Since being elected in 2019, Ruth says she has been contacted by a number of parents whose children have been unable to get into their local school due to a lack of school places.
Ruth is working with Nottinghamshire County Council to expand the number of school places available in Rushcliffe.
Rushcliffe Spencer Academy has submitted a proposal to the Department for Education to expand the number of places they can provide.
This will include 12 forms of entry, taking the total number of pupil places across all years to 2,310 including Sixth Form.
Ruth is supporting Rushcliffe Spencer Academy’s application and this week secured an urgent meeting with Nadhim Zahawi the Secretary of State for Education to highlight the importance of this application and how vital this was for local families.
She then met with the Minister for the School System, Baroness Barran to discuss the issue in more detail.
Ruth said:
“Getting a local school place is a hugely important issue for local children and their parents, and is a top priority for me as the Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe.
“I left Secretary of State for Education in no doubt of the importance of this issue and pressed him hard to ensure that an early decision would be made in this case.
“I am grateful to him and to Baroness Barran for taking the time to meet with me.
“I would like to thank Rushcliffe School for their hard work in improving local school place provision and our County Councillors Reg Adair and Matthew Barney for all their hard work on this issue.
Damian Painton, Principal of Rushcliffe Spencer Academy said:
“I’m delighted that plans to develop the Rushcliffe Spencer Academy site are progressing well with support from colleagues at Nottinghamshire County Council and Ruth Edwards MP making the case in Parliament.
“Primarily, this project will create much needed school places in the Rushcliffe area but it will also ensure that pupils and community groups can benefit from access to outstanding facilities.”
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• READ MORE: Rushcliffe School gets green light for £350,000 masterplan works to extend by 2022
