FOUR schools in Worcestershire were looking to the future today after been named as among Britain's cream of the crop.

They have been awarded Beacon School status by the Government for their high standards in certain areas of work and will receive a cash boost averaging £35,000 a year for the next three years.

The schools to receive this prestigious honour are Pershore High; Castlemorton CE Primary, near Malvern; Meadows First School, Bromsgrove; and Haybridge High School at Hagley.

Pershore High's deputy head Clive Corbett said they were very pleased with the news, announced yesterday, which recognised their work with gifted and talented pupils, disaffected youngsters and staff development.

As part of the Beacon School initiative, Pershore has to share information about its strengths, and has linked with Elgar High School in Worcester to help it develop in those areas.

Elgar received "specialist" college status in the same announcement by Education Secretary Estelle Morris.

"The Department of Education and Skills has decided we have areas of good practice we can spread around other schools," said Mr Corbett.

"This is our first bid for Beacon status and it's worked out extremely well. It also helped us to think about where we're going in the future."

He thanked everyone who had supported the bid - especially the education department at Worcestershire County Council.

As a result of the award, the school will be working closely with its feeder schools as well as Elgar High.

"We think they'll be interested in our Kick Start initiative which is for disaffected pupils," said Mr Corbett.

"We might also run a conference for gifted and talented pupils attending schools in South Worcestershire."

Castlemorton CE Primary headteacher Mary Worthington, said: "We're very excited about this and congratulations are due to everyone involved with the school.

Success

"Pupils, parents, governors, teaching and non-teaching staff all work extremely hard and make vital contributions to the success of the school."

Castlemorton, which has 70 pupils and seven full and part-time teachers, plans to set up a network for small schools in the area.

"Small schools can be rather isolated and I think all the other schools around here are as good as us but we can be a pivot point so that they can all share expertise and training," added Mrs Worthington.

The Beacon school initiative was set up in September 1998 in a bid to raise standards by encouraging schools to share what they do well.