Star comment: Primary school league tables good news for Shropshire

That is in line with past tables and probably broadly chimes with the preconceptions of many Salopians.

It reflects the hard work being done in our schools by staff and children, and to some extent reflects the sort of county this is – largely rural and largely without the intense urban deprivation and problems which afflict the tough inner cities.

Now we come to the puzzling part. At the end of November Ofsted released a report which said that primary schools in Telford & Wrekin were among the worst in the country, coming in at 146th in a league table of 150 councils.

And Shropshire? That also came in the bottom 25. It was 128th. The general picture was that in the two councils which encompass the geographical county of Shropshire, children were being given an inadequate education.

They say a week is a long time in politics, but these latest results would indicate that in an environment in which there are a lot of statistics and a lot of yardsticks from which you can pick and choose, you can choose those that you like best to prove almost anything you like.

Primary school education in Shropshire cannot be rubbish one week and okay or good in key areas a little over a fortnight later.

There may be an underlying lesson here about the value of league tables. They tell you something about something but nothing about everything and when assessing our primary schools good old parental gut feeling and anecdotal evidence may be just as useful.