AN OFSTED report that slams the performance of Thurrock’s Local Education Authority in its handling of primary education is expected to be published soon.
YourThurrock understands that the report, like the Audit Commission report on the councils “Direction of Travel” in March, puts the council in the bottom five in the country.
The report may coincide with the council’s reluctance to publish the Key Stage 2 results which, one industry insider has described as “disastrous”.
The senior schools are understood to be unhappy with the standards of many Year 7 students they inherit. While Ofsted has criticised several schools for holding back able pupils.
The report comes as Head of Orsett Primary, Ian Benyon resigned on friday, citing very little support and an avalanche of paperwork had made his position “untenable”.
Recent Ofsted reports for Little Thurrock and Warren Primary illustrate that recruitment is still a massive problem for schools at every level.
Purfleet primary is still reeling at having lost “Superhead” Alan Cass last term; East Thurrock Primary now has Head of St Clere’s Paul Griffiths in charge while Thameside and Quarry Hill have Interim’s in place.
The controversy surrounding Chafford Hundred Primary rumbles on with sources close to the school concerned that within two years it may have crashed from Sunday Times Top 500 to perilously close to special measures.
Parents at Kennington Primary have been appalled that five experienced teaching assistants have lost their jobs while clear tensions remain at Shaw Primary over the federation with Benyon.
Many Heads have cited the constant turnover of Directors of Education with five in five years as symptomatic of the lack of stability that plagues the council.
New Head of Children Services, Jo Olsson has made appointments with several heads as part of a fact-finding mission. Although her background in Waltham Forest was in “Childrens Services”; many are hopeful that she will be able to turn it around.
