A primary school has become one of the best performing in the area - four years after the school received a concerning Ofsted report.

Head teacher Karen Cohen has praised the hard work done by everyone involved at Clore Shalom in Shenley, with SATS exam results jumping nearly 30 per cent in the last two years.

The currently unvalidated results, which come from the SATS papers undertaken by pupils at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2 in July, shows that 80 per cent of children leaving the school at the end of year six in 2019 are achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to just 52 per cent of those leaving the school in 2017.

This compares to a 2019 national average of 65 per cent and a Hertfordshire average of 67 per cent.

Key Stage 2 highlights include 93 per cent achieving the expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling in 2019, against a national average of 78 per cent - a rise from the school’s 2017 results of 76 per cent.

Clore Shalom was judged as to be ‘requiring improvement’ by Ofsted in its 2015 inspection, which led to a period of change, with a new head teacher Karen Cohen and deputy head Ben Conway joining midway through the 2016/17 academic year.

Hannah Martin then joined as assistant head in September 2017, along with additional members of the senior leadership team and a new chair of governors.

Clore Shalom head teacher, Karen Cohen, says: “It has been a tough couple of years, but these results are testament to the hard work that has been put in by the entire teaching staff and the pupils themselves.

"To be achieving standards that are so significantly higher than the national and county averages, places us as one of the best performing primary schools in the area."

Mr Conway will be taking up a headship at Shephalbury Park Primary School, Stevenage, from September. Hannah Martin will be the new deputy head, while Sophie Goldsmith will be promoted to assistant head.