The new high school in Prudhoe is the end of 5 long years of campaigning - Prudhoe is on the up!

This is all part of the turnaround that is happening in Prudhoe, and at the high school. We are pictured on site this last winter with Deborah, the head teacher, and the site manager. Deborah tells me that the key handover is very soon, and the pupils start in September. It has been a long campaign to get the money for the new school and to turn Prudhoe High around but the children, parents and teachers are all really excited! 

Update: Haydon Bridge High School

The pupils at Haydon Bridge deserve the best possible education. I visited the school just last month and met some of the pupils and teachers.

This report is undoubtedly a setback for the school, and will understandably be a cause of great concern to parents, staff and the wider community. The report is here: https://attachment.fbsbx.com/file_download.php?id=1532619180354625&eid=ASuhaM-dY8RlbQNALz3v8KDteo9pXylb5uHzEFax51r2EE-fcEjPTGJHS5hafevAC-0&ext=1423335336&hash=ASshAYCSDBXK7O1m

It is important now that the County Council takes the right action, in consultation with parents, to get to the school back on track.

I was at Haydon Bridge High School just 3 weeks ago to meet with the acting Headteacher, Helen McCormick, and several of the teachers.

It is worth reading Helen's recent comments:
"This is obviously a disappointing outcome and one we are all working hard to rectify. Many of the key issues had already been identified and were being tackled before the inspection but we weren’t able to demonstrate enough impact in time. We are deeply committed and firmly focussed on moving the school forward so that we can ensure the best education and care for all the pupils.”

I was informed of the contents of the Ofsted report in outline on Monday, albeit I was in Westminster. I was not informed of the meeting the school called for parents that day, until later that day itself, although one of my local county councillors was able to attend keep me updated on the discussion that took place.

I have met with many of the governors of Haydon Bridge High School and, of course, my other 45+ schools down the years, albeit I do not know and have not met the present chair of the governors at Haydon Bridge.

The view of the Ofsted report, and the view of the Northumberland County Council, is that the actions of the governors has been unsatisfactory for some time, and that they have not addressed the problems of the school. I regret to say that it does appear that the governors have not previously taken the advice of Northumberland County Council, who are ultimately responsible for the school as the Local Education Authority.

In term of going forward my office and I will be keeping a very close eye on the situation and will help in anyway we can. Discussion have already taken place with the Northumberland County Council's corporate Director of Children's Services, and a meeting will take place in a few weeks to assess the situation.

In the immediate term the County Council has applied to the Secretary of State for Education for permission to dismiss the current governors and replace them with what is called an IEB - an Interim Executive Board.

I, and others, have seen this IEB part of the process before with Prudhoe Community High School in 2013-2014; the IEB was able to turn around Prudhoe without further action. I went to Prudhoe High School on Friday for a long scheduled meeting and met once again with Deborah Reeman the outstanding new Headteacher. Prudhoe is a good example of an IEB coming in and providing the guidance, support and expertise that is needed where school governors get into difficulties.

An IEB effectively provides the outside specialist help that a "special measures" school needs. I have already been in touch with the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan MP, to request the application for an IEB is now considered as a matter of urgency, given the Ofsted Inspection in December, and the actual report, published this last week.

I will be working with the NCC and the DfE to ensure that this is done as quickly as possible.

If anyone has any questions please do get in touch 01434 603 777 or email me at guy.opperman.mp@parliament.uk

For more background details on the issue see here: http://www.thejournal.co.uk/northumberland-haydon-bridge-high-school-8582430

Westminster this coming week

Prudhoe High School is being rebuilt in March, but there remains an issue with the scope of the on going sports provision. I am working with the Prudhoe Community High School, and the various funding bodies, to get a speedy resolution on this and hope to have a round table in Westminster this coming week to help resolve this. There is also education questions on Monday at 2.30, followed by a confirming debate on the Women Bishops legislation. Wednesday we have further counter terrorism legislation being debated in the Commons, and I will be helping guide this through the Commons.

I have meetings or appointments this week in London with constituents, the Clinical Commissioning Group, Smart Energy, and with the association of Air Ambulances, amongst others, along with plenty of Home Office work and Women2Win. I am also trying to get a resolution to the Matfen broadband problem, which several locals, including the local councillor, Veronica Jones, have contacted to me about.  It is great news that Stamfordham, Great Whittington, and other local areas north of the Military Road, now have proper broadband but Matfen is lagging behind and we are trying to sort it. I am sat at my desk in the Commons prepping for the week ahead, which is chock a block with meetings in particular. Not looking forward to the cycle back to west London on the coldest night of the year!

