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Pupils shine in exams
Lancashire's youngsters are celebrating as their schools are named among the best in the country.
Despite problems with the controversial Sats tests in May, the county's 11-year-olds continued to excel, beating national benchmarks for academic excellence and value added.
However, teachers' leaders have warned parents not to put too much store by the tables, saying they are outdated and give a narrow picture of what goes on in the classroom.
The National Association of Headteachers and National Union of Teachers have joined forces to call for an end to Sats.
Former Walton-le-Dale Primary School headteacher and NAHT membership secretary Tony Roberts said: "League tables are a crude indicator of school progress and tell you nothing about anything going on in the school besides testing.
"They penalise schools in disadvantaged areas where the huge amount of 'social' work and catching up with poor pre-school experience is not acknowledged.
"Last year's results in English in particular are flawed due to the marking fiasco. They also contribute to the distortion of the curriculum by making schools concentrate on their SATs scores.
"Virtually every commentator now accepts that they are redundant and damaging. Ed Ball's view that parents want them is not born out when you actually talk to parents."
The number of pupils reaching the expected level four in the 'three Rs' of reading, writing and maths has remained constant.
For a full round-up and stories behind the tables see our bumper LEP Education tomorrow
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Weather for Preston
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -4 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
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