article: David Cameron was upstaged by a six-year-old school girl today after trying to unveil a new Tory education policy. The Prime Minister visited a primary school near Bolton to unveil the party's latest proposal to improve education standards, after announcing that under a future Tory government children who achieve poor SATs results will be forced to resit them in secondary school. As Mr Cameron tried to help school pupil Lucy Howarth read a story about 'Prince Ronald' the youngster pulled a series of funny faces before resting her head on the table after struggling with a tricky passage. Scroll down for video . David Cameron helps with a reading lesson with pupils Lucy Howarth, 6, and Will Spibey, 5, left, during a visit to Sacred Heart RC primary school in Westhoughton near Bolton today . The PM wants to see children who get poor Sats results  forced to resit them in secondary school . The Prime Minister shared a joke  with six-year-old Lucy at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School near Bolton . The Prime Minister appeared completely taken with the youngster who showed no signs of being fazed by his attendance. Mr Cameron had planned to use the classroom visit to unveil his plan, which he said was intended to inject 'more rigour and zero tolerance of failure and mediocrity' in schools. The resit plan would mean 100,000 pupils taking a new test in English and maths during their first year after leaving primary school. The proposal would be implemented next year and is aimed at making sure that pupils have not already fallen too far behind at the beginning of secondary school. Pupils who did not get good grades in the Sats tests taken by 11-year-olds in primary school would have to retake a test during their first year after moving up to secondary school. In last year's tests, 79 per cent of pupils achieved the expected grades in reading, writing and maths. The Tories claim that, too often, pupils who have slipped behind by this stage never catch up. Among those who fail to make the grade at the age of 11, they say only 7% go on to get five good GCSEs, including English and maths. Children would be forced to retake a test in maths and English, marked by teachers rather than external examiners. There could be up to two retakes, in the spring or summer terms, and the number of pupils who had failed the retakes would be published as part of the league table data. The PM made the announcement in Lancashire today with the Education Secretary Nicky Morgan (centre) Mr Cameron  chatted with  pupils outside at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School near Bolton . Pupils with special needs would not have to take the resits. Mr Cameron said: 'There is no job that doesn't require English and maths, and this is about making sure every child gets the best start in life and that our country can compete in the world.' Education Secretary Nicky Morgan added: 'We know that the biggest predictor of success at GCSE is whether young people have mastered the basics at age 11. That means if we fail to get it right for young people at the start of secondary school they'll struggle for the rest of their time in education.' Labour's shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt dismissed the proposal as 'desperate' Labour's shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said dismissed the announcement as a 'a desperate attempt by the Tories to try to overshadow their failures on school standards'. Mr Hunt said: 'On their watch, 1.6 million pupils are being educated in schools that are rated lower than 'good' by Ofsted. And as a result of David Cameron's unqualified teachers policy, more than 400,000 pupils are being taught by unqualified teachers. 'Labour has a better plan for education. We will ensure that every teacher is qualified or working towards qualified teacher status and introduce a new master teacher status to raise the standing of the profession. That is how we improve education for every child, in every classroom,' he said. The Lib Dem Schools Minister David Laws said the Tories had 'no credibility' on education because of their planned spending cuts after the election. He said: ' You simply can't improve schools by starving them of resources and burdening them with the bureaucracy of additional testing. 'The way to make sure every child starts secondary school achieving a good level of Maths and English is to invest in their early years and primary education, recruiting great teachers and getting extra support to the children who most need it. 'That's why we need to protect the education budget, in real terms, including schools, nurseries and colleges. 'The Tories are trying to paper over the cracks in their scorched earth education plans that would undo the progress of the last five years.' Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders union, warned the tests could become a bureaucratic nightmare. He said: 'It is important that the results of these tests are diagnostic and used to support the work of the teachers and do not become yet another performance indicator on which to measure schools.'
highlights: Six-year-old Lucy Howarth completely unfazed by the Prime Minister .
  Youngster pulled a series of faces as Mr Cameron tried to read to her class .
  He had visited primary school in Bolton to unveil new Tory schools policy .
  Pupils who get poor SATs will be forced to resit them in secondary school .
  PM said he wanted  'more rigour and zero tolerance of failure' in schools .
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