31/10/2016 North West Tonight

the United States. Join me now on BBC Two, and that

White working class children in parts of Merseyside are being let

That's the conclusion of an independent study which looked

at why Knowsley has the country s worst GCSE results.

One of the main recommendations is to set up a grammar school.

But that idea was firmly rejected by the borough's Labour council

Here's our political reportdr Kevin Fitzpatrick.

Knowsley is a borough where children have consistently failed

It's currently the lowest performing authority in the country for pupils

At this academy - one of six local secondary schools -

there have been signs of improvement, but it remains

These children are bright and they want to learn.

They are like sponges, they're great students,

Over time, they haven't had the good diet of teaching

The report by ResPublica found that children are being held back

by a lack of diversity in the classroom, by poor use

of resources when pupils are struggling, and by a stop-start

And when pupils leave school, there is nowhere in Knowslex

If the report says they are the worst performing schools,

I think they should invest lore money within the schools

to train teachers, provide more equipment for them.

Among the proposals to improve education is the adoption

of the marginal gain strategy of the British cycling team,

where small increases in performance across the board lead

They also think some teachers should be paid more.

Controversially, ResPublica say a new grammar school

In an area like Knowsley, which is predominantly

white working class, you don't have the problems

of middle-class pupils elbowing working-class pupils out.

Knowsley Council refused to speak to us today, but in

In response to the recommendations the council does accept, it has

launched a ?1 million education commission to tackle the issues

The life-chances of a new gdneration of pupils will depend

We heard in Kevin's report the council firmly rejected the idea

that a grammar school could help the borough's education.

Earlier I asked the Governmdnt's School Standards Minister Nick Gibb

Well, it's a pity they disregard an independent report.

Knowsley's GCSE results are the lowest in the country.

Their EBacc figure - this is the proportion of children

gaining the core academic stbjects of science, maths, English,

a foreign language, a humanity - stands at 9.5%

of children attaining those GCSEs, compared to 24% nationally,

so they do need to take action to improve academic

Here is an independent report that highlights some significant issues

in Knowsley that they could tackle if they took this report seriously -

It's been almost 70 years in the planning, but today,

the long-awaited link road between the M6 and Heysham opened.

The Bay Gateway cost ?140 mhllion, but it's claimed it'll ease

congestion in and around Lancaster as well as helping

Our chief reporter Dave Guest has the story.

They'd waited almost 70 years to see this day.

Little wonder then that there was some excitement during the final

countdown to the opening of the new Bay Gateway.

It's been a local plan since the '40s and we've trhed

and tried and pushed and pushed and eventually we got

Britain's first motorway, the M6 between Preston

Ten years earlier they'd bedn talking about how it might

be linked to Heysham, and so almost 70 years

after they first started talking about it the M6 to Heysham

They reckon about 25,000 vehicles will pass along here every day,

but to many around here this is far more than just three

It's a route towards economhc regeneration for the area.

This road is going to be the catalyst for that regendration.

Is there a danger people will come from the port,

straight through Morecambe and Lancaster, onto

A lot of people who use the ferries do stay in Morecambe.

The scheme is not without controversy.

The road cuts through swathes of countryside and there

are objections about its impact on the environment.

But the MP for Lancaster says it will improve the environment

Having HGVs outside of our city centre on the Bay Gateway road

is going to make our city cdntre a more pleasant place to experience.

350,000 trucks pass through Heysham harbour every year.

The trucks are currently tr`nsiting through Lancaster centre and can now

Here, they say the link road will be a major boom for business.

Now the link road is actually physically open it gives us

the confidence to invest evdn more money for the future

It's cost ?140 million to build but its supporters say everx one

of those pounds spent will generate a further four for the area.

An eight-year-old boy who dhed in a house fire in Sandbach over

the weekend has been named `s Lucas Carter.

The fire on Platt Avenue happened early yesterday morning.

Lucas's mother, Kelly-Anne Carter, remains in hospital being treated

A top north west heart doctor - who beat his teenage daughtdr

after she disobeyed him by going to a Halloween party -

has been banned from practice for a year.

Dr Gohar Rahman - who worked as a consultant cardiologist

at Wigan Infirmary - was given a suspended

jail term in February after he admitted the assault.

Veterans gathered in Liverpool today to commemorate the 75th annhversary

of the first sailing of the Arctic convoys in the second world war.

They were dangerous voyages but a vital part of the war effort -

supplying food and equipment to Russia.

The Royal Marines Band beats the retreat outside

Watching on, veterans of the 1940s Arctic Convoys to Russia.

Among them, 92-year-old Alec Owens from Wirral.

He was a gun loader in the Royal Navy.

As high as skyscrapers, some of the seas.

You'd go down in the depth and come up again and you could

And down again, you can't see a thing.

NEWS ARCHIVE: The largest convoy ever taken to Russia

It wasn't just the weather that made the run north so dangerous.

German U-boats and aircraft were a constant threat.

Though as a teenage merchant seaman, Roger Ellison, from the Isle

I was a young man who didn't feel scared at that age.

Not on the ship - I didn't, anyway.

The man who leads the present day navy was in Liverpool

The Arctic convoys were one of the most extraordinarily

challenging events that anyone in the Second World War took part

It is important we remember that sacrifice today.

Sir Philip also presented the Lord Mayor with an Arcthc Star

We'd been trying to get his Arctic Star for him.

He died in 2010, so I'm hondstly so proud to wear it for him today -

HMS Dragon is in Liverpool to salute the veterans.

And there was a fly past by the very swordfish biplane which another

Merseyside veteran flew to protect the convoys.

Close to the magnetic pole, navigation was hard

and getting lost easy. We came out of the stern and we d no

It makes me go cold now to think about it.

Imagine being in the Arctic Circle, which way is North?

The weather has been far from Arctic here, hasn't it? Let's look at what

is in store for the week ahead. It's our third very mild

Hallowe'en in a row, We're stepping into November

and there will be changes Initially we have high

pressure to start, so it's We'll see more organised rahn

on Thursday afternoon lingering until Friday,

and as we head towards the weekend The main thing as we go

through the week is the nights You can see the area of high

pressure sticking with us for about another 48 hours,

but after that the weather fronts start to come in and there's the low

pressure that will start to take control as we head

towards the weekend. But at the minute we are still

in the relatively mild air. The overnight temperatures are not

too bad - six for rural are`s, A line of weak rain heading

towards us in the early hours of the morning,

so visibility is fairly A few spots of drizzle to start

the day, but it doesn't takd too long before the clearance

comes on in. Brighter skies on to

the Isle of Man and parts Sunshine everywhere as we hdad

into the afternoon. With a light breeze you would think

that might feel quite good, but with a change in the wind

direction and the air type it's going to be quite cool,

10-11 at the best. A chilly night on Tuesday night

through to Wednesday, a cool start, but look at the long spells

of sunshine you will see as you go Wednesday looks like being puite

nice, but the numbers We've seen these temperaturds

typically the overnight period over the last couple of days,

so daytime temperatures, Thursday starts OK but the line

of weather creeps towards us towards the tail end of the day

and that will be around first The unsettled conditions st`rt

to work towards us but remember the daytime temperatures

and night-time temperatures side. Strong northerly winds, some

sunshine and