Head seeks backers for arts college

Headteacher Barbara Williams is printing leaflets to mailshot every local firm - and some not so local - in the hunt for sponsorship for Norwood School's bid for specialist status.

The school plans to apply in October to become an arts college and staff know attracting enough business sponsorship will be the most time-consuming task.

"It is an effort,but if you want to be a specialist school you have to go through the process," said Ms Williams. "There are so many London schools competing for the same pot of commercial sponsorship.

"It is difficult for us on the edge of Lambeth, away from the big international companies. Outside the big cities, secondary schools serve larger areas and there are more businesses for them to contact. They like to sponsor schools with which they feel they have a local connection.

"It won't be easy to get the sponsorship, but specialist status is certainly worth going for. The arts are already very popular at this school and we want to use specialist status to drive up standards and really build on our strengths."