Funding welcome but short of what is needed

Six East Lancashire schools will benefit from more than £1.5million

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Six East Lancashire schools will benefit from more than £1.5million of government cash to improve and repair their buildings.

Blackburn’s St Mary’s College on Shear Brow is to get £458,760 for necessary repairs to the roof.

Also benefitting from the Department for Education’s Condition Improvement Fund is Clayton-le-Moors All Saints’ Church of England Primary School which will receive £87,233 to replace the heating system in school and the emergency lighting/fire alarm system.

Burnley’s Coal Clough Academy has been awarded £112,625 while Bacup’s St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School gets £195,664.

In Pendle borough £711,032 is split between Nelson’s Castercliff Primary School and the West Craven High School in Barnoldswick.

The cash for repairs and imrovements at the the six academy schools has been welcomed by local MPs.

The £560m fund aims to expand classrooms, upgrade facilities and improve the education of children across England,

Blackburn Labour MP Kate Hollern said: “Whilst I’m pleased to see that this funding is coming into Blackburn it is still way short of what is needed.

“Schools have been working hard to ensure that they can open safely in the autumn having already been subject to government cuts over the past ten years. “It is vital that the government commits to funding that reflects the additional challenges teachers and staff will face as a result of the fact that millions of children and young people across the country have lost out on half a years’ teaching time’.”

Hyndburn Conservative MP Sara Britcliffe said: “Coronavirus has taken a toll on us all, not least our children, who have been kept from their friends, their teachers and their schools.

“As we exit lockdown we must focus on getting children back to school – and ensure that schools have the facilities and classrooms they need to support the high-quality education our children deserve.

“This funding will help ensure all children have modern environments which will promote the very best possible schools and education, enabling them to gain all the knowledge and skills they need for success.”

Her Burnley Tory MP colleague Antony Higginbotham said: “I stood on a manifesto promise to level up Burnley and Padiham and the improvements to our education facilities are an important part of that.

“Coronavirus has undoubtedly created a more difficult environment for our teachers and school children but as we look to get all children back to school in September we need to make sure schools have the facilities and classrooms they need to support the high-quality education our children deserve.”

Source: Lancashire Telegraph