FIFTY-THREE high-performing or improving primary schools have had their achievements recognised at the first ever Raising the Bar Awards.

The schools, from across Suffolk, have either shown consistently high performance or have shown significant recent improvement.

The schools’ headteachers were presented with the awards by Joe Hallgarten, director of education at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, which is leading Raising the Bar, Suffolk’s independent commission on educational standards and aspiration.

The awards were presented at Kesgrave Community Centre on Thursday.

One school that falls into the “significant recent improvement” category is Dale Hall Primary in north Ipswich. Headteacher Alison Beckett said the session had been a great opportunity to exchange ideas with fellow heads and some useful methods and theories had been discussed.

She said: “We were invited to the event to talk about the improvements we have been making and what we are doing in our school.

“It was really useful to hear about what other leaders are doing at their schools.

“It’s a difficult job to continue improving year after year after year but as long as you are doing your very best for every child, that’s the best you can do.”

The 53 high-performing or significantly improving schools also included Birchwood Primary School and Clare Primary, where 100% of children achieved a SATS level 4 or above in reading and maths.

Speaking after the awards, Graham Newman, Suffolk County Council’s head of education, said: “Creative, dedicated and professional leadership and teaching is key to the success of any school.

“This is also at the heart of the Raising the Bar programme. Children at these schools have achieved significant results, some despite difficult social and economic conditions, and deserve every bit of praise they receive. I hope that these awards will help to highlight the successful approaches that are being taken in our schools so that improvements can be made across the county.”