Primary school heads fix a £32,000 three week trip to Australia - with taxpayer money

Published 26th Dec 2009

Primary school heads organised their own three week trip to Australia with £32,000 of taxpayers' money, it emerged yesterday.

Those on the remarkably long trip included a husband and wife from neighbouring schools.

A computer technician also went on the 20,000-mile round trip to research the use of technology and assess how it can help pupils who do not speak English as their first language.

However campaigners monitoring government spending called the trip 'absurdly wasteful' and said computer technology could have been investigated on the internet or by sending one representative. Eight heads, a deputy head and the computer technician from Swindon toured 12 schools to compare IT skills with systems in the UK during the trip from November 4 to 23.

They came up with the idea themselves and, after approval from Swindon council, the £32,657 cost was met by three government quangos - Train to Gain, the Teacher Development Agency and the Standards Fund for Primary Education.

Each school also paid £500 from its budget. The heads refused to fund supply workers to cover their 20- day absence, leaving schools short-staffed.

The administration department at one primary descended into chaos when they were away, a source said.

Terri Menham, head of Red Oaks Primary School, was the leader and invited her husband Steve, head of nearby Wroughton Junior School.

Another head, Rhian Cockwell, abandoned her school to go in the weeks leading up to a visit from Ofsted inspectors. On her return she dashed straight from the airport to Oliver Tomkins Infants School in time for the inspection on November 24, sources said.

Three members of staff from one school went - Dr Nick Capstick, head of Drove Primary School, deputy head Ann Neave and computer technician, Mark Weller.

Dr Capstick, whose school has 450 pupils, 80 per cent of whom do not speak English when they arrive, said: 'When you have language and communication difficulties, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) enhances learning. This trip was an investment in growing technologies.'

The other heads were Sue Kershaw from Gorse Hill Infants, Helen Swanson from Tregoze Primary, Suzanne Seaton from Westlea Primary and Lauren Connor, headmistress of Moredon and Rodbourne Cheney schools.

The heads plan to address a conference in February on how to improve children's IT skills.

But Matthew Sinclair, of the Tax-Payers' Alliance, said: 'There is no need to travel to the other side of the world to see school computers in action. Spending tens of thousands on a trip is absurdly wasteful.'

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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