Some of the schools that have been called failing and which have been told they might be closed have now been told that they will get very little money to help them recover.
£400m was set up for the 631 schools that didn’t get 30% of pupils through five GCSE’s with A star to C including English and maths, and some have received none so far. Some will only get a few thousand pounds.
Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats through a parliamentary question reveal that under the programme one school, Robert Napier in Medway, got £5,000. Another 21 got £8,000 and 75 less than £25,000 – about enough for one extra classroom teacher. The average extra is £87,000, the highest being £352,000 for the
While the government says each school is evaluated by its needs, heads are saying that a school threatened with closure cannot be turned around for smallish sums of money. Worse many schools say that since they have been named by the government they have lost pupils – and thus lost more money. But since schools spend 75% of their income on salaries outgoings remain the same.
Liam Nolan, headteacher of Perry Beeches in
A DCSF spokesperson said: “A high proportion [of named schools] are already making good progress and do not require as much funding and support as others in more challenging circumstances.
“But the support goes much further than simply giving additional funding. In each case we have built a ‘team around the school’ to get behind schools’ efforts. Schools that we and the local authority have identified with the greatest needs are receiving more intensive support.”
A list of the schools selected by amount of the award is avialble from Hamilton House. Please call 01536 399 000