(Stoke-on-Trent North)
(Con):...To look at another example, the Shaw
Education Trust recently took over Kidsgrove
Primary and Secondary Schools, following inadequate Ofsted
ratings under the former multi-academy trust, the University of
Chester Academies Trust. That shameful trust has been slammed by
Ofsted for failing in its school improvement strategies and
below-average standards in some of its schools. In May 2018, it
received a formal warning from the Education and Skills Funding
Agency to get its finances in order, after racking up a £3
million deficit. The trust confirmed that it was considering
cutting 24 support staff and 19 teaching roles across its
schools.
Since then, thanks to the Shaw
Education Trust, Kidsgrove Primary and Secondary
have partnered in launching a new digital strategy, allowing
pupils to be taught with up-to-date technology. That follows my
“Silicon Stoke” agenda, a new prospectus setting out the ambition
for a digital transformation of the city of Stoke-on-Trent,
enabling it to become a smart city, attracting new national and
international businesses, and being at the heart of the UK video
games sector.
“Silicon Stoke” ensures that Stoke-on-Trent takes up
opportunities through digital connectivity, and the Shaw
Education Trust has ensured that our primary and
secondary students at Kidsgrove and Talke are kept up to speed
with the new digital age through the digital strategy. Since July
this year, all classrooms in Kidsgrove Primary, for example, have
been equipped with the latest Promethean boards for teacher and
pupil use, and since September, there has been a measure for all
students across both schools to receive an iPad, to support
school and home learning.
(Newcastle-under-Lyme)
(Con): I thank my hon. Friend and neighbour for giving way.
I thank him for referencing the Shaw
Education Trust, which also has schools in my
constituency, such as the Orme Academy. Does he agree that one of
the benefits of multi-academy trusts is that they can spread best
practice from one area to another, and thus raise standards for
everybody across my borough and his city?
: I am grateful to my
hon. Friend and neighbour, with whom I share Kidsgrove, Talke and
Newchapel, since they are within the Newcastle-under-Lyme
borough. As we have just heard, the Shaw
Education Trust has spread good practice and is
sharing expertise, not just across that borough but also within
the Stoke-on-Trent City Council area. In fact, the current city
director of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Jon Rouse, was formerly
the head of the Shaw
Education Trust. I am sure that he is keen to
ensure that he declares that he has no interest any more in that
trust, having become city director. Ultimately, we could see what
he was doing in the Greater Manchester area and how Shaw
Education Trust has gone on to do many great
things.
The Minister for School Standards ( ): I am also pleased that,
through the Stoke plan, there is a place-based pilot aiming to
level up education in the city and identify strategies to build
up MAT capacity in the area, and that my colleague, , and the Secretary of
State were recently able to attend the inaugural meeting of the
education challenge board in the area. I am glad to hear of the
positive developments that my hon. Friend the Member for
Stoke-on-Trent North reported at both the Inspiration Trust and
the Shaw
Education Trust, as well as the support they have
given my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme ().
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