Michael Gove's Visit to Freemantle Academy

The Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, visited Freemantle Academy this morning, to officially open the school's brand new Junior School building.


Mr Gove met with the head, teachers, governors and pupils and heard about the fantastic work going on at the school. 


Freemantle was the city's first primary school to convert to Academy status and is taking full advantage of the extra freedoms that comes with it, makes changes to term times, its curriculum and expanding from infant to primary. 


It was a great opportunity for the school to show case its achievements to government and everyone had a great time!


It was also good to be able to share the good work being done more widely in education in the city.


In last year the city's schools have gone from strength to strength. Key Stage 2 and 4 improvements outstripped the national average. The majority of our schools are now rated as 'Good' or 'Outstanding' and we now have 14 headteachers recognised as either National or Local Leaders in Education. 


The City Council is developing a Learning Master Plan for Southampton and working with local schools, colleges and the two universities. We have already achieved a great deal working together; the new City College Studio School, a university scholarship scheme and student bus pass scheme to help young people to get to college. 


We are working with all schools in the city, have supported a number of schools in their conversion to  Academy status and assisted two local community organisations in their bids to open new Free Schools.

Talking About The Government's Education Reforms

Good Luck Freemantle Academy

On Friday, Freemantle School officially became an Academy. This is fantastic news for the school and I have every confidence that with its new status and freedoms Freemantle will go from strength to strength.

It was great to join governors and teachers on Friday evening to celebrate the school's success and toast its bright future.

£35m Boost for Southampton's Academies

Fantastic news! We have heard this afternoon that the new Coalition government has signed off the £35m for the rebuild of Southampton's two city academies.

Funding for the schools had been on hold because of a government review being undertaken of capital funding for schools across the country.

Building work for the Oasis Academy Mayfield starts in October and Lord's Hill Academy construction starts in January 2011.

Fighting for our local Schools

How the new Lord's Hill Academy might look

Local Conservative Councillors yesterday announced that £13m of local council capital funding previously earmarked for Southampton's Building Schools for Future (BSF) programme would be protected.

This money will be combined with the new national national funding that we hope Southampton will receive when the government announces its replacement capital programme for schools.

The money will help to ensure that the city meets future demands for school places and that all Southampton's schools are brought up to a decent state of repair.

As well as lobbying for new government money and fighting to retain the £35m that local Conservatives secured for the city's two academies, we are pressing government to refund the £2.4m in aborted costs that the city council has incurred in preparing for the BSF scheme.

It is shameful that in these difficult economic times, when public sector funding is extremely tight, that local Labour Councillors are maintaining their opposition to the city's two academies and the additional funds to improve the schools, preferring for ideological reasons to see them split across two sites in out of date buildings.

Labour Should Stop Undermining the City's Schools and Colleges

Southampton's Labour Party seem determined to undermine the city's schools and colleges.

In direct oppostion to their national party position they are anti the city's two new academies. They would send back the £35m secured by Conservatives on the city council to rebuild these schools. They did everything they could to make life difficult for the two academies in their first year; yet despite all their negativity the academies have delivered improved GCSE results for local children.

Southampton MP John Denham is directly responsible for the colleges funding fiasco. Mr Denham pulled the plug on millions of pounds of funding to improve Taunton's, City College and Itchen College. The Government is still refusing to refund the money that the colleges spent on preparing for the promised rebuilds. This is money that should be returned to the colleges so that they can spend it on improving the education of local young people.

Now Labour Councillors are trying to block Bitterne Park School from developing a sixth form. This would provide extra choice for students in Southampton and would help cater for the increasing numbers staying on to study post sixteen. Bitterne Park has been awarded £6m for new sixth form facilities and has received the backing of Conservative Councillors. Yet Labour are doing all they can to put obstacles in the way of the school.

Academy Launch

Southampton's 2 new city academies are now officially open!

Last Wednesday I met with Lord Adonis, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools at the first day of school at the Mayfield Academy in Sholing. I had a chance to chat with year 7 seven pupils and with head teacher, Ruth Johnson and to see the excellent improvements that have been made to the school; new paint, signs and carpet and of course new school uniforms!

I also had a chance to meet the new head teacher of the Lord's Hill Academy, Ian Golding and talk to him about local issues in Lordswood and Lordshill.

The new schools are off to an excellent start and are set to receive £35m for complete rebuilds in a few years time. On the west of the city this will see the Lords' Hill Academy moved to the 5 Acre Field site.

Green Light for New Learning Campus

Southampton Conservatives are pushing ahead with plans for investment and modernisation of secondary education in the city.

