POLICE ARE investigating a burglary after a man overcame the security at a Tilbury school and stole a mobile phone in the middle of the school day. The person was spotted at just after 1pm on Wednesday (December 18th) in the grounds of the Lansdowne Academy in Lansdowne Road, Tilbury.
FOUR A-level English students have recently had their stories published after winning a national young writer’s competition, run by the Young Writers organisation.
The students...
SIX subject areas were graded ‘good’ in Ofsted’s report on South Essex College, published today (17/12/12). Five more subject areas received a grade three, which means they are deemed to ‘require improvement’ by the inspectors. However, overall it was a positive picture for the College, which saw its grade profile improve from the previous inspection in February 2012.
YOU KNOW that the portfolio holder for education and council leader, cllr John Kent feels passionately about education and truly believes that it is at the cornerstone of Thurrock's regeneration agenda. Infact, we were going to put a headline of "Hey media, leave those kids alone." to his recent press release about the primary rankings.
THURROCK COUNCIL leader, John Kent issued a stark warning to those who dare criticise the performance of Thurrock schools. Cllr Kent issued the warning at a meeting of the council cabinet on Wednesday night.
IN WHAT is starting to be a worrying trend, another pre-school in Thurrock has slumped into special measures. Chafford Pre-School based in Clifford Road was visited by the government watchdog, Ofsted in November.
SAMUEL Partridge from Gable Hall School has been announced as the winning pupil from South Basildon and East Thurrock in the local round of a national school manufacturing competition. The We Made It! competition invited 11 – 14 year olds throughout the UK to let their imagination run wild and design a brand new product or gadget.
FORMER Palmer's student, Rebecca Whyman found her love for accounting whilst studying at Palmer’s College and has just obtained the highest mark in the world in her ACCA exams. Rebecca was awarded a 99% mark in her F5 Management and Performance paper which forms part of the ACCA exam. Local girl Rebecca is currently working as a trainee accountant whilst undertaking her ACCA exams. She said, “I was shocked that I received the highest mark in the world but at the same time was overjoyed with what I had achieved. “I owe my success to Palmer’s as the teachers were always supportive and made my lessons very interesting.
THEY also check for the effectiveness of teacher’s marking, which remains inconsistent. The leader for literacy has noted that in some classes pupils do not have enough opportunities to develop their writing skills. Teachers’ expectations of the amount of writing pupils will complete in their lessons are not always high enough. The scrutiny of pupils’ mathematics work showed that some of it is not challenging enough for the more able pupils.
THURROCK Council boss John Kent has gone on the record to stress that all teachers at free schools in Thurrock will be qualified. The comments came at full council after Tilbury councillor, Steve Liddiard posed a question to the leader.
STAFF deployment lacks organisation, resulting in unchecked volunteers supervising children, which compromises their safety. Staff practice and the educational programme are not well monitored so children do not make good progress. There are inconsistent teaching practices. Staff do not challenge and support children's learning outside as well as they do inside. Practice is not effectively monitored to promote children's learning.
Skanska has been building the South Essex College campus since the start of the year and it will be complete in time for the first intake of students in September next year. Leader of the council and local Grays councillor, John Kent, said: "This is great news. Grays town centre hasn't had a Christmas tree for at least seven years and I'm really grateful to Skanska for their generous Christmas gift."
PARENTS of children who will be going to school for the first time next September, are being reminded to make sure they register in time. Cllr John Kent, Thurrock Council’s education portfolio holder, says he visited a number of primary schools in recent weeks and was reminded that parents must make sure they register before the deadline.
BTEC Sport student Georgia Stephan has been selected to represent Great Britain at the European Twirling Championships in Belgium next year.
Following on from this success, she recently won gold in the Super X Strut twirling category where she was crowned national champion.
