“A shrill scream echoes through the hallway, a white sheet of paper tattooed with an answer is held firmly in their hand. Around Thurrock, hundreds of other screams are uttered, hundreds of other sheets of paper are posted through letterboxes – the object of every hopeful college student’s desire: “Dear … We are delighted/regret to inform you that your application to the University of … has been successful/unsuccessful.”

There is no question about what will be going on behind the tiny porches of Thurrock over the next few months; the question that I am most curious about is what university will our brightest be enrolling to, if in fact they will be enrolling at any at all?

YourThurrock has challenged local colleges and schools recently with shocking statistics, all of which have been subject to an onslaught of defence. But the real question we at YourThurrock are asking is one of sheer simplicity: are you happy with the six percent, yes or no? No long-winded, embellished response, just the raw statistic as it sits on the paper.

Over recent weeks, there has been lively debate as to what defines a good university, with many blaming local politicians for revealing the quandary and some blaming local colleges and students for massaging these figures. The Completely University Guide factors in the following key components essential for Higher Education: entry standard, student satisfaction, research assessment and graduate prospects. The elitist Cambridge holds its academic reign and London South Bank falls to the bottom, with the Russell Group universities lingering around the upper regions of the league table. So to silence any retort, the “good” universities in the UK are diligently determined through meticulous methodology, which is improved upon year on year.

The catalyst for this dispute is indeed whether “good” universities reflect the educational standards for the borough, so let’s do a little compare and contrast: the entry standard to study English at the University of Cambridge is A*AA. The entry standard to study English at the London South Bank University is CCC. Therefore, someone who gets into the University of Cambridge, gaining top marks in all three A Level exams, in theory, should be more widely celebrated than someone who enrols into the lowest ranked university in the country, otherwise there becomes an iniquitous belief that an A* is as good as a C. The defence is the generic “they don’t do the courses I wish to study” – Russell Group universities offer variety and combinations envied by other, less prestigious universities due to the endowments given to these institutions for research and facility improvements.

For many headteachers, they have been forced to face the reality of falling university applicants and has become somewhat of an elephant in the room. Is it really lack of motivation on the students’ part or are our educational standards slipping on an already slippery slope, for most of which I blame Labour. At the end of a degree, every graduate yearns to be employed, particularly at a company proportional to their studies, and the “good” universities have the highest graduate prospects, which is why we should be pushing our students to the maximum, towards the best universities in the country, to one day see those very students powering our economy, government, education system, scientific breakthroughs, award winning literature and aspiring leadership. Why should we settle for an average university when we can push students to go onto the best ones? Every student has the potential and every student has the environment to exercise that potential, so why? Why isn’t that six percent of students attending “good” universities in Thurrock, sixty? I asked forty first and second year students at Palmer’s Sixth Form College what two universities they planned on attending. In bold are Russell Group universities, of which there are twenty.

Note that some knew one university they wished to attend but not the other, so therefore chose one from the following list, and then uncertainty.

East Anglia 2
Greenwich 4
Oxford 2
Goldsmiths 1
Queen Mary 3
Southampton 4
Brighton 6
Essex 6
No University 11
Open University 1
Cambridge 2
Unsure 6
Birmingham 2
Edinburgh 1
Bournemouth 3
Leicester 1
Anglia Ruskin 2
Kent 3
City London 2
Bangor 1
King’s College, London 2
Bath 2
London School of Economics and Political Science 1
Royal Holloway 1
Canterbury 1

As presented in the data, only fourteen out of forty are placing their hopes on a Russell Group university, which converts to only thirty five percent With over a thousand students at Palmer’s, the data is only a small population of the college; therefore the percent will undoubtedly go down as the quantity of students increase. Only four set their sights on the coveted Oxbridge – a meagre ten percent of all asked.

At twenty, the highest was no university with second as local university Essex, uncertainty and Brighton, and joint third being Greenwich and Southampton. Emma Gardiner, English Lecturer at Palmer’s, offered her wisdom as to why these universities were most popular: “…Over the past few years I’ve found that a lot of students here apply for universities based on location. University of Essex, East Anglia or the London universities are often first choices for students simply because they would prefer to live at home and commute. For those students who prefer to stay at university, the two universities in Canterbury are always very popular as students can stay there, but they can still get home in an hour or so if they want to.”

