21/05/2010

Robin Walker, MP for Worcester, visited local Chuch of England college, Bishop Perowne to open a new state of the art studio, which will be used by students taking diplomas in creative media and ICT. The College is the closest secondary school to Robin's home in Sansome Walk and he was able to walk home after the meeting.

Robin met with Governors of the college, the Head Teacher, Julie Farr and students, including next years' headboys and headgirls. He admired the excellent new recording and editing facilities, unique for a secondary school in Worcester and officially declared the studio open.

Robin was also shown around other facilities at the school, including its smart IT suites and less smart science laboratories, some of which are in need of updating. Bishop Perowne, like other schools in Worcester, has suffered from the authority's low position in the funding allocations determined by central government and Robin discussed the need for fairer funding with the college's head teacher.

At the end of his visit Robin said

"It is an honour for me to have been invited to open this excellent new facility. It is the first of what I hope will be many openings for me as the Member of Parliament for Worcester and I am delighted to be able to support my local school. Education is one of my top priorities. In order for education to thrive we need quality resources such as this and I am sure that many students will benefit from the opportunities that this studio will offer to develop their creative talents."

"Funding remains a major challenge for all schools in Worcester and I have made it one of my key priorities to get fairer funding for our county. I have written to the new Education Secretary Michael Gove, who twice visited Worcester during my time as a candidate, to underline my support for reform of the funding formula and to invite him once again to visit a Worcester school, to come to this College and see for himself both the excellent investments that have been made and the areas where there is a need for more."

Notes to Editors

As part of the local comprehensive system, Bishop Perowne CofE College is a member of a consortium of schools, under the consortium name of "Aspire," that has been created to deliver the new diploma curriculum and qualifications.

Bishop Perowne is the lead school in Aspire for the Creative and Media Diploma and for the IT Diploma Institute. In order to enhance the delivery of the curriculum in both these subjects, the College has developed a film and media recording studio incorporating green-screen technology. Within the studio complex there is a fully equipped film studio, a separate editing room to mix the initial output of the studio and an ICT room for detailed editing of the images that have been created by the work carried out in the other two rooms and which will act as the pupil interface with the world of television.

Funding for the whole suite has been provided in part by Worcestershire County Council through the Aspire consortium, Carnaud Metal Box and by the Governors of the College through both their Devolved Formula Capital budget and their own resources.

It is believed that this facility, at the cutting edge of technology, is the only such in Worcester and local businesses either in the photographic and film industries or with photographic departments have expressed on interest in using it.