JLR- Good take –Up from schools across the region, but not Wolverhampton!

A report came before me yesterday as I sat in the Audit & Risk Committee of Wolverhampton City Council. It was a Public Report and therefore I can comment on it. It was presented by the New Director of Education and it was distributed by him to support the comments he was making direct to the Committee.

The part that alarmed me was the detail relating to Jaguar Land Rover Education Centre.

  • The Education Centre is based at I54 site
  • Offers 30 different modules to schools
  • jaguar-land-rover-celebrate-successful-january-52747-1, but this is being heavily encouraged.

I was surprised by this comment. And I said so!

Jaguar Land Rover is a World Class company it is probably the best industrial news that we have had in Wolverhampton for over 30 years. So why is it schools ‘from across the region’ are beating their way to JLR and Wolverhampton schools are not?!

Why aren’t Wolverhampton schools camped on the doorstep of JLR, what are Wolverhampton Schools leaders doing? Where is the aspiration in Wolverhampton schools and the inspirational Head Teachers who will lead our pupils into good jobs and career enhancing employment?

The Director of Education said that the Wolverhampton schools “were being heavily encouraged”. And so I would hope so too! It was the last meeting of this particular Committee, and therefore it will not meet again until after the City Council elections in May. But I was moved enough about this shocking information to call for a report on progress in the New Municipal Year.

Hopefully I will be there if the good people of Wednesfield North return me.

I also made comment on another part of the Directors report. This relate to the Directors comments surrounding the progress being made by secondary school education where he informed that results were expected to rise to 85% by September 2016. He also informed that the authority is now 135th out of 152 LA’s for Primary Performance(Up from 152nd in 2013) and 81st for Secondary performance (Up from 108th in 2013)

I suggested to the Director that this was all well and good, and it was generally good news for parents in the City.

But I gently chastised the Director in that the Authority seemed to pay less attention to Early Years education. That the Nursery schools in Wolverhampton had a good and growing education record, but that the City seemed to pay less attention to this sector than in my mind they should.

The Director replied that “End of the key stage results for 2014-15 (some of which are still un-validated) show improved results in EYFS,KS1&KS4. I asked for a further report on the progress of EYFS and in particular Nursery Schools, he warned that some private sector Early Years providers were in need of improvement, again this report will be produced in the New Municipal Year.

Phil Bateman

Phil Bateman is Married to Mary and lives in Wednesfield North. He was a long serving local politician having served previously on the now defunct West Midlands County Council... read more

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