Education Commission targets schools

THE Thurrock Education Commission, announced to schools and educationalists earlier this year, started work in earnest last week.

Council Leader, Cllr John Kent has welcomed the commission, saying he wants a “warts and all” final report that will “help lead all of Thurrock’s schools forward”.

The commission, chaired by the former head of the school inspectorate Ofsted, Christine Gilbert, has been created by the council to identify the strengths of Thurrock schools that are doing well, and to use good practice to help all schools to achieve the best they can.

Its report, expected in September, is set to highlight opportunities for schools to develop and improve, while also making a series of recommendations geared towards ensuring all of the borough’s schools are reaching for ’good’
or ‘outstanding’ in Ofsted terms.

Last week Ms Gilbert started work, meeting teachers, senior council staff as well as school governors and councillors to find the most effective ways of moving forward.

Cllr Kent said: “We know not everything in the garden is rosy and that’s why we’ve asked Christine to spend the next few weeks looking closely at education here in Thurrock.

“We have seen some great improvement in core subjects such as English and maths and many of our schools are improving at a rate well ahead of the national average.

“We want to be able to take this best practice and success and use it to help all schools.

“We also know having all schools ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ can’t happen overnight. The new Ofsted regime simply won’t allow it, but we do want all our schools to offer the best chances to our children – and that’s what the commission will help us deliver.”