Over 1,000 pupils in secondary schools across the county are going to receive extra teaching support next term as a result of a £450,000 cash injection to Cumbria County Council from the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
The money will be targeted on priorities identified by the new Joint Performance Improvement Board - a collaboration between Cumbria County Council, the Government, local headteachers, business leaders and education experts - which has been formed to drive school performance in the county.
£210,000 of the funding will be used to raise attainment for targeted Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils in all 42 of Cumbria County Council's secondary schools. This means every school will receive £5,000 to concentrate on helping pupils who are currently underperforming to maximise their potential.
Another £200,000 is to be used for leadership and management support for the county's five secondary schools currently in Special Measures (Morton School, Thorncliffe School, Alfred Barrow School, Ulverston Victoria High School and Millom School) plus extra support for the executive heads at North Cumbria Technology College and Ehenside Community School to sustain their improvement programme after recently coming out of Special Measures.
The remaining £40,000 will be available to the Joint Performance Improvement Board to invest in a long-term improvement plan to transform educational provision in Cumbria and establish sustained improvements for all pupils from 5-19.
Cllr Jim Buchanan, Cumbria County Council's Cabinet member responsible for children's wellbeing and member of the Joint Performance Improvement Board, said: "It's excellent news for Cumbria that the Government has released this money to provide extra teaching support for the pupils who really need it. This will make a real difference in schools and on the performance of individual pupils. Cumbria's secondary schools are already working hard to improve the performance of their Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils - this additional money will improve their capacity to do just that."
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