This paints us a shocking picture: do our students really value convenience over educational experiences? Has a complacency culture grown among us?

After speaking to some students, I’ve come to know the five considerations that ultimately decide the university of choice: location; tuition fees; courses available; prestige of university and its relevance to their career prospects, particularly those who choose no university. My choices are Oxford University and King’s College, ranked number two and sixteen respectively out of the one hundred and sixteen universities in the UK. To study English, my choices rank in two and twenty two respectively, both highly regarded universities in academic circles. My decision behind Oxford covers courses available, prestige of university and its relevance to my career prospects, as does King’s College. Sheer ambition has neglected the tuition fees and location: where there’s a will, there is a way. Though challenging, it prepares us for the real world, where you cannot rely on what is merely expected of you, but where you can rely on the prevailing of diligence, persistence and excellence.

My quest for answers has led me to solid conclusion. There is of course only one real way to find out: come back and read my blog in five years time and I promise to tell you all about it…

It is a cherished spot at the school. Many of the former students will reminisce about their fishing days there.

But staff, students and a number of organisations are planning to make big changes at the island.

In this, the first of many films, YT speaks to deputy head, Lesley Durso and some of the pupils as to what they are planning to do.

Many of the students will have seen her steely eyed competitive streak on ITV’s “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here.” but in Thurrock Fatima is best known for her athletic prowess in the eighties where she won two olympic medals, a world championship and broke the world record in 1986.

Fatima spoke to a whole school assembly before hosting a seminar before a select group of students. It was a golden opportunity to get some priceless advice.

YT spoke to Fatima about her day at the school and the advice she had for the students.

Orsett Conservative councillor, Mike Revell challenged education bosses at Thurrock Council last week over the low numbers of students going to top universities. In 2009-10, no Thurrock student went up to either Oxford or Cambridge and all other stats see Thurrock languishing near the bottom of the league.

The council revealed that of the 520 Palmer’s College students that went to university last year, only 6% went to the Russell group of universities (Edinburgh, Durham, LSE, Exeter, York etc.).

But principal Vinall has written to YT to put their side of the story.

Mr Vinall said: “In this case I feel the young people of Palmer’s have been done a disservice.

We are proud of every student we send to university. For many they will be the first in their family to progress to HE. Whether they progress to Oxford or Cambridge, to a Russell Group university or the one up the road, it is the progression to a potentially life changing educational experience that we celebrate and we must never make those who do not go to the Russell Group feel in any way inadequate. They have not failed and nor has Palmer’s.

It is also worth noting that for many of our students the Russell Group is an inappropriate measure as the top university choice for their chosen subject is not a Russell Group university at all. If we compare the Guardian league tables, for subjects such as Media, Film, some Business courses, Nursing and even Veterinary Science and Dentistry, many or most of the top choices are not in the Russell Group at all.

Also, some of our finest universities are not in the self-selecting Russell Group. To take an example which is clearly not at random, when one of our ex-Grays School students got 39 points on the IB (that’s 589 UCAS points and our best-ever IB score) and went to Durham to study English, she had done phenomenally well and has gone to one of the premier universities in the country if not world. Yet Durham is not in the Russell Group. Nor is York, where we regularly send students to strongly competitive courses as Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Psychology and Philosophy. Admission to a Russell Group university is, at best, a skewed measure of excellence.

Palmer’s College is committed to social inclusion and widening participation and this is entirely compatible with raising aspirations and increasing success. We do not believe that opportunity is restricted by postcode, or that doors are closed to our students that are open to others. We send our students to the universities that are right for them and, of course, we always want them to get the best offer they can that is consistent with their UCAS choices. We never lack ambition for our students. To be criticised for not being elitist enough is shocking. Imagine what criticism we would receive in a few years if the town centre campus is built and we don’t send any students there because they have all gone away to Russell Group universities.

Last year we sent 520 students to university. That’s 520 success stories.

Aisling, a year 9 pupil at Grays Convent School, will be playing two cello pieces whilst 300 guests including Mayors from across the South East region, MPs and other dignitaries enjoy their main course.

Aisling said: “I was surprised to receive the letter inviting me to play and I don’t feel nervous, just excited to perform”.

Deputy Headteacher Dawn Collis said “Aisling is a wonderful cellist and a delightful young lady. She should feel very proud of this achievement and having heard her play, know the dinner guests will be in for a treat”.