Local High Schools get share of extra £12m as part of our Fairer Funding Campaign - local High School specifics explained

In 2014 my campaign to change the rules on schools funding scored a £12 Million success. The new agreement secured from the Government gives a fairer funding deal for our schools.

For many decades our county has had one of the worst funded education authorities. The changes I have been able to help secure will deliver an extra £12 million for Northumberland's schools.
The breakdown locally will mean that next April 2015:
- Haydon Bridge High School will see its funding increase by £170,000,
- while Prudhoe High School will receive an extra £205,000, and a rebuild starting in the spring.
- QEHS in Hexham will get an extra £256,000 and
- Ponteland High School will get an extra £252,000.

At the height of this long campaign I was able to bring Schools Minister, David Laws, MP, to Tynedale to hear the case for fairer schools funding, and let specific teachers make the case to him. He also had a tour of Hexham QEHS, which is next on the list for our attempts to get substantial capital improvements to the aged school infrastructure.

It is great that we have been able to secure a £12m victory for our campaign. I will be continuing my fight for long term fairer funding for our local schools.

Prudhoe Community High School - an Update

A number of weeks ago I got the chance to sit down and talk to Deborah Reeman, the headteacher, who is doing a good job. I have also spoken to several of the parents and teachers at the school.

All of us were very surprised at the view of Ofsted last autumn and the school have gone to great lengths to turn the situation around. It would be wrong of me to comment excessively, not least because I am huge supporter of the school, but all I can say is this:

- the school is being well led, and there is a renewed sense of purpose and optimism, with a real belief that the exam results this summer will show improvement, and eventually a positive reassessment by Ofsted
- the building of a new school will definitely go ahead and will begin before Spring 2015 [it will be built next to the existing school site]
- the vast majority parent and pupil I have spoken to over the past 6 months is optimistic about the school's future based on how it is doing now.
- I can only recommend the school wholeheartedly.
 - I know that some people will be concerned about a change in the governing body, but Northumberland County Council has my full support in ensuring the school has the best possible tools and strategies at its disposal to improve the current situation.
As part of the work we are doing to help the school I am  doing all I can to ensure that the sports facilties after the rebuild are genuinely the best in Northumberland.
Further details here: http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk/news/prudhoe-mp-lobbies-for-top-sports-facilities-at-prudhoe-high-1.1145776

Schools Funding debate - Labour MPs in their droves are backing free schools

Bizarre scenes in the Commons yesterday as multiple Labour MPs from all across the country got up to praise free schools: Labour Education shadow, the increasingly bizarre Tristram Hunt had asked for a statement on free schools and education funding.
Michael Gove received support from some pretty odd quarters - Labour's Ian Austin MP for Dudley is Gordon Brown's former henchman and led the support for what the DFE are doing. The list of supporters was very long and full of Labour - much to Tristram's upset. In Tynedale we do not have a free school but the changes coming in are still very good.

My question to the Secretary of State was as  follows:
"In my part of Northumberland, we have neither the benefits nor the perceived burden of a free school. We have focused on more primary places; the rebuild, authorised by the Secretary of State, of Prudhoe community high school; the creation of the Haltwhistle academy, the first in my constituency; and the changes to the fairer funding formula, which will for the first time produce enhanced funding for Northumberland. I welcome the changes, I welcome his direction of travel and, in particular, I welcome the changes to the fairer funding formula."

Michael Gove replied:
"My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Part of the progressive changes that have been introduced by my Department and which have been championed and designed by the Minister for Schools has been an increase in funding for the parts of the country that have suffered in the past. In particular, the delivery of the pupil premium ensures that disadvantaged children, wherever they are, enjoy not only a high quality of education but additional investment in a better future."

Full debate is below: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140512/debtext/140512-0001.htm#1405129000001

Visiting Local First and Middle Schools over the last month

I have visited 4 schools over the last month: Wylam First, Prudhoe West First, Ovingham Middle two Fridays ago, and Bellingham Middle School just over 14 days ago. It is worth setting out some of the impressions of our Tynedale schools - although for todays blog I have not addressed Bellingham in detail, because my blog a couple of weeks ago addressed that visit in part. Certainly last month it was clear to me that Bellingham Middle was doing very well - see here:
http://guyopperman.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-bellingham-deanery-synod-mps-and.html

The importance of the visits to the local East Tynedale schools is the past problems of Prudhoe Community High School, which I am pleased to say is clearly turning itself around after an unlucky Ofsted inspection. I have not met the new headteacher at PCHS, although we are sorting a meeting in the near future, but I am hearing very good things. One thing is clear: I am certain that Prudhoe Community High School has a future which I believe will be a lot better than the last 6 months.

