EVELYN Street Primary in Sankey Bridges has been declared one of the top state primary schools in England by The Sunday Times.

The school - part of Warrington Primary Academy Trust (WPAT) - was placed third in a table of the 250 best performing primaries in England, compiled for the newspaper’s annual Parent Power guide to good schools, published at the weekend.

Evelyn Street Primary’s position was 16 places higher than last year’s table and was based on the school’s 2018 SATs results.

Schools in London and the south east made up the rest of the top five, with Mayflower Primary School in East London in the number one spot.

Jenny Hindley, headteacher of Evelyn Street Primary, said she was delighted with the accolade.

She said: “It’s a fantastic achievement which is down to our amazing staff who always go above and beyond for our children.

"They deserve this recognition.

“The results are based on our 2018 SATs but it’s not all about tests and academic outcomes.

"For us our success comes from our children buying into their education because of the community we have created.

If that didn’t happen then we wouldn’t have these results.”

“We focus on trying to give every child a first-class education and being part of Warrington Primary Academy Trust for the past three years, working together with other schools across the town, has enabled us to build on those ambitions.”

Louise Smith, CEO of Warrington Primary Academy Trust, added: “This is a marvellous achievement and testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff at Evelyn Street Primary. Everyone in the WPAT community of schools is very proud of what they’ve achieved.”

WPAT is a community of more than 1,900 children aged 2 to 11 in six primary schools and a teaching school, employing the equivalent of over 200 full time staff.

The trust was formed in 2016 and has quickly developed a national reputation for its excellent standards.

WPAT provides its schools with a range of benefits – schools get the support, expertise and professional development from staff from across the trust so that they can provide the best education standards for their children.

Trust schools also make their budgets go further by using WPAT’s ‘back office’ functions such as payroll, procurement and the management of school buildings and facilities.