Parents want 'kitchen classrooms'

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Many parents want kitchens in England's state schools so children can be taught how to cook, a survey suggests.

This was top of a resources wishlist for 63% of the 739 parents who took part in a PCP poll for the practical learning foundation Edge.

Almost as many wanted a business unit and computers in every classroom, while 45% chose a swimming pool, 25% a theatre and 19% a recording studio.

The government says there has been record investment in school facilities.

Edge sees the parental aspirations as seeking to narrow the difference in facilities between private and state schooling.

Chief executive Andy Powell said: "Parents quite rightly want the best learning environment for their children and that includes facilities that in the past have only been available in the country's private schools.

"If designed and managed correctly, with a clear vision and with dedicated staff and sponsors, new-build academies offer an opportunity to give pupils the type of learning they need, using the right facilities."

Edge is sponsoring two academies which will open next week in Nottingham and in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

In his 2006 Budget, the then Chancellor Gordon Brown set out a long-term goal to raise state school spending per pupil from £5,000 a year to the independent sector average of £8,000.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "Schools in England have never had such massive, sustained investment in facilities - with an eight-fold real terms rise between 1997 and 2011.

"Around 4,000 schools and tens of thousands of classrooms have been newly built, rebuilt or largely refurbished thanks to our £36bn capital over the last 12 years.

"We are committed to rebuilding or refurbishing the entire secondary school estate and half of all primary schools - giving parents, teachers and pupils outstanding classroom, music and sports facilities."