Education minister Baroness Barran visits Hartlepool to hear about £1.4m extra funding plans to tackle inequalities linked to high deprivation

Hartlepool was named last year as one of 24 Priority Education Investment Areas by the Government for additional money and support to improve results affected by high levels of deprivation.

Education minister Baroness Diana Barran visited three schools in town and met with local education leaders on Friday (June 9) to find out about plans for £1.4 million of extra funding that Hartlepool is receiving.

She told the Mail: “We really believe that children in Hartlepool should have exactly the same opportunities as anywhere else in the country, so we are making this investment.”

Department for Education figures published in November show that only 25.3% of disadvantaged children in Hartlepool achieved a strong pass grade five or above in GCSE English and maths in 2021-22, compared to 55.8% for all other children.

And in some town schools, 70% of pupils qualify for free school meals – around three times the national average.

While primary schools in Hartlepool perform well compared to other areas, Baroness Barran said secondary schools do “much less” than the national average.

She said the extra priority funding will support work happening to improve reading and speech and language skills in young children, and the move from primary to secondary school.

Baroness Barran added: “We know everywhere that transition can be quite challenging going from a small school to a much, much bigger one, so there’s a lot of work going on there to make sure that works as well as it can.”

Among the schools Baroness Barran visited was St Hild’s Church of England School, in King Oswy driver, where she spoke to trust leaders, teachers and dropped in on a number of lessons.

She said she was “very impressed” with the calmness of the school and focused determination of the pupils.

St Hild’s headteacher Tracey Gibson said: “It’s been delightful. The children are very excited to have a ministerial visit.”

Regarding the extra government funding for Hartlepool, Ms Gibson added: “For schools like ours which feeds a community that has such high levels of deprivation any additional funding and support is a good thing.”