Later this month the Council's Conservative Cabinet are meeting to approve the next steps for the eventual development of 4 new secondary schools in Southampton:

• The Lord's Hill Oasis Academy which is to be built on the 5 acre field site on the northern boundary of the city.
• The Mayfield Oasis Academy which will be developed on the Grove Park School site.
• The relocation of Regents Park Community College to the St Mark’s CE Junior/ former Civil Service Sports Ground site in Freemantle.
• The relocation of the Sholing Technology College to the Itchen College building.

I am delighted that such excellent progress is being made and I am particularly pleased with the work that is going on secure the former Civil Service Sports Ground as school and community playing fields.

Together with Cllr Brian Parnell and Cllr Michael Ball we have represented residents' wishes to protect the Civil Service Sports Ground from housing development and protect one of the last green playing fields in the city centre, and we have sought to secure central government funding (Building Schools for the Future Programme) to build a new school on the St Mark's site to serve the needs of the local community.

In January we will be formally authorising the Council's Director of Resources to take steps to acquire the former Civil Service Sports Association playing fields at the rear of the St Mark’s site from its current owner, Bovis Homes so that it can be developed as a playing field for St Mark’s CE Junior School and Regents Park Community College, and made available for community use.

The Council will work with the governing body of Regents Park Community College, the governing body of St Mark’s CE Junior School and the Board of Education of the Winchester Diocese of the Church of England with the aim of creating a learning campus on the St Mark’s CE Junior School site including both primary and secondary education.

As the newly selected Parliamentary Candidate for Southampton Test, top of my agenda will be pressing government to provide funds for these and other schools in the city.

Southampton Schools: More Of The Same Or Something Better?

Millbrook School and Oaklands School



Woolston School and Grove Park School

On Thursday night I went along to one of the presentation meetings for the bidders for the two new schools due to open in the city following last year's secondary school review.

It was decided last year that 4 schools would close (Oaklands, Millbrook, Grove Park and Woolston).

It was also decided that 2 new schools would open - one on the east of the city on the Grove Park site and one on the west (either on the Oaklands site or a new site called 5 acre field).

All these decisions were taken by the Lib Dems last year when they were running the council. I had some serious reservations about the decisions but we are now where we are.

By law the council has to invite independent organisations to bid for the running of the schools. This includes faith groups, charitable and not for profit groups, private companies etc. The council could have put in its own bid however if it did the decision about who would run the schools would be made independently of the council. By not submitting the bid the council now makes the decision. Personally if it were my choice I would have done exactly the same as I want to see as much choice as possible and want to see some real change in our local schools. I suspect the motivations of the Lib Dems were not quite the same. I would imagine they would have been concerned that if they submitted a council bid that lost this would have serious implications for the remaining Southampton schools as they would conclude that they also would be better off being run independently of the council. Click HERE to to read more about the process.

We heard presentations by the bidders. Here is some information about them and my thoughts.
Click on the titles to read more information about each on the council's website.

United Learning Trust

This group is bidding for an Academy on both the east and the west of the city. It runs 9 other academies in the country and 10 independent schools.

Their unique selling point they say is their track record and their experience of delivering education.

Oasis Community Learning

Oasis is a voluntary sector organisation set up to deliver the government's academies programme. They have 5 academies in the pipeline. Oasis are bidding to run an academy on the east and the west of the city.

Their unique selling point was their passion and having listened to the presentation by Steve Chalke of Oasis I have no doubt that they are full of energy and ideas.

Southampton Education Trust

This is a group of public sector organisations, local businesses (including VT) and voluntary groups headed up by Southampton Solent University. This would would be a trust and it would pick the governors of the new school(s). The school in the west would specialise in arts and science (with a focus on health).

Their unique selling point was that they are local.

How they came across

The two academies produced by far the most dynamic and interesting presentations. ULT seem to have huge experience and they run two well known local independent schools (Embley Park and The Atherley). Oasis had boundless energy and enthusiasm. Southampton Education Trust came across a bit woolly and their presentation was quite tedious. They really struck me as offering more of the same whereas the two academies had something new and exciting. I feel that if we are going to radically improve exam results in Southampton (which are well below Hampshire and the national level) we need new ideas.


Trusts vs Academies

There is one very important difference between the two and it's a difference which should have a huge bearing on the person who makes the eventual decision as to which bidder to select.

An academy brings with it the immediate guarantee of government funding for the building of a new school (£20m-£30m). A trust doesn't. A trust can bid for government money from its Building Schools for the Future (BSF) pot which is available in 2010. However there is no guarantee that a bid will be successful. Government is keen on academies and that's where it is putting the money. So if the council opts for 2 academies it gets £40m - £60m for education in the city. That's pretty much a no brainer for me. Also I would like Regents Park Community College and St Marks Junior schools to be bidding for BSF money for new schools on the St Marks site. The more schools bidding in Southampton the less likely they are to all be successful.


Who makes the decision?

The decision will be taken on 2nd July and the decision maker will be the political party that takes control of the council on Wednesday. So there is a lot at stake on Wednesday!