Press release from Reading labour party. I’m a school governor at a primary school so this is close to my heart.
Labour: “We have invested over £100M in Reading’s schools”
Since Reading took education from Berkshire in 1998, Labour has invested over £100M in new schools – the John Madejski Academy, the Avenue Special School, George Palmer Primary School and Norcot Nursery – and in new classrooms and other major building works at over forty schools across the Borough.
Lead Councillor for Education Jon Hartley listed the schemes in answer to a question from Katesgrove Labour candidate Matt Rodda at the Council meeting on 13 October.
Cllr. Hartley says: “The nation’s schools were neglected under the Tories and making up for that neglect has been one of the key priorities of this Labour Government. Taking just major schemes costing £25,000+, Labour in Reading over the last eleven years has spent more than £105 Million – which is probably more than ten times what was spent in the eighteen wasted years under the Tories!
“I think children learn better, and teachers teach better, when they feel valued and not neglected,” he adds, “and have no doubt that the greatly improved results at SATS, GCSE and A-level are of course down to the hard work of staff and pupils, but that has been helped by the strides we have made towards making our school buildings fit for the 21st century!”
Matt Rodda, an educationist himself, adds: “I knew a lot had been done, but I was bowled over by the sheer scale of these improvements. Four brand new schools, new facilities for early years, new classrooms at many schools, the new hall at Highdown, the new sixth form block at Kendrick, the new dining hall at Whitley Park Junior school, replacement windows, disabled access : education, education, education in practice.”