ALL Thurrock schools will be buoyed by the news in the Queen’s Speech that pledges academy status for 500 secondary and 1,700 primary schools in England.
The relationship between the schools in Thurrock and the Local Education Authority (LEA) is hardly something you would call harmonious. When the Head of Chafford Hundred School said in a letter to politicians that “If the school could leave the borough it would” he may well have been saying in public what many of the other Heads have been thinking and fuming privately.
It is clear that with the failed Building Schools For The Future (BSF) bid, the heads of the senior schools are desperate for some light at the end of the tunnel.
The improvements seen at the Gateway Academy and Ormiston Park Academy since changing status have become the envy of the borough.
William Edwards still have their dream of a Sports Academy at Blackshots and knowing Dep.Head Ralph Henderson, that may well come true.
It also appears that Gable Hall and William Edwards Head, John King OBE will want to see both schools have the best possible future before his retirement next year.
The news will also be welcome by the primary schools who, yourthurrock understands, are looking for encouragement after dozens of underwhelming Ofsted reports and the news that new Education Boss, Jo Olsson wants to “federate” the schools with Southend.
The decision angered staff at the primary schools but as one source said: “Not one primary school in Thurrock boycotted SATS. Jo Olsson knows they are extremely passive and they have given her carte blanche to railroad any proposals she likes.”
The new Labour regime in Thurrock have pledged to sit down with the borough heads as soon as they can.
So when things are failing just change the name and hey presto everything is hunky dorey again!!!!!!!
At least the new government have seen that you need to allow the teachers to teach and not to bog things down with red tape and policies, the problem that a lot of teachers in the borough and other inner city primary schools is the amount of pupils that have English as an additional language, time and resources are put at these pupils to the detriment of the other pupils.