AS you may or may not have noticed, we do tend to take an interest in school admissions numbers. The reason is (and we could be wrong) is that we suspect that a possible consequence of the schools increasingly acting like businesses is that, there is a risk that, the laws of supply and demand may come into play and one many end up closing due to, amongst other factors, simply not attracting enough custom.
SO, whether you or a relative were there when the Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the building in 1960, or if you just have cherished memories from studying there, making lifelong friends or even meeting your future husband or wife, the College would love to hear from you. Your stories, pictures and even video will form part of a new celebratory exhibition, some images will also be shared online. Please name the people in the images where possible.
A MOTION praising the work of Treetops School was passed at full council last night (Wednesday). The motion was proposed by Stanford councillor Terry Hipsey and seconded by Stifford Clays councillor, Angie Gaywood.
THURROCK primary schools are the worst in the East of England for unauthorised absence and exclusion. In all, 1.1 per cent of pupils are absent without consent, which is nearly twice the average proportion for the East of England; while 1.44 per cent of pupils have been excluded, a percentage which is much higher than the 0.85 per cent of pupils in the rest of the region.
SEVERAL of my peers have children who have done really well out of Thurrock Tech or South Essex College getting good jobs with promising careers. Now the vocational route in higher education is not for everyone but with the investment made by South Essex College over the past few years, our 'local Tech' is definitely worth a look.
3.The quality of provision is variable. The managers do not routinely evaluate whether services are making the difference they should to families and children who attend groups provided by staff and some partners. 4. The professional supervision of staff does not routinely ensure that leaders are sufficiently checking and, where appropriate, challenging case files. This results in a potential impact on the safeguarding of children and families.
THE presentations were part of the Next Top Boss Business Challenge, which took place last week. The students gave up their lunch-time to deliver their timed presentations as well as answer questions from the panel about their recommendations.
The College was paired up with Lloyds Bank for this year's Business Challenge. Last year the College worked with DP World. Both employers were an absolute pleasure to work with and offered brilliant opportunities for our students.
OFSTED return to Manor Primary and find: "Inadequate teaching, reading and writing levels way below expectations, teachers absent from classrooms, praise for low quality work." Some months ago, Mr McNeillis told the press that "Knowing what needed to be changed was quite straight forward" and that "Now we have everyone moving in the same direction." Unfortunately, many interpreted the "same direction" as a forward motion whereas the disastrous inspection report makes some withering criticisms.
STARTING the game off with an attitude to win, the girls dominated the pitch and forward Miagh Downey had three shots on goal inside the opening 15 minutes. Leading up to half time, there was no score on the board until Clarke decided to ensure the team’s hard work paid off by sliding the ball past the goalkeeper into the bottom of the net after a one-on-one thanks to a fantastic through ball from Captain Emily Baker.
THE Interact Club of Gable Hall (sponsored by The Rotary Club of Thurrock Gateway) held their inaugural fundraising event on Friday February 7th with a bake sale. With mainly home baked cakes on offer to pupils and staff and after a sell-out event a massive £89 plus was raised by the new Interact members in aid of St Luke's Hospice.
KEY to the success of First Time Live – Youth is putting young people at the centre of the project and giving them responsibility for creating a major orchestral concert for their peers. This includes selecting concert repertoire, scriptwriting, sound and lighting design, video projection, stage management, writing press releases, blogging, photography, concert presentation and even conducting. Through empowering Young Producers, the events generate high levels of engagement and enthusiasm amongst participants, both in the audience and on stage, including the professional musicians.
OFSTED'S first visit to the Thurrock Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), after saying it “requires improvement”, shows those improvements are already happening. In a letter to the new headteacher Jan Culley, the inspector said: “Senior leaders and the management committee are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement.”
LAST week I wrote to Jackie Doyle-Price MP to explain to her the problem. We have not cut classes, nor reduced staffing because we are part way through the year and will do nothing to adversely affect students. Class sizes remain in line with our optimum level for viability.
THE inspection was brought forward by Ofsted due to a number of concerns raised relating to the supervision of children, staff qualifications, staff deployment, sharing information with parents, procedures followed when children have accidents, risk assessments and meeting children's needs.
GRAYS CONVENT tops the Thurrock schools league in the percentage of students taking on a full tranche of traditional EBACC subjects. The Ebacc subjects are: English, Maths, a Humanity, a Science and an IT subject. Government education boss, Michael Gove has pushed for more emphasis on traditional subjects after concerns that some schools were playing an exam game, a game that, some say, was making the GCSE "a debased currency".
