A LOCAL education authority has welcomed the government’s latest school improvement initiative after a school from its area was selected as one of just six nationwide to help up to 300 other schools in the region that are struggling.

North Yorkshire County Council warmly greeted the announcement by the Department for Education, but said it wanted to know more detail about how schools in the “local area” of would benefit from Teaching Schools Hubs.

It has emerged high-performing Harrogate Grammar School, which has been an academy since 2011 and has 1,850 students and a further 550 in its sixth-form, will act as the “regional hub” for a three-year programme of support and will receive funding to help between 200 to 300 other schools.

Stuart Carlton, the authority’s corporate director of children and young people’s services, said: “This is early days and we have yet to see details of how the Teaching School Hubs scheme will operate. However, we welcome any initiative designed to support schools in meeting the challenges they face. As the local education authority, we look forward to working with those involved with the aim of improving outcomes for young people across the county.”

This will give struggling schools direct access to the expertise from school leaders with a track record of improving challenging schools.

Support could include delivering tailored professional development for teachers, hosting observations and visits or deploying system leaders to offer advice and guidance to local schools.

The regional hub at the Harrogate school will form part of a scheme, launched by the department last year, to simplify and strengthen how the government drives up school standards, building on the successes of the Teaching Schools and National Leaders of Education programmes.

It also underlines the government’s determination to back teachers by attracting and supporting the best talent into the classroom and rewarding the great work they do.

It has already announced plans to raise teachers’ starting salaries to £30,000 as well as announcing an extra £14bn funding over three years for schools.

The scheme aims to build on the Government’s ambition to drive up school standards in areas of the country most in need of support.

Schools Minister Lord Agnew said: “It is vital that we back our best school leaders and help them to support struggling schools so that we can continue to drive forward the high standards we are already seeing in schools across the country.

“These new Teaching School Hubs will make it easier for the best school leaders to share expert advice and help schools in their local communities, ensuring that those schools facing the greatest challenges are supported as simply and efficiently as possible.”