SECONDARY schools are having hundreds of thousands of pounds taken from their budgets to help pay for new 'advanced learning centres'. Barnsley Council is providing nine new super-schools across the borough as part of its 'remaking learning programme.

TEACHERS could strike at three schools in a dispute over payments to staff in some senior posts. A ballot of NUT members will be held at Darton High on Monday and a series of open-ended strikes could start as early as Thursday, January 31.

A HEADTEACHER claims the league tables used to judge a school's performance can be divisive and demoralise whole communities. And Steve Iredale thinks the obsession with results in 'core' subject areas is damaging to youngsters.

A SCHOOL has been praised for the outstanding care pupils receive and given an overall rating of good in an Ofsted report. Inspectors said Oxspring Primary has a ‘strong family atmosphere’ and rated it outstanding in some categories.

AN OFSTED report on a Dearne primary school has revealed that standards have been raised by enthusiastic children meeting the high expectations of teachers. Bolton Heather Garth has been judged to be providing a stimulating environment which encourages pupils to become confident learners. The result is a significant rise in standards, say the inspectors, but they remain below the national average in English and mathematics.

BARNSLEY schools are spending more than £4m a year on supply teachers to cover staff absences. And there is concern among teaching unions that the figure could increase because there is too much pressure on teachers, leading to many being on long-term sick leave with mental health problems.

ART produced by children from two Barnsley schools is included on an educational website. Pupils were involved in a project about the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade.