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School head criticises UTC bid

A school head teacher has criticised a bid to launch an engineering University Technical College (UTC) in County Durham.

The University of Sunderland has teamed up with Hitachi Rail Europe and Gestamp Tallent to open the specialist UTC on Aycliffe Business Park, Newton Aycliffe, by 2015.

The school would pluck 150 14-year-olds from nearby schools and teach them the core subjects while training them up specifically to become specialist engineers.

The move is designed to plug a skills shortage, Sunderland University said.

But Christine Forsyth, head teacher at nearby Woodham Academy in Aycliffe, has lashed out at the move.

She says it’s wrong to invest £9 million on a project which has no record of success - especially after the government “reneged” on Building Schools for the Future funding agreed before the last election that would have seen major refurbishment at her school.

“Woodham Academy has a longstanding commitment to providing high-quality technical education,” she said.

“Students are able to study for a GCSE in engineering in partnership with South West Durham Training (SWDT).

“The proportion of students gaining good GCSEs in Mathematics, English, Science, Languages and Humanities compares well with national figures.

“Our links with local businesses are very positive, leading to a higher than average proportion of students taking up apprenticeships and a NEET (not in education, employment or training) figure well below local averages.

“In view of this, I fail to see how a UTC provides anything that does not already exist for young people in Newton Aycliffe.

“Unless it can attract students from outside of the immediate area, it is unlikely to increase the number of young people entering careers in engineering.”

Mrs Forsyth also claims the UTC will have an adverse affect on the education of young people.

“It is wrong that the government reneged on Building Schools for the Future funding agreed before the last election that would have seen major refurbishment at Woodham Academy and Greenfield,” she added.

“It is wrong that the government is now planning to invest £9 million in a UTC, an idea with no track record of success.

“Whilst I am very much in favour of high quality technical education, my concern is that this facility will take funding from schools in the area and will thus adversely affect the education of the vast majority of our young people.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .