We have been fortunate over the last year to get some fantastic support from our local politicians as we work through COVID, academy status and on-going school improvement.
Earlier in the year we successfully gained £2.8million of Condition Improvement Funding (CIF) through effective bidding and we are now seeing extensive roof work and a full electrical re-wire that will set the school up for decades to come.
Even so, having learnt from our first chance to bid as an academy, we have sharpened up our approach further by enlisting local politicians to support our new set of bids. Consequently, we have received excellent letters of support from Michael Fabricant MP, County Councillor Colin Greatorex, and District Councillor Jamie Checkland to support safeguarding and security measures and to renovate the school and community sports hall and related facilities.
Unfortunately, these bids are very difficult to achieve success in, despite being successful first time, but if they do not come in then it will not be down to a lack of local political will.
Elsewhere, earlier in the year Michael Fabricant MP was very pro-active in supporting our school and parents with the Department for Education regarding the receiving of refunds for school trips cancelled due to the pandemic. The total cost was potentially over £200,000 and his intervention was a real plus at a very difficult time and helped work through a national decision to support schools (and hence local parents) in not losing out.
Finally, we recently had a productive meeting with Councillor Doug Pullen, Councillor Rob Strachan and Councillor Richard Cox, who also visited us, and we are planning to push a joint message for local tourism next year.
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “We are always ready to support our local community and it has been great to see our local politicians take the same approach in backing us. Their support for our projects to improve the welfare, the life chances and the experiences of local children from local families is hugely valuable and has made a real difference this year. Lichfield is blessed with many schools to be proud of and the educational provision can only get better if politicians of all political persuasions stand alongside our city’s students so that everyone’s energy can go in the same direction.”
