Manurewa MP George Hawkins said James Cook High School was a winner from announcements today of new programmes funded from the school innovations pool.

The school receives $52,020.00 for a programme aimed at lifting literacy levels among year 9 students.

It is one of fourteen programmes that gained from $1,035,322 of funding announced by Education Minister Trevor Mallard today. They were selected from 216 expressions of interest from schools throughout the country.

The Government is putting the money into programmes developed by schools in 2000, to target students at risk of educational failure.

Schools were invited to come up with proposals for the funding, and George Hawkins said the programmes that came through the selection process would make a real contribution the Government’s “closing the gaps” strategy.

"I'm delighted that this local innovation has been recognised," George Hawkins said.

"The Government recognises that the innovation displayed by many schools throughout the country shows that creativity and professionalism is alive and well in our education system.

"Many of the programmes focus on literacy and numeracy – something we all know is crucial to improve the overall standards in schools," George Hawkins said.

Trevor Mallard said that today’s funding announcement is the second of three rounds for innovative programmes in schools. Seventeen schools were funded in the first round, and their programmes have now been operating successfully for a year.

The geographical spread included a good range of schools from both the North and South Islands, both primary and secondary. The successful programmes would be able to start this month.

"I hope to be able to visit schools running some these innovative programmes to see first hand how they operate," Trevor Mallard said.

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