MORE East Lancashire primary schools than ever are helping pupils reach their full potential, government figures released today show.

Both Blackburn with Darwen Council and Lancashire County Council have both moved up the Department of Education and Skills Key Stage Two tables which measure the progress 11-year-olds have made over the last four years in maths, science and English.

And thanks to the efforts of pupils in Hyndburn, Rossendale, Ribble Valley, Pendle and Burnley, the county council remains above the national average and has moved up one place to 44th out of 150 councils at Key Stage Two level.

Although its pass rates in English dipped two per cent to 79per cent, maths rose by two per cent to 80 and science remained the same as last year mirroring the national average of 87per cent.

Alan Whittaker, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for education, said: "We are going in the right direction and it reflects the investments we and the schools have made.

"I'm always nervous about league tables as they can be a bit predictable, but we have improved and performing above the national average which is a sign we are doing things right."

Blackburn with Darwen Council shot up nine places to 116 after the number of its pupils achieving the government standards in English rose by two per cent to 75, maths two per cent to 74, and science increased by one per cent to 83 per cent.

But the borough remains below the national average when it comes to science, English and maths.

And two Blackburn schools, Shadsworth Junior and St Matthew's CE Primary, find themselves on a government list of shame highlighting the 100 worst performing schools when it comes to value added scores.

The scores are intended to measure the progress pupils have made in the last four years rather than simply recording how many children are reaching the government-set national benchmark for ability at 11.

The government's benchmark score is 100 with fluctuations either side meaning a school is deemed above or below average. Shadsworth pupils managed an average of just 96.1 while St Matthew's CE Primary School fared only slightly better with a 97.2 score.

It marks a bad year for the 267-pupil school where a poor academic performances saw it given a Notice to Improve by Ofsted in August which means it will be re-inspected in 12 months.

Failure to show signs of improvement could see it put into special measures, which carries a threat of closure.

But Holy Souls RC Primary School, Blackburn, was celebrating after its 100 value added score helped it ranked the best primary school in the borough at Key Stage Two.

Deputy headteacher Vivian Baker, responsible for Key Stage Two at the school, said: "This is down to the consistent hard work of everyone involved." And education chiefs in the borough were toasting an overall improvement at its primary schools which saw the local authority move up nine places to 116 out of the 150 UK council areas.

Maureen Bateson, the council's executive member for children's services, said she was particularly pleased with the number of pupils achieving Level Five standard - one above the government benchmark.

She said: "We are extremely proud of our young people's achievements in 2006. It is particularly pleasing that the number of pupils gaining level 5 or above in English went up by seven per cent which is nearly 150 pupils more than last year."

Nationally, 76per cent of 11 year-olds achieved the government target in maths, up a percentage from 2005.

In English it was 79per cent, the same as last year. Science went up a percentage to 87per cent.