KEIGHLEY-district schools are celebrating some outstanding results in the latest Key Stage Two SATS.

But Bradford as a whole remains one of the lowest-performing areas nationally for primary school pupils' results in reading, writing and maths.

The percentage of the district's ten and 11-year-olds reaching required standards was the joint fifth worst in England.

Only 47 per cent of pupils attain the level, tying the authority with Calderdale, Birmingham, Halton and Oldham.

But a new curriculum and methods of measuring children's progress at Key Stage Two mean this year's figures cannot be compared to previous years.

In the past, the Department for Education's data has shown as a main measure the proportion of pupils at each primary school achieving Level 4 – the standard expected of 11-year-olds in reading, writing and maths.

However, those levels have been scrapped and students now receive a scaled score in each of the three areas.

Pupils are expected to reach a new standard based on the scores in each subject, with a higher standard than the old Level 4.

Schools also receive progress scores for each of the areas, based on pupil progress between the ages of seven and 11.

Among those performing well locally was East Morton Primary, where 77 per cent of pupils attained the required standards.

Headteacher, Mrs Katie Savage, said: "Staff, governors and parents are incredibly proud of the achievements of our children.

"It has been a pleasure to see our school grow from strength to strength each year as we have worked together to develop an innovative curriculum, which is broad, balanced and caters for the individual needs of each and every one of our children."

At Stanbury Village School, 67 per cent of pupils achieved required standards and there was excellent progress across all three areas.

"I'm very pleased with the results and how the children performed," said headteacher, Graham Swinbourne.

"It's as a result of dedicated hard work by the teachers and a reflection of our exciting curriculum.

"The way we assess the children and spend time gaining feedback has worked extremely well."

In the South Craven area, Lothersdale Primary was among the top performers, with a score of 79 per cent.

Headteacher, Mrs Jo Robinson, said: "Our results are all down to the hard work and effort of the children and the commitment of the whole staff team to make learning at the school constantly challenging and enjoyable."

Councillor Imran Khan, Bradford Council's executive member for education, said the authority's performance was improving.

"The figures show we are ranked 139th out of 152 local education authorities – this is an improvement on last year but we of course know we have much more to do," he added.

"There are encouraging signs but we all want to accelerate improvement.

"We are pleased to see that the proportion of 11-year-old pupils in Bradford reaching the expected standard in writing is in line with the national average.

"Despite the more challenging KS2 tests this year, Bradford primary schools are narrowing the gap with the national average.

"We have set the target for the performance of our pupils to match or better the national average and are working together with all Bradford schools and the Regional Schools Commissioner to achieve this."

Conservative group education spokesman Councillor Debbie Davies said: "I think this is a much better way of measuring how a school is doing. Schools will have to be aware it is not just about results any more, it is about how much pupils improve."