A TEACHER has been hailed "the best thing to happen" to a school named among the best in the country.

St Joseph's RC Primary School, Hurst Green near Clitheroe, has been ranked joint first in the government's Key Stage 2 league tables released today.

The tables measure progress pupils have made since taking tests four years ago and are intended to allow fairer comparisons between schools with different pupil intakes.

And the performance of 11-year-olds at St Joseph's in maths, English and science earned an overall value added score of 103.6 and the elusive Number One spot.

The government's benchmark score is 100, with fluctuations either side meaning a school is deemed above or below average.

Delighted headteacher Linda Wilkinson described the achievement as "incredible" and was in no doubt where the main credit lay. She said: "In Colin Crabtree we have a fantastic key Stage Two teacher who has the ability to make the pupils believe in themselves, not just academically but in all aspects at the school. He has been here only three years and is the best thing that ever happened to us."

In June, Mr Crabtree was named North West Teacher of The Year in the government-endorsed Teaching Awards but he insisted the success was down to teamwork and "a happy ethos".

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans commented: "I am delighted at the success of St Joseph's School. I am also pleased that as a whole ,Lancashire schools are doing better than the national average but more needs to be done to raise standards in Ribble Valley."

Also in the top 100 was St James-the-less RC Primary School, Rawtenstall, ranked 27th. Headteacher Alan Mooney said its first appearance in the list was down to "sheer hard work" from everyone associated with the school.

Other successes include St Andrew's CE Primary School, Oswaldtwistle, ranked 70th among the 100 most improving schools at Key Stage 2

Nationally, results were better than last year in 53 per cent of schools, but worse in 45 per cent.

In 229 schools out of more than 13,500 all the final-year pupils reached the standard the government expects. They achieved the maximum score in English, maths and science. Lowest score in the rest was 57. Averages in different areas ranged from 267 to 209.