§ Mr. Damian GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the beacon schools which have not been accepted as leading edge schools. [118700]
§ Mr. MilibandWe will shortly be making an announcement of the schools that have been successful in this round of the Leading Edge Programme. At that stage we will provide a list of schools—including Beacon Schools—that applied but were unsuccessful.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the structural distinction between the Leading Practice programme and the Beacon school initiative. [117173]
§ Mr. MilibandThe Leading Edge Programme is specific to secondary schools and builds on the success of the Beacon Schools initiative to encourage an accelerated pace of change and improvement. The LEA puts significantly more emphasis on active local collaboration to spread excellence.
In primary, the 'Leading Practice' programme, described in the recent primary strategy document `Excellence and Enjoyment', will also build on successful practice developed through the beacon programme. We intend to develop a 'Leading Practice' programme with common national criteria and branding. It will be focussed on identifying outstanding work in particular areas, within schools that are performing well across the board. The LEA will have a role in working with 'leading practice' schools to ensure they contribute to local networking arrangements so that excellent practice is spread widely.