As we have said before, these lessons are not ofsted and not crits but simply give a flavour of what is happening in each school at the business end.

Here is a fascinating lesson which is a bit like a Rolf Harris painting. At the beginning, we are not sure how it will all come together but as the lesson progresses, the year 8 students “get it”

At the end of each piece and we do the same here, we interview a student and ask them, what they gained from the lesson and how they learned from the lesson.

Over 50 creative minded pupils from Grays school and Media arts College and St. Cleres took part in three interactive workshops including photography and graphics, printmaking and costume design.

The costume design workshop saw students armed with a variety of paper, pins, scissors and staplers, and their creativity tested as they attempted to create a dress that wouldn’t look out of place on Lady Gaga.

The Grays School pupil, Kieran Lintott, 13, from Grays said: “Today has been really fun, although I admit I was a bit apprehensive before the costume design workshop, once we got going I really enjoyed it. It’s helped me recognise what I really enjoy doing which will be helpful when it comes to choosing my GCSE options soon.”

The art, media and design ‘Have a Go!’ event was one of a series of schools conferences run in conjunction with WorldSkills, the world’s largest skills competition which was hosted by London in October 2011. South Essex College is delivering the workshops as part of the WorldSkills ‘Have a Go’ campaign to give one million people across the UK the chance to Have a Go and try a new skill. Funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), the events aim to develop local young people’s knowledge of training on offer and career opportunities for the future.

John Seal, Head of Careers at the Grays School commented: “Experience days like this are just as valuable as English and Maths as they can unlock the huge amount of potential that the pupils possess. These types of funded events can really help to plant seeds that open our young people’s minds to future careers.”

In all the MOMO theatre will be visiting 30 schools in the borough over the next few weeks.

The highly acclaimed theatre group, which specialise in performing shows about sustainability and the environment, will be performing two different shows — Car-less Talk for the primaries and The Man from the Council for secondary school students.

Both plays deal with road safety issues and sustainable travel choices.

The shows have been funded under the Department of Transport’[s, Local Sustainable Transport Fund following Thurrock Council’s success in bidding for £5 million funding for a package of measures over four years.

The council’s road safety team is working with Thurrock’s schools to highlight the importance of road safety.

Cllr Andy Smith, the council’s portfolio holder for Regeneration, said: “Road safety, especially for our children, is a very important issue and this is a fun and interactive way to get the messages across — promoting sustainable travel such as walking or cycling at the same time.

“Cycling to school is not only good for the local environment, it’s a great way to be healthy and have fun.”

Ms O’Donoghue, who is currently Principal of Sunderland College, is expected to begin her new role in August, ready for the start of the next academic year.

South Essex College is the largest College in the Eastern region and has campuses across Basildon, Southend and Thurrock and offers everything from entry level courses to degrees and apprenticeships to its 17,000 students.

Angela comes to the College at an exciting new period of development when it is continuing to expand its range of courses across south Essex and planned new builds in Southend, Basildon and Thurrock to help deliver the right skills and qualifications to young people, adults and businesses alike.

With nearly 30 years in education, prior to being Principal of Sunderland College, a role which she has held for seven years, Ms O’Donoghue was previously the Principal of Bsix Sixth Form College Brooke House, based in Hackney. This was the first new college to be established in the country for over a decade and opened in September 2002.

Prior to that Angela was the Director of Curriculum and then Acting Principal of Wigan and Leigh College. Before moving to Wigan, Angela worked for 17 years in a variety of roles at Liverpool Community College.

Chair of the College’s corporation, Richard Launder, commented: “The appointment of Angela O’Donoghue as Principal and Chief Executive of South Essex College comes at a time of considerable investment in new facilities, development of new courses and planned expansion. Angela’s significant experience and skills complement those of the excellent staff, and her appointment will be pivotal to these developments as we move forward as a lifelong learning education provider.”

He continued: “I’d also like to thank John Hayles, the current Acting Principal and Chief Executive, and all staff for their excellent work and support during this interim period.”

Ms Maclaughlin brings a passion, commitment, discipline and personality to the subject that the pupils love.

As part of our concentration on core subjects, we filmed one of her lessons to see how she does it and what the students get out of it.

Recently, the school put all the plans on display with fascinating computer generated graphics.

