Simon Clarke has today written to Education Secretary Justine Greening asking for “Opportunity Area” status to be granted for the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland.
The purpose of Opportunity Areas is to focus local and national resources on increasing social mobility. The twelve Opportunity Area announced to date, identified as social mobility ‘coldspots’ – areas with both poor social mobility and schools that face challenges – are sharing £72 million to boost opportunities for young people in these communities.
In a speech to the Teach First conference last month, Justine Greening said it would be great to introduce an Opportunity Area in the North East. Simon is now calling on her to put Redcar and Cleveland top of the list.
All Redcar and Cleveland primary schools in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland were judged good or outstanding in their last Ofsted Reports. However, the progress made at primary level tails off at secondary level, holding local youngsters back.
In his letter to the Secretary of State, Simon said:
"Cleveland is an area of complex needs. It has many of the physical characteristics of North Yorkshire, with lots of small communities spread over a sparsely populated rural and coastal area, but faces the additional challenge of areas of deep deprivation.
“The whole Borough is still coming to terms with the changing nature of industry, and was hit hard by the closure of the SSI steelworks in 2015. While the new South Tees Mayoral Development Corporation plans to create 20,000 jobs over the next 25 years, which is wonderful news, we need to ensure the next generation is able to seize these opportunities.
“There are many outstanding teachers in Redcar and Cleveland. However, all school leaders are experiencing problems in recruitment of teachers in subject areas. These include Science, Languages and Humanities. The successful Teacher Training Partnerships with the local authority and Teaching Schools are bringing in some high quality teachers, but it is proving a challenge to recruit to senior posts and attract people into the area.
“Opportunity Area status for Redcar and Cleveland has the potential to provide precisely the kind of structured support that is so urgently needed, and to transform the life chances of thousands of local young people.”