Relaunch of March Community Centre – Awards presented

Yesterday it was my great pleasure to speak at the relaunch of this excellent centre in Station Road, March. It has been redeveloped to make it easier for people to access courses provided by the council as well as its partners. This centre will make it much easier to bring together a range of public services under one roof.

Probably more importantly, I was proud to recognise the achievements of a number of adult learners who, in some cases, had overcome significant barriers to learning. There were some great personal stories that were inspirational.

Jeff Pettit, the landlord of the George in Doddington together with Vicky McDougall joined forces to help people in the village get on line. Vicky had never used a computer until 18 months ago but was recently voted National Adult Learner of the Year and has acted as a digital champion for Doddington. She was also presented with the BBC Digital Inclusion Award and the pub is used as a learning centre. Brilliant stuff.

I was also able to present certificates to learning champions from the traveller community as well as family learners who have gained literacy and numeracy qualifications. A lot of people felt very proud of their achievements and quite right too.

Follow the link to the Wisbech Standard24 report on the event.

http://www.wisbechstandard.co.uk/news/council_leader_praises_award_winning_adult_learners_at_relaunch_of_march_community_centre_1_1120734

College of West Anglia

I am pleased that Cambridgeshire County Council could step forward and help secure this funding for Fenland. It was a massive disappointment for us all when Government funding was cut and plans to build the College in March had to be stopped.

It was my pleasure to personally intervene and working with Cllr Alan Melton, Leader of FDC we have been able to make sure these fantastic new facilities will be built for the benefit for the whole of Fenland. I want to see a prosperous county no matter where you live and if we are going to be truly open for business we must support our youngsters and provide them with the right skills for the future. Not only will this improve their chances of employment but also the local economy and prosperity.

Michael Gove – Extra cash for schools – Lib Dem spin

All money for our schools is welcome. However, it seems the Lib Dem’s don’t want the truth to get in the way of a good story.

The recent Lib Dem press release is a piece of political opportunism with Julian Huppert claiming some of the credit for the extra funding because of his lobbying of government for extra education funding for Cambridgeshire – in fact the latest announcement has absolutely nothing to do with the ‘extra funding for Cambs schools campaign’ and the money is coming from a different pot of government cash completely.

CCC officers have been talking to government about extra money to tackle demographic pressures since around 2009 and yesterday’s announcement was a result of those discussions and similar lobbying by other local authorities

I also understand that yesterday announcement by Michael Gove was unexpected.

Thomas Clarkson Community College Continues To Improve – OFSTED

It is always good to see a school improving. It gives confidence to the young people, parents and the staff. Well done to the staff who have brought about this change for the good. See the press release below:
“Thomas Clarkson” Community College continues to improve and its capacity for further improvement is good, according to Government inspectors.

A team from “Ofsted” the Office for Standards in Education – said teaching had continued to improve and significant improvements had been made in students’ behaviour. They said the college was led and managed well.

“Teaching continues to improve. It is now particularly strong in the key subjects of English and mathematics. The proportion of teaching that is good or better has improved to 68%, with more examples of outstanding teaching than ever before.

“Key strengths in teaching include a very positive learning environment with teachers using questions and discussions well to help students make progress. Pace and challenge were also strong in many lessons,” said the inspectors’ report.

“In the better lessons, teachers plan well, make lesson objectives explicit, understand the needs of individuals and plan for, and monitor, students’ progress accurately. Relationships are very productive and teachers have high expectations. As a result, students enjoy their lessons and show very good attitudes to learning,” it added.

Inspectors said Principal Maureen Strudwick and her staff had successfully established a strong culture of high expectation and achievement.

“They work well together with joint vision and determination to bring about improvement, using a basis of accurate self-evaluation. Recent changes have brought about raised expectations, improvements in confidence and a positive ethos on the part of students and staff.

“Morale is now high, with staff committed to improving the quality of teaching and learning and outcomes for students,” said their report.

Governors were also praised. “Governance is good, with good use made of governors’ knowledge and experience to drive improvement. The college’s self-evaluation process is thorough, very detailed and supported by a wide range of evidence.

“The rate of improvement is increasing and many of the initiatives are starting to bear fruit. The college has successfully accelerated students’ achievements. Governors hold the college to account well,” added inspectors.

The college was encouraged to raise the quality of teaching from satisfactory to good, improve attendance and maintain the positive improvements seen.Principal Maureen Strudwick said: “We are delighted. This judgement reflects the commitment and hard work of a great team. We are now looking forward to moving into our new building and continuing to raise standards with the additional support of our sponsor, the Brooke Weston Partnership. I would like to thank all of the parents who have worked with us over the past few years and look forward to the wider Wisbech community putting its trust in us.”

STANDARDS STARTING TO RISE AT GAMLINGAY VILLAGE COLLEGE

The decision to keep Gamlingay Village College open was complex. Cabinet members decided to back the college and the majority of community members who wanted to keep it open.

It seems there may be some emerging success.

Standards are starting to rise at Gamlingay Village College, according to inspectors from OfSTED – the Office for Standards in Education.

Inspectors said the proportion of good and outstanding teaching was increasing, and pupils were making better progress than previously.

They praised the leadership of the acting headteacher, adding that issues were being tackled rigorously. Cambridgeshire County Council was also highlighted for the good support it continues to give the school.

The monitoring inspection – the first since the school was placed in ‘special measures’ in February 2011 – concluded that the school was making satisfactory progress.

