Boost to Pupil Premium will mean more funding for local schools

The government’s Pupil Premium to support disadvantaged children will mean a big boost to the funding of local schools. Next year the pupil premium is set to rise to £600 for each Free School Meals eligible pupil.

Taking pupil numbers for January 2011 this means that Freemantle schools will receive the following Pupil Premium next year, over and above their normal school budgets.

Regents Park Community College: £174,600
Banister Infant School: £21,000
Foundry Lane Primary School: £59,400
Freemantle Academy: £25,200
St Mark’s CofE Primary School: £77,400

The Pupil Premium is great news for Southampton Schools and the evidence is that many heads and governors are using this funding to support disadvantaged children, for instance by employing extra teachers.

Funding Boost for Local Children

The Coalition government is keeping its promise to spend more on schools and to target extra funding towards the most deprived parts of the country.

The details of the funding settlement for Southampton schools has now been announced. On average Southampton schools will receive an extra 3.4% in funding in this coming year and this includes more than £2.7m extra in the form of the new Pupil Premium.

The Pupil Premium means that extra funding is targeted to support children who receive Free School Meals and to children whose parents serve in the Armed Forces.

This is fantastic news for Freemantle Ward with many local schools set to benefit from the Pupil Premium:

Banister Infant School + £13,760
Foundry Lane Primary School + £32,650
Freemantle C Of E Infant School + £10,750
St Mark'S C Of E Junior School + £37,840
Regents Park Community College + £80,380

Locally Conservative Councillors are protecting funding for the city’s Sure Start Centres so that, despite the tough financial times we ensure that all these valuable facilities remain assessable for local families.

Well Done Southampton Schools!

Results from Southampton Schools have been superb this year.

At Key Stage One the city is now above the national average, shooting up the local authority league tables.

At GCSE we have had our largest increase in our history at 4.1%, closing the gap significantly with national average.

The improvements reflect the hard work put in by teachers and pupils across the city. In addition the city council has worked with struggling schools, partnering them with good schools and investing in teacher training programmes.

Schools in the west of the city have done particularly well with big improvements in GCSE results:

• Lord’s Hill Academy (+13%)
• Upper Shirley High School (+5%)
• Redbridge Community College (+17%)
• Regents Park Community College (+10%)

Your Views On Regents Park Community College Move

Plans to relocate Regents Park Community College in Regents Park to the St Marks School site in Shirley Road have taken a step forward with the launch of a formal public consultation on the proposed move.

I have been lobbying for money from the government to rebuild the school as part of a new learning campus with the civil service sports ground in Stafford Road serving as playing fields, for the schools and for the local community.

For further information click HERE and select the report labelled: Regents Park Community College: Relocation.

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.