New bid to promote key school subjects in South Tyneside

Some schools in South Tuyneside may be selected for a new education initiative

South Tyneside Council’s Education and Skills Panel heard an update on the ‘Exchange Partnership’ - which aims to support schools to promote career opportunities.

This ranges from events, careers fairs and business projects linked to the curriculum to regional projects by firms such as Nissan and Accenture.

The meeting heard that training provider ‘STEM Learning’ recently approached the council to run a scheme with a number of schools in the borough.

This would include extra support around staff training and curriculum development alongside improving links with employers.

Councillors heard the project would focus on engineering and manufacturing and link in with the £41m International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP).

The under-construction business park, north of the Nissan plant off the A19, is a joint project between Sunderland and South Tyneside councils and is expected to create more than 7,000 jobs.

Under the programme, between four and eight secondary schools and South Tyneside College could work with ‘STEM Learning’ over a two year period.

While the full scheme and chosen schools are expected to be finalised in future, the council is now looking for sponsorship and school contributions to fill a £10k funding gap for the project.

Chris Binding , Local Democracy Reporting Service