SCHOOL league tables have come in for fierce criticism from headteachers across the region.

As the primary school performance tables are published today, heads once again attack the figures for lowering staff morale and not taking into account children's progress.

The comments come from headteachers at some of the region's best performing schools, as well as the acting head of a school in North Yorkshire which had its maths Standard Assessment Test (SAT) results annulled.

Yvonne Lloyd, headteacher of Kirklevington Primary, near Yarm, Teesside - one of the region's top performing schools - said she knew of parents who had taken their children out of schools with poor league table results.

"We know all the schools in our cluster are very similar and all the staff work equally hard," she said.

"The figures do not take into account the number of pupils. One child at my school represents five per cent of the mark. If I have two off, even if the others all attain level four in their tests, the highest we can achieve is 90 per cent.

"At a school with a lot more children you can have four children off, but it will only represent two per cent".

John Heron, head of West Pelton Primary, near Stanley, one of the most improved schools in County Durham, said: "The Government expects year-on-year improvement but how can that be when you have different abilities every year?

"We believe in nourishing children. We don't want robots, we want thinking children with their own ideas."

And Jon Sykes, headteacher of Leeming Bar CoE Primary, in North Yorkshire, which has leapt from 118th position to seventh, said: "Obviously we have had a good year, but it's like a football team - you're not always going to remain at the top of the Premiership."

In October, Dave Scott resigned from his post as headteacher of Kirkby and Great Broughton Primary, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire, amid allegations of irregularities concerning pupils' SATs.

Last night, the school's acting head, Bob Wallace, said the results were not verified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority due to "circumstances beyond our control" and therefore the nought per cent awarded did not reflect the standards achieved.

He said: "In any case, the league tables only represent one part of a school's achievements, as they measure only how pupils perform in English, maths and science.

"They do not show how much progress pupils make throughout the curriculum, or how a school meets the personal, social, educational and spiritual needs of all pupils."

The comments came as schools watchdog Ofsted warned that the teacher recruitment crisis was taking up headteachers' attention away from their literacy strategies.

But a Department for Education and Employment spokeswoman said: ''There is no evidence that teacher shortages have had an impact on this year's results overall."