The headteacher of a primary school has hit back at claims that the high results of Bermuda's TerraNova tests for six-year-olds were due to cheating and cajoling by teachers.

Mary Lodge, who has been the principal of St. George's Prep School for three years, said the claims by some anonymous teachers in yesterday's Bermuda Sun had "besmirched" the reputation of teachers.

They teachers alleged that claims by Education Minister Senator Milton Scott that the recent testing of primary two classes had shown pupils in Bermuda to be above the American average were fluke.

It said three long-standing primary school teachers had claimed that students had been "coached", "prodded" and "cajoled" into passing the exam by "whatever means possible".

They said the education ministry had pressured the teachers into making sure their pupils fared well.

However, Mrs. Lodge called both the Education Ministry and members of the media yesterday to say she wanted to put a different side across.

She said: "I feel really very indignant. I feel as though my teachers have been besmirched. They are very professional and most assuredly did not cheat.

"The children deserved the results they got. It's very unfair that when finally there were results that we could be proud of nationally, they had to belittle the achievement by making out that the teachers had been cheating.

"In the testing situation, we had a script and we had to read it (to the children). You simply cannot make up what you say for the test and you cannot deviate. It even tells you how you should greet the children, it literally says 'good morning children'."

Mrs. Lodge also questioned the professional etiquette of the teachers who accused their colleagues of teaching.

She said: "In many jurisdictions, if a member of the union speaks out to criticise a colleague that would be a huge breach of professional etiquette and would get you removed from the union.

"Both the teachers and the children worked very hard for the test and that should not be taken away from them. There are other principals who feel the same way as me."

Sen. Scott revealed at the weekend that the US average of primary two tests was 1.9.

In Bermuda this summer, students achieved 2.3 in reading, 2.5 in language and 2.1 in math.

Mr. Scott has denied that teachers were placed under undue pressure, but said they had been made aware of the urgency to ensure students performed well.

And he said the grades were not a surprise to him. He said the results were due to smaller class sizes in lower primary school classes and $3 million investment in the primary school system.

Mrs. Lodge said the children were prepared beforehand on testing skills, such as understanding the language that would be used in the questions, understanding what multiple choice questions were, and how to arrive at the most suitable answer.

She added: "It's not easy to give that kind of test to six-year-olds.

"It was arduous for the children to sit the test. They did well to say it was 90 degrees and they had never done a test of that nature before. They did well to their credit."