West Berkshire Lib Dems welcome 'school for the future' - Hannon

12.00.00am GMT Thu 30th Nov 2006

Councillor Sally Hannon has today welcomed the news that St Bartholomew's school has been selected as the pathfinder school to receive a Department for Education and Skills (DfES) grant of around £30 million.

West Berkshire Councillors heard presentations from the four schools shortlisted for the grant; Little Heath, St Bartholomew's, Kennet and John O'Gaunt.

Councillor Sally Hannon commented:

"All four schools put their case extremely well, and it is clear that they deliver very high standards of education in sometimes difficult circumstances and inappropriate accommodation. We are pleased that a West Berkshire school stands to benefit in this way and look forward to working towards the successful delivery of the new St Bart's building as part of the cross-party School Capital Improvement Task Group which is being set up to address the issues that have been raised through this selection process."

Councillor Jeff Brooks, who led the scrutiny process over the schools' selection process, added:

"St Bart's came through against significant opposition from the three other schools who presented. This goes to show how effective the scrutiny process can be in keeping important decisions such as this on the rails."