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Hammersmith and Fulham schools gain additional £19million

Summary:

The borough is getting the seventh highest share of the government’s £600million extra school funding.

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By Anna Tabrah

Hammersmith and Fulham schools are getting an additional £19million funding to help provide more places and get families into their top choice schools.

This means the borough is getting the seventh highest share of the government’s £600million extra school funding, which was announced last week.

With an existing budget of £14million, it brings the borough’s total funding for next year to £33million.

Individual schools will submit bids for shares of the fund to improve their buildings and facilities.

“This money is a huge boost to our efforts to ensure families can get places in their top choice schools,” said Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, leader of the council.

“It will help us support the developments of our schools, to continue to deliver our ‘Schools of Choice’ programme.”

The council’s ‘Schools of Choice’ programme means parents’ preferences are prioritised when making decisions about education.

Due to a rise in school-age population, Hammersmith and Fulham, along with other London boroughs, is in need of more school places.

Current projections say 1,643 children will apply for reception places in 2013 – but there are currently just 1,508 places available.

Secondary school applications are also up, with September 2012 seeing 50 percent more than in 2009.

A school expansion programme is already underway, opening three new schools over the last two years.

“Sixty one percent of local families now send their children to local state schools, compared to only 45 percent in 2006,” said Cllr Greenhalgh.

“Rapidly rising standards and more places in the schools parents want for their children has already seen a reduction in the numbers of families going outside the borough or to private schools. That success, along with a rising population, intensifies the need for extra places in H&F.”

This year’s GCSE results were the best ever in the borough, with 72 percent of students gaining five or more A*-C grades.

Hammersmith and Fulham was also named the best authority in the UK for the number of state school sixth formers going to top universities.

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