Council invests for change with education review
Warwickshire County Council is to consult with the local community on proposals to raise educational attainment and transform secondary provision in the Nuneaton and Bedworth area.
Warwickshire County Council unveiled its education investment strategy at a cabinet meeting on Thursday (May 22). The local authority is responding to an opportunity through the DCSF’s Building Schools for the Future and Academies programmes to bid for more than £150 million of investment in education in Nuneaton and Bedworth.
The review of secondary provision in the area, ‘Raising the Bar – Narrowing the Gap’, has been driven by the council’s commitment to raise levels of educational attainment. The review wants to address other significant challenges facing schools in the area, including the condition of school buildings, the fall in pupil numbers and the consequent increase in surplus places.
Although school standards in Nuneaton and Bedworth have significantly improved in recent years, attainment levels are still below that of other parts of Warwickshire and the country as a whole. In 2007, 48 per cent of pupils in Nuneaton and Bedworth achieved 5 A*-C GCSE grades compared to 62 per cent nationally.
The council believes that although the gap is narrowing, the current pattern of education does not have the capacity to make the necessary progress. The local authority’s ambition is to invest in schools in areas facing the most challenging circumstances.
The local authority is also concerned by the condition of school buildings in the area and wants to ensure that all secondary students, their families and the wider community have access to high quality learning facilities and services. The Government’s Building Schools for the Future and Academies programmes are currently giving local authorities the opportunity to secure significant capital investment.
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families, said: “If we seize this unique opportunity of Government funding we can invest in the education of future generations of children, while making real changes and transforming our communities.”
‘Raising the Bar – Narrowing the Gap’ is a consultation document which sets out a number of possibilities on which the council would welcome comment and discussion on. The proposed options include redevelopment of six of the nine secondary schools in Nuneaton, Bedworth and Hartshill and a proposal to move three schools in central Nuneaton to two sites.
The consultation will be held over the remainder of the summer term and responses will be reported back to cabinet on July 3.