YT spoke to head, Tess Walker about the plans and how the new school would augment the educational experience at the thriving school.

Two weeks ago, Your Thurrock revealed that in 2009-10 on students from Thurrock went up to either Oxford or Cambridge. Two students accepted places (inc YT blogger Jessica Pham) but they both deferred.

We interviewed Harris Academy chief, Chris Tomlinson who has made it his mission to reverse this trend and believes his sixth form is one of the solutions to this problem.

The cause has been taken up by senior Conservative councillor, Mike Revell who at Wednesday nights meeting of the full council slammed the borough’s poor record.

In bullish mood, he asked the council’s portfolio holder, cllr Oliver Gerrish to respond to statistics that saw not a single student go to Oxbridge in 2009-10 and less than 50% go to an university that same year. A figure that saw the borough in the bottom six in the country.

Cllr Gerrish said: “As GCSE results have risen in the borough above national averages it is important that our students have the highest aspirations for their progression.

He said that while it was important “to ensure even higher numbers of pupils achieve places at the research intensive universities such as Oxford and Cambridge and the Russell group” it was also worth noting that many students stayed closer to home.

Cllr Gerrish said: “I am pleased to report from our locally collected data that from Palmer’s Sixth Form College in 2011, three students went to Oxbridge — not zero as some have said.

“One went to Cambridge to read Natural Sciences, two to Oxford, one to read Law, the other Medicine. This year there are four Oxbridge offers already at this early stage.”

He added: “In 2011, 520 of Palmer’s students progressed to university, with 32 going to the Russell group. Unsurprisingly the most popular destinations were local with 40 choosing the University of Greenwich followed by 33 progressing to ARU and 26 going to Essex.”

Cllr Gerrish also said that the council had requested more detailed information from the Higher Education Skills Agency as this information is not routinely sent to local authorities at this stage in the year.

And he added: “With additional sixth form places being provided by schools and academies as well as other providers, we are planning for even greater achievement in the future.”

65% of pupils achieved 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths, a figure well above the National Average and the second highest figure for the Convent in the last 4 years.

Pupils at the Convent sit an average 9.4 GCSEs in a range of subjects, these are well established, recognised qualifications and moreover each pupil takes a GCSE in Religious Studies, a humanities subject not included in the statistics for the English Baccalaureate.

Headteacher Miss Brister said “I am proud of our pupils and staff on their achievements; this puts Grays Convent in the top 25% of schools nationally in terms of progress made by pupils”.

Highlights for the Convent included:

97% of high attaining pupils achieved 5 A*-C grades at GCSE including English and Maths

Special congratulations to Opeyemi Adekoye, Lauren Carson, Amelia Darbro, Katy Jones, Aimee Summer, Rebecca Terry and Beth Winslow, who all gained A*s and As in all of their 9 GCSEs.

Convent pupils achieved well above the national levels for progress in English and Maths with 80% of pupils achieving expected progress in Maths, significantly higher than the National average.

Miss Brister added, “We work very hard as a school to support all our pupils and are especially proud of our pupils who for one reason or another are disadvantaged. 57% of these girls achieved 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths, which meets the National average for all pupils, not just those who might be facing difficulties.

I am proud of each and every girl’s achievement. At present our attendance figures are at a record high of 95.4%, a sure sign that our pupils are enjoying school and are focussed on achieving well. Once again, I thank pupils and staff and especially our parents for all they do to support their daughter’s education”.

Thameside Junior School bikers were in celebratory mood on Tuesday (17 January) when Katie Van Dop, Thurrock Council’s Sustrans Bike It officer joined them to open a brand new 20-stand bike shed funded by the Big Lottery under the Active Travel Consortium.

The Manor Road school held a Bike It day to promote cycling to school and Katie was on hand to have tea with parents to discuss the safety aspects of cycling to school and do safety checks on the children’s bikes.

Later there was a bike accessory sale and all the children who cycled to school were entered into a free raffle to win cycling goodies.

The school’s deputy head Lynn Billinghurst said: “The children had a brilliant time and were so excited at having the new bike shed we had 26 more children than usual cycle to school.

“We hope the children continue to cycle to school and we plan to take part in the Big Pedal later in the year, where we hope to win some pool bikes for the school.”

To find out more about Bike It and the work Thurrock Council and Sustrans are doing to improve cycling in Thurrock, please email Katie Van Dop at