersley School and Sports College — the borough’s best-performing secondary — and Wingfield Academy are placed sixth and seventh respectively under the new Progress 8 scoring system.

Wickersley’s deputy head, Amanda Crane, said she was “very pleased” with the school’s continued high ranking, adding: “We don’t ever take anything for granted”.

She said the focus of staff was to consider whether their decisions and actions towards students was always based on the idea of “to do for someone else’s child what you would want done for your own”.

Ms Crane said Progress 8 was a “fair” measure of a school’s standard as it was not possible to opt out of the its key areas of assessment, adding:

“You have to do well across the board to get a positive score.

“It’s a testament to the hard work that goes on in the school. 

“Our staff are really focused on doing the best for our students. The students work hard and parents are generally really supportive.”

Wingfield head Phil Davis said: “Of course, we’re pleased. There are 6,000 schools in the country and we are in the top seven per cent again.

“It has become more difficult over the past few years but we’ve managed to maintain the standard.

“Wingfield did not always have a great reputation but people are choosing to come here from outside the catchment area.

“There’s a different culture in the team and the intention is to do the best we can and for the staff to put the extra mile in for the students.”

Of the borough’s mainstream schools, Dinnington High brings up the rear, followed by Thrybergh, Brinsworth and Maltby.

Rotherham’s overall score was just below the national average.

Silverdale School in Sheffield is ranked as South Yorkshire’s best-performing school.

Bramley Sunnyside Juniors St Gerard’s Catholic Primary and Flanderwell Primary were the pick of the Rotherham primaries.