The government has given the green light to a £11.7 million plan to boost education standards in Birmingham – including an initiative to turn around schools embroiled in the Trojan Horse scandal.
Birmingham City Council’s schools strategy and improvement plan is now to go before the cabinet on Monday. March 16. and sets out a three-year plan to turn education on its head.
The plan, due to be given a rubber stamp of approval by the cabinet, will then be implemented by Birmingham Education Partnership (BEP) – a team of headteachers from schools across the city.
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And it aims for all five schools placed in special measures last April following a plot by hard-line Muslims to take over governing bodies to be rated as “good” by Ofsted.
It sets out ambitious plans for all of its local authority-maintained schools to be rated as either “outstanding” or “good” in the next three years.
A raft of measures are set be put in place to improve the performance of school governors and protect pupils from radicalisation and religious extremism.
A new system will manage complaints raised by teachers and whistleblowers after the council has been criticised by a string of senior figures for its handling of concerns raised by teachers and heads.
Coun Brigid Jones, the council’s cabinet member for children’s services, said the plan aimed to “tackle uncompromisingly” weaknesses highlighted in damning Trojan Horse reports by former anti-terror boss Peter Clarke and ex-headteacher Ian Kershaw.
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“This is an incredibly exciting time for education in this city,” she added.
“BEP has come a long way in the last two years and we are taking our partnership to the next level by commissioning them to take on school improvement in the city.
“Our schools are diverse and led by many great and talented people, and by harnessing their collective power we can achieve more together than they can alone.
“In our plan we have set out a vision where we want to see every child in the city achieve their potential and believe in themselves.
“To do this we must work collaboratively to drive through innovation and improvement so every child can go to a good or outstanding school and have access to the best teaching, a broad curriculum and be allowed to prosper in a safe environment .”