I was on Radio Kent this morning, tlking about a recently published a Report by KCC on a potential crisis in numbers of headteachers coming through the system and in post. It also looks at teacher recruitment and retention. Currently 49 Kent Schools do not have a headteacher, 20 of which have an Acting Headteacher. Many of the others,.....

I was delighted to accept an invitation to the opening of the Laural Centre, an SEN Unit  for children on the Autistic Spectrum, attached to The North School in Ashford. This is the first Unit to be opened since the reversal of county policy two years ago that sought to phase out all SEN units in the county. The Centre was opened by Paul Carter, Leader of KCC, who has been a strong champion of SEN Units and Special Schools in Kent........

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:.......

Sarah Hohler, KCC Cabinet Member for Education, Learning and Skills, has resigned her post, and been replaced by Mike Whiting, previously one of the two Deputy Cabinet Members in the same Department. Gary Cooke, the other Deputy, remains. This all introduces more change in the Department, which is currently headed by two temporary appointments and is in the middle of a major restructuring. Patrick Leeson, the new Corporate Director for Education, Learning and Skills, is not joining Kent County Council until next month......

Michael Gove has decided that the scrapped BSF projects in Gravesham and Thanet will not be reinstated in spite of a high Court ruling that he had acted illegally in doing so. However, Government will now pay costs to Councils including KCC, who lost money on preparing for the projects. Instead .........

KCC appears to be changing its view on supporting secondary schools to become academies as the financial advantages start to vanish. BBC SE is planning to cover the situation this evening.

Patrick Leeson is joining Kent County Council as the new Corporate Director for Education, Learning and Skills, from October 2011. He is currently Director of Education and Care at Ofsted where he is responsible for policy and development for the inspection of schools, early years and childcare, as well as initial teacher education......

The Local Government Ombudsman has today (July 6th) published a highly critical report on the Independent Appeal Panel for Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls for entry last September (2010). Whilst no fault was found with the school's actions (apart from engaging a Kent County Council Panel), KCC itself comes in for heavy criticism on a variety of fronts:........

Another knotty problem for Michael Gove.

Following Kent secondary school allocations on 1^st March just gone, 9% of places in Year Seven were left empty or occupied by children who had not applied for the schools in question. The Audit Commission considers there should be no more than 5% empty spaces in any area or authority. So there is a problem in Kent. However, with 49 of the100 Kent secondary schools either Academies or well on the way and another 36 Foundation or Voluntary Aided schools partially independent of KCC,  the county has lost all control of its ability to plan numbers of places to fit the population, and so has no way of meeting government targets...... (read more)

Following Kent secondary school allocations on 1^st March just gone, 9% of places in Year Seven were left empty in schools across the county. The Audit Commission considers there should be no more than 5% empty spaces in any area or authority. So there is a problem in Kent. However, with 49 of the100 Kent secondary schools either Academies or well on the way and another 36 Foundation or Voluntary Aided schools partially independent of KCC,  the county has lost all control of its ability to plan numbers of places to fit the population, and so has no way of meeting government targets....