Four schools in the Bradford district are celebrating today after being awarded Beacon status for the first time.

But a leading teaching union says the scheme, which could see individual school coffers bolstered by tens of thousands of pounds, may not be the best way to raise standards.

Eldwick First School; All Saints First School, Ilkley; Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Ben Rhydding, and Sutton in Craven CofE Primary, Skipton, have all been awarded the honour, which comes into effect in September.

Beacon schools are able to bid for up to £50,000 a year for three years to demonstrate to neighbouring schools how they excel in a certain area. Details of how much each school will get will be released shortly.

All Saints in Ilkley has bid for £21,000 to build links with teacher-training courses at Trinity and All Saints College in Leeds, make videos of their own good teaching practice and possibly send out their own teachers as envoys to other schools.

Chair of governors, Kathryn Allen said the school's new-found status was very welcome. "We are all delighted about it," she said.

Government plans to expand the number of Beacon schools to at least 500 by September next year has not been universally welcomed.

Ian Murch, of Bradford's branch of the National Union of Teachers, said the schools from the largely prosperous areas of Ilkley, Eldwick and Ben Rhydding might have difficulty spreading their model of good practice to inner-city Bradford Schools.

"I am sure they are very good schools, but they are not exactly typical. I am not exactly sure that the best use of resources to help improve standards is to work in this way."

He questioned how much a teacher from Ilkley could help a colleague in a very different city environment.

Bradford education chairman, Councillor Susanne Rooney said winning Beacon status was a credit to the schools and a spur to high standards.

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