The Sentinel

£1.67M PLAN TO BOOST EDUCATION

City will share expertise with its ‘twin’

- Kathie Mcinnes katherine.mcinnes@reachplc.com

STOKE-ON-TRENT is to be twinned with another part of the country to help raise education standards.

The work will be overseen by the city’s ‘opportunit­y area’ (OA) programme, which has been awarded £1.67 million by the Government for 2020/21.

This cash is also set to go towards a range of other projects, including catch-up work for pupils who have missed vital learning during lockdown.

Details of which town or city will be Stoke-on-trent’s twinning partner have yet to be revealed. But it will be somewhere facing ‘similar challenges’ that can share ideas and find out what has worked in the Potteries.

It’s not clear at this stage if pupils and teachers could also be going on exchange trips to schools in the partner area.

Education minister Michelle Donelan said the twinning was aimed at ‘spreading expertise’.

And she singled out the work of the ‘Ay Up Duck’ project run by the Hubb Foundation for particular praise. In the last two years, the team of volunteers have delivered thousands of meals and put on holiday activities for children across the city.

Ms Donelan said a key focus for OAS next year would be supporting local recovery plans for Covid-19.

She added: “Around the country, the response to the pandemic has been heroic, and each of the 12 opportunit­y areas has co-ordinated its approach to help those who need it most respond to immediate challenges.”

In Stoke-on-trent, steps will include putting in extra support for GCSE pupils and those in their first year of post-16 education.

Councillor Janine Bridges, cabinet member for education at Stoke-on-trent City Council, said: “These schemes will focus on those young people who are not in the target group for the national tutoring programme, but whose progress has been affected by the coronaviru­s pandemic

“They will also help Year 11 pupils to make a smoother transition to Year 12, bridging any gaps that may have occurred in their learning during the crisis.

“The support and resources will mainly be delivered online, and schools will be offered continued profession­al developmen­t opportunit­ies.

“Additional­ly, plans are also being put into place to offer Year 7s targeted support.”

Stoke-on-trent was awarded opportunit­y area status three years ago as it was identified as a social mobility ‘cold spot’ where disadvanta­ged pupils were falling behind.

The aim was to try out different approaches to raise achievemen­t. Priorities have included early speech and language skills; improving maths, English and science; and helping teenagers with their career prospects.

The latest funding will enable several successful projects to continue, including:

■ Work with a maths hub to explore new teaching approaches across key stages two and three;

■ Bringing the wonders of science to life in primary schools;

■ Exploring new ways to motivate teenagers who resit GCSE maths and English;

■ Supporting school holiday activities, such as sport and crafts.

And as The Sentinel revealed this month, the city’s OA is also funding the start-up costs for several alternativ­e provision hubs at high schools. These will cater for those pupils who have behavioura­l issues and need a different type of curriculum.

 ??  ?? SUCCESSFUL: A Hubb Foundation holiday activity session last year.
SUCCESSFUL: A Hubb Foundation holiday activity session last year.

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