WIRRAL West MP Stephen Hesford was principal guest at the annual prizegiving at Pensby High School for Boys.

Headteacher Martin Jones, welcoming Mr Hesford, thanked him for his interest in the school and for his support for the West Wirral Trust for Sport.

In his annual report, Mr Jones spoke positively about the OFSTED inspection and said he was pleased with the good report the school had received.

He went on to thank the local authority for the new buildings, recently completed, and for the "excellent" response that there had been to a fire at the school last Summer.

But Mr Jones expressed his extreme concern that the school's budget had been cut by 1.7 per cent this year and that the teacher/pupil ratio is now the worst it has ever been.

He criticised Wirral Council's decision to set education spending at a level £4.04 million below the Government's Standard Spending Assessment and called for a restoration of the cuts and for the council to set an education budget at least at the level of the Standard Spending Assessment.

Mr Jones concluded by praising the efforts of the staff and the achievements of pupils during the past year and by congratulating those who had taken external examinations for producing such good results.

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