Must Try Harder
EDUCATION Secretary Ed Balls is demanding that swift action is taken to improve five failing Derby primary schools.
The city council is one of just 12 in the country to have been taken to task in a personal letter from the Secretary of State.
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Ed Balls
In it he says the performance of some of Derby's primary schools is causing the Government concern and that an action plan must be drawn up by the end of January to turn things around.
Allenton Community Primary, Boulton Primary, Pear Tree Junior School, Sinfin Primary and Moorhead Primary have all been identified for improvement.
And Mr Balls says that measures such as teaming them up with outstanding schools should be considered.
Four of the schools were earmarked because they have failed to reach the target of 55% or more pupils achieving level four in English and maths for four years running. Moorhead was chosen because it is in special measures.
The letter followed this year's Sats results for 11-year-olds which left the city towards the bottom of the national league tables.
Councillor Les Allen, city council cabinet member for children and young people, said: "We have every confidence that we will quickly reach the point where no Derby school is below the 55% target for four successive years again."
3 Comments
by andy, Derby
Saturday, December 19 2009, 1:04PM
“Its a real shame that this story appears in the Telegraph the day AFTER schools have broken up for the festive period.
Its also a shame that Ed Balls is putting schools in the firing line for not achieving Government set targets, whilst failing to applaud improvements that have been made to schools.
The minister also fails to aknowledge that budgets are being squeezed, and schools are finding it harder to meet targets with the required supply of teachers.
His statement with regard to 'deprivation' not being a contributing factor is also misinformed. If families are struggling to meet the day-to-day demands of household finances, then ensuring their children get to school on time and complete their homework assignment plays a distant second place.
Delipidated buildings and a shortage of central funds to repair also hamper the efforts of the hardworking school management and teachers to ensure that the children have the best environment to learn in. That said, even the newest schools struggle to keep within the budgets as the the recent Lakeside Primary threat of legal action over school meals proves.
Headlining antics like this by Ed Balls do not address the underlying problem of under funding for education.”
by dave, derby
Saturday, December 19 2009, 10:07AM
“labour should try harder but they never do,hypocrits !!”
by Tom, Local
Saturday, December 19 2009, 9:04AM
“Ed Balls is rattling his cage now because of:
1. A looming election.
2. A looming leadership challenge.
He cares as much about state education as I care about private education in places like Nottingham High School, his alma mater.”