A DECISION to close down the local high school has not deterred flourishing education standards in Parr, according to the end-of-year SATs results at two schools in the area.

National exam results at Broad Oak Primary School and the threatened Parr High School show that the standards of education have improved dramatically over the past year. Year 6 pupils at Broad Oak Primary School improved on their Level 4 exam results with 77 per cent of pupils gaining level 2 in English, an increase of 16 per cent on last year and 85 per cent of pupils achieving level 2 in science compared to 79 per cent last year.

Chair of governors, Terry Shields said: "I would like to thank headteacher Helen Smith, the management team and the staff at the school for all the hard work they have put in in such a short period of time. This will surely benefit the parents of Parr and Derbyshire Hill."

And results at Parr High have also improved significantly, in spite of plans to close the school. The percentage of Year 9 pupils achieving level 5 in English and maths has increased on average by 10 per cent since last year, with an impressive increase from 31 per cent to 44 per cent of pupils achieving level 5 in science.

Terry continued: "This is proof that the new management system is working and goes to show that with the hard work and dedication of the management team we can achieve good results and get things done."

And support for Parr continues to grow following last week's plea in the Star for members of the public to send their objections to the council. But the S.O.S Committee is urging even more people to voice their support.

You can write to them at Parr Community High School, email them at saveourschool@aol.com or fax them on 01744 756693.