£300k to pay for foreign pupils at two Sandwell schools

Holly Lodge Science College and Shireland Collegiate Academy say the 'high cost pupils' mean they are having to employ more teachers and create extra classrooms.

It comes months after the Express & Star revealed there were around 140 languages being spoken in schools across Sandwell.

At Holly Lodge Science College in Smethwick, the school had 50 extra mid-term admissions in just over a year, with 27 of those being new to the UK or having English as an additional language. The school has had to employ three extra teachers as well as four learning support assistants.

At Shireland Collegiate Academy, also in Smethwick, there have been 34 extra mid-term pupils over one year.

The schools says the majority of the new admissions do not speak English as a first language or have special needs – one pupil could not write in any language.

Both schools have requested money from Sandwell Council. Holly Lodge had asked for £209,090, but is set to receive £134,172. Shireland Collegiate will get £142,188.

The funding will come from a £1 million contingency fund set up to give extra cash to schools who have pupils arriving mid-term, including those new to the country.

Sandwell Council's school forum is due to approve the funding at a meeting on Monday.

A report to the meeting states Holly Lodge has identified the pupils as 'high cost' as they are predominately new to the UK.

Principal Schools Accountant Rosemarie Kerr states in the report: "A few schools are reporting operational and financial difficulties as they work with the authority when providing additional classes and accepting mid-term admissions pupils, with a significant proportion of pupils being new arrivals to the country, who as well as having English as an additional language, present with high deprivation needs."

In a letter requesting the extra funding, Holly Lodge Science College headteacher Ahson Mohammed said: "You will appreciate that this level of (pupil) adjustment is expensive both in terms of resources but also of staffing."

Sir Mark Grundy, executive principal at Shireland Collegiate Academy, said the admissions had 'forced the academy to create an extra group to deal with the language difficulties students are encountering."