Schools miss out on funding

There has been bitter disappointment for several schools in our region who won't be getting the government cash they need to rebuild rundown buildings.

Schools in Norfolk, Essex, Luton and Hertfordshire are among those who were turned down for funding, while schools in Cambridge and Suffolk are celebrating the news that they will get new buildings

Last summer the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, invited schools in need of urgent repair to bid for funding from the Priority School Building Programme.

Nationally 587 schools applied for the programme and out of that number 261 schools have had their bids accepted and will now be rebuilt or undergo extensive repairs.

Among those schools in our region whose bids were unsuccessful, missing out on the cash was a particularly tough blow for Chapel Road School in Attleborough.

Chapel Road is one of two schools in Norfolk that applied for funding, but both were turned down.

The school is open to children with special educational needs in South Norfolk and had previously planned to rebuild the school on a new site using money from the Labour government's "Building Schools for the Future" programme.

This programme was axed by the current government when it came into power, meaning the school has lost out on funding twice in recent years.

Norfolk County Council has expressed regret that neither of the schools it put forward for funding were approved.

The Education Secretary has said he realises many schools will be disappointed not to get funding but that the government had to make difficult decisions to ensure the money was targeted at schools with buildings in the worst condition.