THURROCK'S education portfolio holder visited the borough’s first and its latest academy schools in the last week. Council Leader Cllr John Kent was at the Hathaway Academy – formerly The Grays School – on Friday (12 July) and The Gateway Academy, Tilbury, on Thursday (18 July).
THERE SEEMS to be more than one way to skin a cat at Grays School and Media Arts College (now called the Hathaway Academy). When the under-fire school was looking for academy partners, YT understands that they rejected the Harris Federation as "The Harris Federation may not suit their ethos."
KENNINGTONS primary academy sports day made national headlines last month after the Aveley school decided to ban parents from sports day as it was a "very stressful occasion". But we are glad to report that the sports day has, according to sources, taken place without incident.
ESSEX Police has been called in to investigate an allegation of assault at Hathaway Academy (formerly Grays School). The investigation came to light after a person, understood to be a parent, made a number of allegations regarding the assault and how it was allegedly being handled on social media.
HEADTEACHERS and principals from across Thurrock got together recently to explore how to share good practice, skills and knowledge in order to provide the best possible education throughout the borough.
The discussion, led by Christine Gilbert who chairs Thurrock’s Education Commission, was part of the head teachers briefing meetings held each half term. The Commission, which has been set up to look at how schools can learn from one another to improve the standard of education overall, is to publish a series of recommendations in September.
CHILDREN from Lansdowne Primary, Herringham Primary and Gateway Free School in Thurrock will play the animals rescued by Noah in a performance of Noye’s Fludde at the London Cruise Terminal on Wednesday 17 July. They will join children from St Mary’s Church of England Primary, St George’s Primary, Temple Sutton Primary and Sacred Heart Catholic Primary and Kingsdown School in Southend-on-Sea. They will all travel on to London for a final performance in the splendour of Southwark Cathedral.
THEY are usually quite lucky with the weather and this weekend was no exception. Hundreds flocked to the Harris Primary Academy in Mayflower Road to enjoy a host of activities.The dog show was a particular favourite but most people were happy and content to sit out and enjoy the summer weather (while it lasted).
FINDINGS from a new survey of all secondary schools in Thurrock conducted by the End Violence Against Women Coalition published today (3 July) show that local schools currently make a low priority of girls’ safety and tackling abuse of women and girls - even though almost half of them dealt with incidents related to sexual violence, sexual harassment, pornography and intimate partner violence over the last year.
TEEN POP sensations, JLS made a surprise appearance at Gable Hall school on Tuesday.The band, made famous by were there to sing with the Karis May Foundation.
"The acting headteacher is monitoring teaching and learning more rigorously and using a range of evidence to gain a view of teaching over time. This includes evidence from lesson observations, pupils’ progress data and evidence from the scrutiny of pupils’ work. This is an appropriate approach to ensure that teachers are held to account for the progress of all pupils. However sometimes judgements about the quality of teaching in lesson observations are too generous when pupils’ progress is not given a high enough priority.
IT WAS, as Miss Jean Brodie once said: "the creme de la creme" of Thurrock education, but over the past few years, Grays Convent has lost its place in the top tier of Thurrock education. In 2008 and 2009, it had the highest percentage of students gaining a 5 A* to C (61%) but it dropped to third place in 2010 and 2011 and then slumped to 5th in 2012.
A GROUP of Palmer's College students recently organised a 10-mile charity walk and raised approximately £1102.62p for Pancreatic Cancer UK. The walk started and ended at the College and took almost five hours to complete by the 10 students and Chemistry Teacher Ben Holbrook, who also took part.
Cllr John Kent, Thurrock Council’s education portfolio holder, speaking on Monday (24 June) when the report was published, said: “As a school governor myself, I know the frustrations schools face once they have been almost ridiculed as inadequate or, as most people say, ‘failing’.
QUARRY HILL primary continues to find itself under pressure after the government watchdog Ofsted delivered a highly critical report. The school is similar to its neighbouring senior school, Grays School, in that it appears to have crawled out of special measures but continues to, in football parlance, hover above the relegation zone, with a succession of "Requires Improvement" judgments.
YOU must remember your sports day? Do you now sit at the end of a bar, nursing a whisky, saying to yourself: "I should have won that egg and spoon race in 1976 but it was the pressure: the baying crowd, the press conferences, the lights." Or maybe it was that you felt that you were the weakest link in the three legged race or you dropped that egg at the vital point as flashbulbs popped.
