REDDITCH MP and education minister Jacqui Smith has welcomed county figures showing class sizes for youngsters aged five, six and seven are falling, writes Julian Seva.

But figures also revealed that three of the most crowded classes for Key Stage 1 pupils were in Redditch.

Just nine county classes catering for this age-group have more than 30 children, but a third of them are in Redditch alone - at Harry Taylor, St Luke's C of E and Ravensbank first schools.

County figures revealed schoolchildren were benefiting from smaller average class sizes in both primary and secondary education.

Ms Smith said: "I am delighted Worcestershire County Council has been able to deliver on the Government size targets.

"In some cases this has been difficult to achieve like at Astwood Bank First School where a new classroom needs to be built, but the council has got on with the job and now thousands of children will gain."

A county council spokesman agreed the figures were good news and said: "Class size is not a problem in Worcestershire."

But he did highlight the ongoing campaign to gain a better financial deal for education in the county as a whole, backed by many headteachers in Redditch.

"We had the lowest grant last year and the bottom line is that education is a funding issue," he added.