ALL youngsters in Halstead are leaving primary school with good levels of reading, writing and maths abilities, new figures show.

Every primary school in the town and surrounding villages is hitting the Government target of having at least 65 per cent achieving level four in all three areas.

St Andrew’s in Halstead, St Andrew’s in Great Yeldham and Ridgewell schools came top of the class, each with 90 per cent of pupils achieving level four in reading, writing and maths.

St Margaret’s School in Toppesfield made the best progress since 2014, achieving results 25 per cent up on last year, with 86 per cent of pupils making the grade.

St Andrew’s, in Mathews Close, has an extra reason to celebrate, after it improved its Key Stage 2 results by 30 per cent in the last two years.

Bridgette Gough, headteacher, said: “We were at 60 per cent in 2013, 75 per cent in 2014 and now 90.

“Success is always a result of good teaching and learning, and the school has had improvement as its top priority for the past two years.

“We’ve established a fantastic team and our pupils have totally been receptive to the challenge.”

She added: “It can only be good for the community if children are doing well in Halstead.” Kim Hall, headteacher at St Margaret’s in Church Lane, Toppesfield, said: “We have put a real focus on looking at the needs of individual children, because a lot of children come to us midway through their schooling.

“I’ve got a whole new teaching team and an outstanding Year Five and Six teacher who is just amazing.

“The atmosphere in the school is just buzzing.”

The school has also been rated good by a representative of the Chelmsford Diocese during a recent Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (Siams).

Referring to Halstead’s overall success, she said: “It’s superb because these children get one chance and we are that one chance.

“We have to make sure we are doing the