27/01/2017 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

In the headlines this Friday lunchtime:

More strike action by teachers protesting at the sponsors of this

And we've the latest on the redevelopment

of Whitley Bay's iconic Spanish City.

Teachers at a troubled school in West Cumbria have again been out

on strike today in protest at the actions of its sponsor,

Staff at the Whitehaven Academy say the Trust has led the school

into special measures and is failing pupils' education.

This is the second day of strike action this week involving

three trade unions - teachers here fulfilling a threat

first made before Christmas to use industrial action to force changes.

I think it's a massive decision and particularly for the ATL,

this is the first strike we've had in Cumbria, a local strike.

ATL has only ever had two strikes in its 125-year history nationally.

Staff say the Bright Tribe Trust has broken its promises

to improve the school, has left buildings to decay

and allowed it to drift into special measures.

The teachers here don't want to go on strike.

We recognise that it can be inconvenient for some people,

but we do need to see progress here, because actually, you know, one day,

if we see sustained and substantial improvements in this

The Bright Tribe trust told us they didn't have anyone available

for interview but they did provide a statement.

It said, Bright Tribe is fully committed to working with all staff

and trade unions in order to improve standards and provide a good level

of education for students at the Whitehaven academy.

Some parents too have joined in, trying to increase

We've collected over 1000 signatures from the community,

showing support for the teachers and what we're doing at the school,

the action that they are taking, because a lot of the parents feel

very strongly about what's been happening in the school.

We want to show our support for the teachers.

Mark McAlindon BBC Look North, Whitehaven.

Another of the region's secondary schools has been placed in special

measures after being judged inadequate by Ofsted.

Heaton Manor, which is Newcastle's largest school, was found

by inspectors to suffer "weak leadership, behaviour problems and

In a statement, the governors said they were disappointed

but would ensure pupils taking exams this summer would receive

The Government has the power to force local authority schools

rated as "failing" to become academies.

The deadline for public consultation over a controversial housing,

school and shopping development in Morpeth runs out on Monday.

The scheme would be built on the existing site

of Northumberland County Council's headquarters, with a new county hall

However, it has attracted criticism, with more than 1,000 objections -

including claims the retail park on the edge of town would harm

The town has got a fantastic functioning town centre

and for the last 30 years, up and down the country,

towns have been really hit hard by out-of-town retailing and we just

feel that this is a wrong proposal for Morpeth.

In our own county, Berwick and Blyth have had their towns hit really hard

Morpeth's town council also has concerns about the 200 homes

that the development would bring, but claims the County Council

They have refused repeatedly to come and talk to us.

We have a forum where we're supposed to be talking to the County Council

We have specifically invited them again just before Christmas

Northumberland County Council said that it isn't able

to comment as the planning applications are active.

We'll have more on this in tonight's Look North.

Just two days after the National Television Awards named them Best TV

Presenters for the 16th year running, Ant and Dec

were at Buckingham Palace this morning to collect

For once they appeared separately, with Dec going first,

to receive their OBEs from the Prince of Wales.

The Newcastle pair, who met as young actors on the children's

TV show Byker Grove, were each given the honour

for services to entertainment and broadcasting.

It's an iconic seaside building that fallen on hard times. Spanish city

in Brittany bay called in thousand and since then, numerous schemes

have been put forward is to revive it. Work is finally under way to

restore its famous dome. When you come inside here, you get a sense of

the grand year that this building once had. There's a lot of work

already been done, which means it's probably not that familiar to people

in recent years although much of the worst -- work has been about taking

it back to what it was when it was first opened in 1910. Chris is the

operations manager. That's right, isn't it? You've been restoring it

to what it was. What you see now is the building back in its original

1910 formation. It would be a restaurant when it will become? A

restaurant, bars, wedding venue, conference facilities. It must be

fantastic to work on something like an iconic building. It is. This is

probably the most iconic project that I've worked on. I'm loco, North

Tyneside born and bred and to work on the Dome is a fantastic

opportunity. Thanks very much. We've got some local people here. What you

think? It's really good to see it back in this condition. We've been

watching the building, watching what they've been doing. Willing them on

to get it finished. We want to use this. It's a great idea. Thanks very

much for joining us. The work is under way here. The public if there

are invited, getting a chance to look around today and the idea is,

this dome on the Spanish city will be done back to its original state

by the summer of next year. Peter Harris, BBC look North, Whitley Bay.

Peter Harris, BBC look North, Whitley Bay.

In football, Sunderland defender Patrick van Aanholt is set to link

up with his old Black Cats boss Sam Allardyce at Crystal Palace.

The Dutchman is currently in London undergoing a medical,

ahead of a deal which could be worth up to ?14 million.

And centre-back Papy Djilobodji will serve a four-match ban,

having lost his appeal against a charge

Staying in Sunderland, a blue plaque has been unveiled

in the city this morning to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

It's in honour of two Wearside sisters who helped Jewish people

Ida and Louise Cook used their love of opera to travel to Germany

and smuggle goods out in the 1930s, raising funds for Jews hoping

The plaque was unveiled at their childhood home

in Croft Avenue, and their nephew said his aunts were simply

Their motives, and I'm often asked and my cousins are often asked,

They saw people who they perceived as being in trouble and they did

That they were Jews didn't enter into it.

Now for a look at the weekend weather forecast.

A very chilly start this morning as low as minus five degrees,

still some pockets of frost around here and there but a bit

of sunshine as well, especially out towards the West.

The cloud, though, for all of us will start to thicken up as this

frontal system out towards the West starts to push its way in,

trying to introduce something a little bit milder as well

but its slow progress, so through the rest

of the afternoon, it will continue to feel really rather quite chilly.

But the best of any sunshine really out towards the north

and west, that cloud, though, trying to push on later.

The temperature struggling through the afternoon,

particularly out towards the eastern side of the Pennines.

We've done a bit better towards Cumbria.

Watch what happens throughout this evening and overnight,

that rain starts pushing, potentially transitory,

a little bit wintry in the nature of the higher ground as it pushes

in but actually, as that rain continues to pump them, overnight,

to all parts of the region, it is bringing with it some milder

air, so the temperature is actually should hold up largely just

above freezing as we head towards the start of your Saturday.

But as you can see, it is a wet start to the weekend.

That's rain will continue to track off towards the north and east,

so an improving picture throughout the morning into the afternoon.

A lot of dry weather, save for some showers potentially

just coming in behind and again, over higher ground, you can see

a little bit wintry, but temperatures have recovered

We'll continue to see a trend towards something a little

bit milder into Sunday although there will be some later

rain and then on Monday, back to double figures.

Looks like a chilly weekend. That said Friday lunchtime. I be back in

look North at 6:30pm tonight. Bye-bye.