........... to the Home Page of Kentadvice.co.uk, where you will find the latest news and comment directly below this introduction. You can receive regular news and blog items as they are published via the RSS link at the foot of the page, or the email notification on the RHS.
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Secondary School Appeals I am currently arranging consultations for secondary school appeals in Kent and Medway. You will find web pages on each situation to the right of this notice. Please go to "can I help you and how much will it cost" and then complete the Contact me form, when I shall be able to let you know if I can help you. If I do not get back to you within 48 hours, please email me to check I have received your enquiry.. |
The website has three main aims:
1) Firstly, to inform parents of my professional services. Currently I have supported over 600 successful secondary appeals in Kent and Medway and 30 successful primary appeals in the past eight years. I also run a popular telephone advisory service that provides informed advice on school admissions and a range of other concerns about schools. At this time of year it caters mainly for families relocating, expatriates, admissions advice and for in Year admissions.
2) Secondly, to provide information and advice to Kent and Medway families about issues such as secondary school admissions and appeals, primary school admissions and appeals, grammar school admissions and appeals, and education ombudsman complaints in Kent and Medway. I also try and cover many other concerns relating to state schools and the education service, that affect children's progress through the complex educational system and structures that exist, especially in this part of the country.The aim is to enable parents to be as well informed as possible about the many decisions they are required to make which affect their children's future.
3) Finally, this is a rapidly changing area of life, especially with new Government initiatives. I try and offer news and comment about those changes of most direct relevance to families as I become aware of them, and you will find in these pages many statistics enabling parents to make more informed decisions about their children's education.
If you need more general information please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For specific advice issues please go to the Contact page. For background on the website.....
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Latest News & Comments
The latest news posted by Peter J Read, click on a news item below, leave a comment or subscribe to the news via the email link to the right.
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Academy & Free School News February 2012 (belated)
Written on Saturday, 18 February 2012 21:04 Be the first to comment! Read 51 times
My apologies that this is rather belated - I've been a little busy, and this website is a one man part-time operation!
New Kent academies for February are: Mayfield Grammar School (formerly Gravesend Grammar School for Girls); The Folkestone School for Girls; The Maplesdon Noakes School, Maidstone; Milestone Special School in New Ash Green, in federation with the Leigh Academy, Dartford.
Just one new Kent academy application for February, reflecting the slow down in the county, possibly because all those seriously interested have already applied. This is Grove Park Community Primary School in Sittingbourne, the town fast becoming a hotbed of academy activity. In Medway, there is Woodlands Primary School in Gillingham.
The BBC reports that there are 7 Kent primary schools identified as being forced to become academies, by dint of their consistent low performance in national league tables (a Teachers'Union has found two more). These have not been identified but a look at Key Stage 2 records over the past four years suggests...... Read more...
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Medway Test to Revert to home primary school centres for 2013 entry.
Written on Friday, 17 February 2012 18:10 1 comment Read 70 times
Parents of children coming up for 11 plus assessment will not be worried about the reasons why Medway Council has made this decision, but they are important.
Background
Up until six years ago, Medway followed the same process as Kent County Council, with the large majority of applicants sitting the Medway Test in their own primary schools. Medway changed to the large independent centre model for the stated reason that teachers' contracts did not allow 11 plus testing to take place in primary schools. This of course was a nonsense, as there was demonstrably no parallel problem in Kent which continued the practice to this day. The new process might well have been successful for there are positive reasons for such an approach (see below), but Medway has managed to foul up the management of testing at at least one centre nearly every year...... Read more...
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Secondary & Primary School Appeal Outcomes 2011
Written on Thursday, 02 February 2012 19:58 Be the first to comment! Read 162 times
I now have the data for appeals for those primary and secondary schools in Kent, whose appeals were heard by an Independent Appeal Panel organised by KCC. In previous years I have had the data for all schools at this time, but figures for the 26 secondary schools who organise their own appeals will not be available until later in the year. I do not publish school by school data here, as it varies so much year on year, depending on the pressure on places, the decision of the admission authority (in most cases the school) as to how hard to resist the appeal and the make up of the panels. However, I do identify below where there are particular trends.
2011 Secondary Appeal Numbers
Appeals Heard Appeals Upheld % Upheld Foundation & Voluntary Aided Grammar Schools 542 186 34 Community Grammar Schools 237 101 42 Totla Grammar Schools 779 287 36 Non Selective Schools 186 129 69 Details follow.........
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Fort Pitt Grammar School, Proposed new catchment and Academy Trust Federation
Written on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 07:10 Be the first to comment! Read 112 times
Fort Pitt Grammar School, in Chatham, is the latest Academy to spread its wings as it prepares to take over two struggling schools in Medway. The Robert Napier Secondary School (one of the lowest performing in the country at GCSE) and Glencoe Junior School (which was found to be making inadequate progress by OFSTED last year) area bout to be taken over by the Fort Pitt Academy Trust, providing the appropriate approvals are given, which should be a formality, as such arrangements are smiled on by government........
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Controversial new School proposed for Medway
Written on Sunday, 29 January 2012 16:53 Be the first to comment! Read 608 times
Medway Council is bidding to create one of the 24 new University Technical Colleges (UTCs) to be set up by government, which would be based near the University of Greenwich site. I wrote and published here, the article you will find below, in October. All that has changed is that Medway Council is developing the idea and has set up an email consultation, which will form the basis of demonstrating whether parents want a University Technical College in Medway. You can respond to the survey here. Whilst a site has not yet been chosen for the proposed College, Medway Council suggests it could be at an unused block at Brompton Barracks. You can find fuller information at the Medway Council website. Two of the pieces of information missing are the views of the current Medway secondary schools, some of which would be seriously damaged by the proposal (see below), another is Medway's best estimate of the collateral damage to other schools, and which school the Council considers would be at greatest risk of closure if the proposal goes ahead.
Yet another Medway School, Barnsole Junior in Gillingham, has been failed by OFSTED, maintaining the proportion of Medway primary schools that have failed in the two years I have been monitoring outcomes at 21%. This appalling record is underlined by the fact that not a single Medway primary school has been found Outstanding in this time, although nationally the figure is running at 6% (just another 6% failing).
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University Technical Colleges are planned to "offer 14-19 year olds the opportunity to take a highly regarded, full time, technically-oriented course of study. They are equipped to the highest standard, sponsored by a university and offer clear progression routes into higher education or further learning in work". To quote David Cameron:.......
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Secondary School League Tables Show Highs and Lows for Kent and Medway
Written on Thursday, 26 January 2012 10:13 Be the first to comment! Read 480 times
Once again Kent school pupils reach above average standards in GCSE results with 5 GSCE A-Cs including English and maths, at 59% (national 58%), having kept above national averages consistently for many years. Meanwhile, Kent Primary performance consistently lags below the national standard. Medway's performance has declined in relation to national averages for the third consecutive year, down to 56% for 2011.
What is remarkable about the results for individual schools mentioned below is the highs and lows of church sponsored schools and academies.
Naturally, grammar schools dominate the league tables with many scoring 100%, but many non-selective schools have done very well, top being ........ Read more...