Red Oak Primary School in Lowestoft has received high praise from the Minister for Schools, MP Damian Hinds.

In a recent letter sent to the school, the Minister congratulated Executive Headteacher, Heather Madsen, on the “very high progress that pupils… demonstrated and the standard of achievement demonstrated in reading, writing and mathematics Key Stage 2 assessment last year.”

The school, which is part of The Active Learning Trust, published its results in December 2023, which showed that 90% of pupils had reached or exceeded the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2, putting the school in the top 2 percent of primary schools in the country.

The progress scores in reading, writing and mathematics were also commended. The results showed that the progress made by pupils between Key Stage 1 and the end of Key Stage 2 puts Red Oak Primary School in the top 5 percent of primary schools in the country. 

In his letter, Damian Hinds explained: “The government wants to ensure that every child has the fluency in reading, writing and mathematics necessary to prepare them for a successful secondary education and beyond, which is why I was delighted to see your results.” The Minister thanked Heather for her work in continuing the drive towards higher academic standards and congratulated her and her staff for their commitment and success.

Heather said “I am delighted that the progress of children here at Red Oak has been acknowledged by the Minister for Schools. It is our ethos to raise aspirations and enable all our children to fulfil their potential and I would like to thank all our staff for their dedication in helping us achieve this success together.”

She continued: "Despite the school having more than double the national average of Pupil Premium pupils, demonstrating the challenges that families face socioeconomically, the results are a testament to our commitment to narrowing the achievement gap and overcoming barriers to learning.”

Lynsey Holzer, Chief Executive added “Congratulations to everyone at Red Oak! To be within the top 5 percent nationally really highlights the strong focus on improvement and achieving success for all which is embodied across the whole school community, and which offers all children at the school a very bright future for their education”.

The school, which is currently rated by Ofsted as ‘good’ was visited for an ungraded monitoring inspection in May 2023, where inspectors have found “enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged ‘outstanding’ if we were to carry out a graded inspection.”