Government advisers to help in Kent's schools
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By political editor Paul
Francis
Government 'troubleshooters' have been drafted in to help
improve some of the county's poorest secondary schools.
It comes after figures showed Kent has the highest number of
schools of anywhere in the country failing to meet
nationally-expected targets for GCSE results.
Now Education Secretary Ed Balls has demanded action.
The target as been set as part of the Government’s National
Challenge initiative aimed at driving up standards at the country’s
poorest secondary schools.
County Hall fury over intervention -
read our political editor Paul Francis' blog>>>
Mr Balls said Kent’s selective system was no excuse for the
fact Kent has 20 secondary schools – about one in five -
failing to meet the Government’s minimum target for 30 per cent of
pupils to pass five or more good GCSEs that include maths and
English.
If the Government is not satisfied by KCC’s blueprint to tackle
under-achievement, Mr Balls could order emergency inspections or
demand changes in Governing bodies.
He said: "We have powers to intervene if we’re not seeing the
improvements we need. More than 20 per cent of the secondary
schools in Kent are below the floor we have set. We would like all
of them to clear the floor by 2011."
While he accepted it may be harder for non-selective schools to
improve, the fact that Kent had the highest number of grammar
schools should not be an excuse, he said.
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"I've always said that non-selective schools in selective areas
face extra challenges. It's harder but it's not necessarily harder
because there's more deprivation or it can't be done. There's no
doubt in my mind that if you have a new cohort of young people who
have all arrived in secondary school having been told that they
didn't succeed then you have greater issues around aspiration and
belief."
But the move provoked a furious response from the Conservative
leader of KCC. Cllr Paul Carter said the Government had delivered
"a kick in the guts" to schools and that Mr Balls had failed to
acknowledge year-on-year improvements in GCSE results.
"There are one or two schools I do have concerns about but the
vast majority of high schools are doing an exceptional job and Ed
Balls has given them a big kick in the guts."
Under the Government’s National Challenge initiative, 33 schools
in Kent have already received tens of thousands of pounds for
initiatives to lift classroom standards.
While a third of those have already reached the Government’s
benchmark ahead of schedule, the rest are falling short, including
some of Kent’s flagship academy schools.
Recent GCSE results showed that 51.6 percent of Kent students
gaining five A* to C grades including English and Maths this year,
up 1.8 percent on last year.
Wednesday, September 23 2009
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