CALLS are being made for Redditch to become an education achievement zone following the release of school performance tables for 11 year olds, writes Julian Seva.

Redditch MP and Minister for School Standards Jacqui Smith is calling on Worcestershire County Council to plough special funding into the town to improve performances.

Last week, Key Stage Two performance results showed that more Redditch schools than not were failing to meet the Level 4 county average for tests in maths, English and science.

The call for cash comes after some areas of Worcester and Kidderminster were awarded the special achievement zone status offering them extra funding for numeracy and literacy support and for special activities programmes.

The initiatives were set up to target deprived areas after the county's bid for Government "education action zone status" failed.

Worcestershire education authority ranks 32nd out of 34 English counties for primary education funding.

Ms Smith said: I think the results show hard work from pupils and teachers but they also show we do have room for improvement.

But what's important is not just the raw results but how they have improved over the year.

I, along with headteachers, have asked the county council to concentrate more resources in Redditch to help improve the results.

We should have extra investment as an education achievement zone.

One school which excelled was Meadow View Primary School in Wythall which, although slightly down on last year, showed consistently good results in all three subjects, placing it 17th in the county.

Headteacher Sue Watkins said: We're very pleased about the results but these league tables are not the be all and end all. We have lots of other things going on in school as well.

The results are only one indicator and at the moment the country is obsessed with league tables.

Conservative county councillor Tom Wareing said league tables should be treated with caution and added: They do not measure a well disciplined, caring school, neither do they measure a well-managed school.

Parents would be well advised to treat league tables with caution.