A month ago I went to Wylam First School, and met with many of the teachers, governors, pupils and a couple of parents. On any interpretation it is a very happy and friendly school. I was pleased to hear of the good news on the school roof, the recent positive results, the fact that numbers are so good and the general sense of optimism about the school.  Certainly the news that Northumberland County Council have agreed to repair the Wylam First School Roof is good news, and a testament to the hard work of so many, not least the governors. What is also clear is that this is a school that is at the heart of its local community: the role of the local community in the orchard is a good example of this in action. This is vital, and such integration is, I suspect, one of the keys to any such school thriving in the future.

Prudhoe West School is in a state of transition, because I arrived literally the day after the former deputy head had been promoted to be the new headteacher. The new head was full of enthusiasm and fizzing with new ideas. Also full of ideas, spark and fun were the 50 or so pupils who I saw prior to them coming to Westminster and the Houses of Parliament in the summer. We chatted for around 15-20 and the team and I are looking forward to welcoming them.

Then, two Fridays ago I went to Ovingham Middle School. Again it is a successful school, very much integrated into its local community, and building strongly on the character and make up of the local community. Thus, there is a strong science and environmental element to the school, which dovetails well with the local community, which my experience and the casework I receive as the Ovingham MP has shown that the village has a particularly proactive environmental approach.

My visits to the schools are clearly snapshots, but all are run by positive heads, and enthusiastic teachers, making do with occasionally creaking school infrastructure and a "can do" attitude. The coalition has safeguarded and protected 4-16 education funding, but all the local schools would want a better financial settlement. The problem here is the traditionally poor deal that rural areas, and particularly Northumberland, suffers from when compared to urban areas. Efforts are being made to change the funding formula but this requires a major funding shift and, in any event, by necessity, would change slowly over many years. But the argument for such a change - although there would be winners and losers around the country (Northumberland would do better) is a tough one to make politically, albeit there is a growing acceptance of the need to change.
UPDATE: Since I started drafting this blog we have had the announcement of enhanced funding for the Northumberland schools, announced last Thursday by David Laws, in the Commons. I am trying to find out more but on first appraisal this appears to be both very good news, and part of the change we need as part of the Fairer Funding campaign.

It is an almost impossible job to visit every school in the constituency (not least because all visits have to be squeezed in on a Friday, as I am in London Monday to Thursday most weeks) but I am
slowly getting there. I hope to finish this task in the next year but am struggling to visit all the First Schools across Ponteland and Tynedale. But all 3 of the East Tynedale schools I visited are clearly well run and in good order.

Prudhoe High School will still get it's rebuild

Good news! Michael Gove wrote back to me this week, in a letter which makes it clear that the rebuild will go ahead:
The letter includes the following: "I am aware of the urgent need to address the condition of the existing buildings at the school, and the school's inclusion in the Priority School Rebuilding Programme, as confirmed in 2012. I am pleased to tell you that my department and I fully support the school's improvement, and will continue to work closely with governors and all staff to ensure the parents and pupils of Prudhoe have access to the best education we can provide."
Gove assures us that the rebuilding programme will be proceeding.  
The local Journal reports the news as follows:
http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/michael-gove-pledges-troubled-prudhoe-6704107

Ofsted inspections in Northumberland

I was disappointed to receive news that two of our schools in Tynedale have got a negative report from Ofsted. These schools are Otterburn First School and Prudhoe High School. I have not visited Otterburn First, so I cannot comment on the specifics of the report, although I will try and visit soon. However, I know Prudhoe High School exceptionally well and have visited repeatedly. The school has my full support and I have made this clear to the outstanding headteacher Iain Shaw. I am certain that the school will return to positive reports very shortly.

This is the statement that I gave to the papers:
"Prudhoe High is an excellent school and one I am proud to visit regularly. It is a school with brilliant teachers and a wonderful head teacher in Dr Iain Shaw. This a setback, but I have full faith that these specific issues can be resolved and we can move on. Prudhoe provides excellent teaching for its 1000 pupils. Well over 60% of pupils attained five GCSEs grade A* to C including English and mathematics last year. In fact it is way above the national average for those key qualifications of English and Maths with more than 75% getting a GCSEs grade A* to C in Maths. That is what really counts.

With our campaign for a new building being successful, things are really positive for the schools future once these concerning but very resolvable issues have been resolved."

Radio Prudhoe at 10.30 + meeting all 4 High School heads today

Looking forward to our regular catch up with the High School Heads at 11. The good news is that the Schools Minister David Laws is coming to Northumberland in July so we are making sure that the Heads get a chance to have a one to one with him. Beforehand at 10.30 I will be on Radio Prudhoe which you can listen to online at www.radioprudhoe.co.uk being interviewed by Jonny McGuigan.