Cash to move Greensward to academy status

2:20pm Friday 18th July 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

A TRAIL-BLAZING school has been given a £160,000 cash injection as it prepares to become the first non-city academy in the country.

Greensward College, Hockley, will use the money to refurbish its toilets, flooring and staircases.

The flourishing school will become a ‘pathfinder’ academy in September, supporting two failing schools in Witham – Rickstones and the John Bramston school.

Specialist staff from the Hockley school will travel to Witham to help improve pupils’ performance.

The college will get a new logo, which will be incorporated in its uniforms for the new school year.

Headteacher Debbie Stokes said: “I am absolutely delighted and hopefully now we have got a bit more money we can develop things for the students to improve their environment. We are going to have new staircases and corridor flooring and a new set of toilets for the children.”

The three schools will each its their own governing body and form an academies enterprise trust, with Lord Hanningfield, leader of Essex County Council, as the patron.

Previously, only failing inner city schools could become academies, but this new scheme will reward high-performing schools in rural areas.

Mrs Stokes said the school would now become a science academy and they will fund a competition for children to go to the USA on a science program.

She added: “,Our sports day for the last two years running has been cancelled due to bad weather.

“We could look at, perhaps, taking the school to a proper sports facility for the day.

“The music department is also becoming a bit run-down and we could input money into equipment and instruments.”

The three schools will also share a £650,000 investment in information technology.

Mrs Stokes said: “It means the three schools will be able to communicate easily and we are asking parents to give us their e-mail addresses so we can link more to them with IT than we do now.”

It will receive money directly from the Department of Children, Schools and Families, rather than Essex County Council, which means it will have greater control of its finances and curriculum.

Simon Walsh, county councillor responsible for schools, children and families, said: “I am delighted the Government has recognised the merits of this genuinely groundbreaking project and given it the all clear.

“Essex County Council is determined to set a gold standard for education in Essex and this scheme is a perfect example.”