Plans to provide more support to underperforming schools and increase opportunities in areas most in need have been praised by North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson.
On Friday, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds, announced a series of measures aimed at raising education standards and helping young people fulfil their potential.
Over £45 million has been given to the Multi-Academy Trust Development and Improvement Fund, with £30million of this being targeted to around 300 academy trusts in areas facing the greatest challenges across England. The money will go to the multi-academy trusts, organisations who are experts in education and share skills & resources across a group of schools, to help them build their capacity so they can help drive further improvements and raise standards. In Swindon, Trusts like United Learning support Nova Hreod & Swindon Academy, while the White Horse Federation works with schools including Moredon & Rodbourne Cheney Primary School.
In addition to this, 75 largely school-led initiatives will share £25m to help more children from disadvantaged backgrounds, including many to support to help master the basics of reading and maths in primary school. The money will be administered through the Strategic School Improvement Fund, which is worth up to £280million over two years. It targets resources at the schools most in need to improve school performance, support teacher development and drive up pupil attainment.
Figures from Ofsted show that there are around 450,000 children studying in sponsored academies rated good or outstanding which were typically underperforming before. There are also 1.9m more children in good or outstanding schools since 2010, including almost 4,000 more in Swindon. The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has also narrowed in recent years – by 7% at GCSE and 10.5% at KS2 since 2011.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Improving standards in education is vital to helping young people fulfil their potential. I am pleased that the Government is providing this funding, it is very much an investment in young people, ensuring them success in later life. I have brought Ministers to see some of the excellent work our schools are doing, and I know they are keen to share best practice with others.”
