"We have to fund public services so teachers are free to teach"

Headteachers say investment in local communities in the North East, not just schools, is what's needed to help kids achieve.

It's as the Education Secretary, Damian Hinds, pledged an investment of £24 million over three years to improve outcomes for young people in the North East of England.

The region has some of the best performing primary schools in the country but this is often not translated into secondary school performance.

The investment will look to bridge the gap between primary and secondary, and tackle the issues holding young people back by:

• Boosting career training for new teachers to help improve the quality of teaching and raise standards, particularly in the region’s secondary schools;

• Encouraging schools to work together and offering more support to drive up education standards;

• Working with secondary schools and colleges to encourage young people to consider university, degree apprenticeships and other high quality technical education options; and

• Partnering with local businesses to boost job prospects for young people across the region

ENGLAND’S largest regional schools network has today welcomed the Government’s decision to invest £24m to improve school outcomes in the North East.

SCHOOLS NorthEast, a network for 1,250 schools across the region, said the investment had the potential to be transformative, as long as it focuses on the areas of greatest need.

The programme, called Opportunity North East, is the first time the Department for Education has implemented a regionwide initiative of this kind, having previously announced a £72m improvement initiative to create 12 Opportunity Areas.

Mike Parker, director of SCHOOLS NorthEast, said:

“This is a great first step to changing outcomes for children across the North East of England. Developing this as a regionwide initiative is an intelligent move and the Department for Education needs to use all the regional structures to ensure it is a success.”

The charity – created and governed by serving North East Head Teachers – has outlined three steps that will ensure the initiative is a resounding success:

1. Truly understanding the problem – The issue in the North East, as with other areas that have deep deprivation and predominantly white, disadvantaged communities, runs deeper than what happens in school. Professor Stephen Gorard of Durham University, who studied evidence on 1.8 million pupilsfound that “The most important factor that determines school test and exam results is not the quality of teaching or leadership but who they teach, the proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged through poverty, family circumstances or special educational needs and most crucially the length of time they have been disadvantaged."

2. Improving school standards –the initiative needs to be highly focused on the drivers that really make the difference in school – high quality leadership; strong, motivated teachers who are supported by evidence-based CPD.

3. Environments around schools –schools can only achieve so much on their own. The environment around schools is essential in freeing up schools to focus on the thing they are best at – teaching children. Statutory services have to be more responsive and engaged with schools and parental engagement at all levels is crucial in supporting children to succeed at schools. We must ensure that schools get as much support as possible from the wider community to make the most of this unique opportunity.

Mike Parker continued:

“We have to stop expecting schools to be the parent, the police, the nurse or the social worker and to plug the gaps that our public services are providing. Free them up to teach and they will be all the stronger for it.

“This is an opportunity for our entire region to equip our children with the bright and fulfilling future that they deserve."