A £3 million bid to make Burnley an education action zone offered a golden opportunity to build on the success of local schools, a headmaster said today.

Kieran Heakin, head of St John's Junior School, said the chance to link with parents, business, education welfare, social services and other agencies to offer greater opportunities for local children was an opportunity which had to be grasped. Mr Heakin said the massive cash injection would raise standards by offering a co-ordinate approach to schooling in an area of deprivation.

And he scorned reports that the action zones were targeted at flagging schools - reports, he said, which had demoralised local teaching staff. "Action zones are not about propping up failing school, they are about celebrating and building on success and I am delighted Burnley has been earmarked for inclusion."

He added that of the 20 schools included in the bid, only one had been labelled as failing by Ofsted inspectors.

The flagging schools label would do nothing to attract business sponsorship, vital to the success of the action schemes, he said. "Business will naturally not wish to be associated with failure and it is not the case that it should be.

"In Burnley we have success and the spirit in schools to go forward to greater improvement. The action zone is an exciting development which offers the potential to improve the performance of a lot of children in the area."

Mr Heakin said early meetings were planned with school governors and other agencies to press ahead with the bid.

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