Many headteachers across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin don’t like school performance tables, writes education correspondent Dave Morris.

I’m sure they are nodding their heads in agreement with comments from Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers.

I certainly am.

Commenting on the publication today of the results of tests for 11-year-olds, known as SATs, Ms Blower praised “around a quarter” of primary schools in England which refused to carry out the tests.

She said: “Thanks to their unity, the actions of over 4,000 schools will be sufficient to render this year’s league tables an irrelevance.

“League tables are the core problem, as is the publication of material leading to league tables.

“They cannot provide a true reflection of all that schools do.”

Ms Blower said parents are more interested in their children’s happiness, security and progress across the curriculum than they are in the results of the “deeply flawed” SATs.

Teachers, she added, know from their own assessment that a minority of children need intensive support such as one-to-one tuition; they don’t need irrelevant tests to tell them that.

I’ve been saying that for a long time.

Also I’ve previously welcomed the inclusion in GCSE tables of what are known as contextual value added indicators, which show the progress a student has made during their time in secondary education.

Unfortunately you have to look for these. All you really see are the headline indicators, for example the percentage of young people in a school gaining five or more top grades, including English and maths.

What you will not know is the joy among teachers that a particular pupil, who at one time was never expected to get a single qualification, has through their time and encouragement, achieved a GCSE grade.

It might be the lowest grade but it was still something to be celebrated.

What you will also not be aware of is the joy in that young person’s family. It could well be the first time that anyone in the family has made such a breakthrough.

Education Secretary Michael Gove last month announced the SATs would proceed as normal next year

But he also accepts there are flaws in the testing system and is committed to reviewing it.

I for one hope he is brave enough to give us a system which truly reflects the tremendous work taking place in schools across both of Shropshire’s education areas.