Bristol neighbourhood benefits from school investment

A community in Bristol is one of the areas that has benefited from Government investment in the New Deal for Communities (NDC).

The NDC programme has been aiming to bring about improvements for some of England’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

Barton Hill is one of the places where money has been spent.

The Barton Hill Primary School and Children’s Centre, saw £1.2 million investment to extend the school.

This has provided education and support to children from birth to eleven years, their parents and community.

The school was recently featured in the Channel 4 programme Dispatches, Kids Don’t Count, showing the school battling with radical teaching methods to stop the trend of children leaving primary education with no maths skills.

A total of 39 areas in England had £2 billion regeneration.

A final evaluation report of the finished programme found that there were improvements in GCSE results, crime and criminal damage due to the overall investment made.

Local Government Minister Rosie Winterton said: “It is clear from these studies that the benefits brought about by the NDC Programme are highly valued by residents and this is reflected in the finding that the Programme has delivered good value for money.”

“But the work won’t stop just because the programme has finished.  By empowering residents, NDCs have created an army of community leaders who can champion their areas and drive through improvements in the coming years.”