The council has set a-side £3.4m to help increase the number of Primary school places across the Bexley borough.
The areas of Thamesmead and Erith will be the main beneficiaries of the 'Basic Need' grant of 2011/2012 being used to increase the size of Jubilee and Castilion primary school in Thamesmead as well as Christ Church CE primary school in Erith..
However, the news was not entirely met with open arms, Laura Staunton, mother of two, is pleased with the intent, but believes a lot more is still to be done.
"Naturally, I think it's brilliant, the more money that is getting pumped in to our primary schools the better, but I still thing there is a lot of work that needs to be done.
"My eldest started primary school last year, and me and my other half had a torrid time trying to get her in to a school. It's brilliant for those based in Thamesmead and Erith, but for the rest of us, it is still as hard as ever."
The decision was explained by Deputy Council leader and Cabinet member for Education, Chancellor Windle, who, when speaking to a Bexley news publication, put the boost down to an increase in pressure.
"Due to a substantial influx of families with primary school aged children coming into the borough, there has been an increasing pressure on school places in recent years."
Windle continued "I am delighted that we are able to address this problem with substantial investment in primary expansion in Bexley."
North West Kent college re-development close to completition
The multi-million pound re-development of North West Kent is getting ever closer to completion with staff hoping to have everything finished and ready in time for the new academic year.
The new £84m face lift will be the new home for many of the college departments especially for the hair dressing and beauty therapy sector which will benefit from an entirely new salon, therapy and relaxation studio and a makeup studio.
Also among the list of new additions to the college will be a multipurpose sports centre, complete with gym facilities and two indoor sport halls.
The building work commenced back in 2009 but due to a number of technical and financial issues, the construction was delayed momentarily. Initially, the re-development work would have surpassed the £100m mark if it wasn’t for a number of government cuts which saw the building work reduced.
Tracy Rock, a hair and beauty lecturer at NWK, is optimistic about moving in to a new building and believes that in the long run it’ll see better performance results from the students.
Rock said: “It is a very impressive building that we’ll be moving in to, and the new equipment we will be getting will be brilliant for the students.
“It was never a case of the old equipment and the old studios were hampering the students, but I think that with all this new state of the art facilities that will be available for the students, it will definitely increase their performances and make it easier for us to teach.”
Once the construction work is completed, NWK will be one of the largest higher education institutes in the south east area, spreading across two campuses. But the increase in size and student in take is not something that the teaching staff are finding daunting. Click on the link below to listen to an interview with Tracy Rock, head hair and beauty lecturer at NWK college.
