A GOVERNMENT minister has praised a Winklebury school for its improved results.

Minister for Schools David Laws wrote to Christine Clayton, headteacher of Winklebury Junior School, in Willoughby Way, to congratulate her for the progress and attainment achieved by disadvantaged pupils at the school since 2011.

In his letter, Mr Laws said: “It is clear that you and your staff have provided your disadvantaged pupils with a good start in life and prepared them well for secondary school.

“Your results also show that you are among the 100 top performing schools based on sustained improvement in attainment at level 4 or above in reading, writing and mathematics each year from 2012-2014.

“I would like to congratulate your staff, governors, parents and pupils for their hard work and success, and thank you for your leadership in making such a difference to the future success of your pupils.”

Mrs Clayton, who has been headteacher at the infant and junior schools for five years, told The Gazette: “We were very proud to receive this letter and we are really proud that it recognises all the hard work that has gone in over the past few years to improve the students generally, and especially for our children considered as more disadvantaged.

“In addition to our everyday school strategies, those children receive additional funding in order that the school can try and close the gap in attainment.

“It is about extra support but it is also about supporting families so we do a lot of work with families to give them additional support. We are an inclusive school so we do work very hard on ensuring every child and every family is included in everything we do.”

Disadvantaged pupils are children at the school who receive the Pupil Premium, including children who are entitled to free school meals and children of service personnel.

In 2012, 59 per cent of Year 6 pupils achieved level 4 and above in reading, writing and mathematics compared to 74 per cent in 2013 and 92 per cent in 2014.