Failing schools to be named

Up to a dozen failing schools considered to be moving too slowly towards recovery will be named this week by the new schools standards minister, Stephen Byers. They will be among those which have languished for longest - up to two years - on the failing list without making significant progress. Following an emergency review of the progress of all 281 schools on the list, those targeted will each be given a set of proposals for immediate action.

Measures to kick-start improvements are likely to include persuading local education authorities to send in "hero heads" - successful heads temporarily parachuted in from their own thriving schools, a tactic that worked at the Ridings School in Halifax, West Yorkshire where acting head Peter Clark has been on loan for two terms from his own school, Rastrick High. Ministers may also put pressure on LEA's to send in more governors and target extra resources, advice and support on persistent failures. Lucy Ward