Inspectors found the amount of inadequate teaching had been reduced, and the proportion of good and outstanding teaching was increasing.

“Inspectors endorsed the school’s views of the common strengths in teaching and these could often be linked directly to recent intensive training that has taken place for all staff.

“During the inspection, the progress pupils were making in lessons was satisfactory, with some examples of good progress,” said their report.

Pupils in turn were praised for their good behaviour and attitudes to work. “Pupils confirm that they are well-informed and well-supported and therefore feel safe and happy. They enjoy their learning more and continue to attend well. They are very courteous,” it added.

Inspectors said acting headteacher Sue Romero – supported by additional senior leaders funded by Cambridgeshire County Council – had created a culture in the school where relationships were good and issues were being tackled rigorously.

“Staff morale is good. This can be seen in their willingness to participate in the considerable additional requirement to attend twice-weekly after-school training sessions. Leaders in the school have an accurate view of the quality of teaching,” they said.

Governors were also highlighted – inspectors said the school’s governing body had many new members who had a good mix of skills and were well-placed to challenge and support.

The report said the school continued to receive good support from Cambridgeshire County Council. “The action plan is detailed and suitably focussed on appropriate priorities. Generous financial support is providing strengthened leadership and suitable training through consultant support and through partnership with other schools.

“Regular and rigorous reviews take place to keep the pace on improvement brisk. The local authority has steered the process of reorganisation sensitively and with the interests of pupils at heart,” the inspectors’ report concluded.

Acting headteacher Sue Romero said: “I am very pleased that the positive progress, hard work and additional training undertaken by staff at the school during the summer term has been fully acknowledged in the OfSTED report. This progress has been achieved with the considerable support and involvement of students, parents, the County Council and other local schools. However, the school is aware that challenges remain in order to ensure that the school comes out of special measures by the target date.”

County Council Cabinet Member for Learning Cllr David Harty added: “A lot of people have devoted a lot of time and energy into transforming the fortunes of this school. I have been deeply impressed with the commitment and dedication shown by leaders and teachers in their determination to provide a higher standard of education for pupils. Although there is clearly a long way to go, progress has already been made. I am impressed and grateful too for the input and support from officers at the County Council, who were rightly praised by OfSTED in the monitoring report.”

Huntingdonshire Regional College – annual awards

Sometimes being the Leader of the Council feels really special. Tonight I had the honour to not only attend the Huntingdonshire Regional College annual awards, but to make the motivational speech.
Young people often get a bad press but tonight was all about celebrating their success. It was fantastic to see our civic dignitaries looking resplendent in their chains together with a significant number of sponsors all there to support the youngsters and those not so young.

Talking of special people it was clear Susanne Stent, the relatively new principal was in that category. Her passion and commitment to the college was obvious. I will be helping the college where ever I can.

A fine way to spend some of my time.

Stonewall – education for all conference – Cambridgeshire takes top award

Cambridgeshire has been working hard to overcome homophobia. This issue is one that is often not dealt with in schools up and down the country. We all hear young people use the word “gay” to describe all sorts of negative issues but how often to we understand the hurt it causes.

The young person struggling to understand feelings is not helped by these sort of comments. We do not put up with race comments so why homophobic ones?

I was pleased to be asked to accept the Education Equality Index 2011 award on behalf of Cambridgeshire County County at the Stonewall award ceremony today at the National Library in London. Nick Gibbs, Minister of State for Schools presented the award.

Gok Wan gave a personal account of his experiences of being bullied because he was gay.

Isn’t it nice sometimes that the hard work of our officers, partners and schools gets recognised?

Here is the transcript of my speech.

“Ladies and Gentlemen

I am very proud that Cambridgeshire has achieved the highest ranking in Stonewall’s first Education Equality Index 2011.

Tackling homophobia is nothing new in Cambridgeshire. We have been a member of Stonewall’s Education Champions programme since it started in 2008 and have embraced its principles with energy and enthusiasm. The programme has given our schools invaluable access to a wide range of resources and support. Thank you – we couldn’t have won this award without your help.

Cambridgeshire County Council regards the prevention and tackling of homophobic bullying to be an essential component of our work with children and young people. We are committed to making every school in the county a safe place for all pupils to live and learn – irrespective of their sexuality.

We passionately believe that with education, dedication and determination, we can create a safe and inclusive learning environment for all young people.

But we could not have achieved this on our own. Our partnership with SexYOUality – a Cambridgeshire charity for lesbian, gay and bisexual young people – has been particularly fruitful and was identified as a strength by Stonewall.

Praise and thanks are also due to St Matthew’s Primary School in Cambridge, who feature on Stonewall’s new training DVD for schools. Impington Village College just outside Cambridge has also been instrumental in promoting and championing lesbian, gay and bisexual issues across its curriculum.

And finally – we could not have won this award without the drive and commitment of CREDS – Cambridgeshire’s Race Equality and Diversity Service.

To all of you here today – thank you from me, and congratulations for the excellent work you do. Keep up the good work – we certainly will in Cambridgeshire.”

Children’s locality team Huntingdon

I was invited to visit the Huntingdon Youth Center. I had a look around the excellent facilities most of which has been decorated and arranged by the young people. I heard what I think was music coming out of one of the two sound studio’s ( no offence this is generational thing).

I also met with a number of locality team members. During the discussion the locality manager did her best to stick to the timings and agenda but failed on all counts. What we had was a really good debate around many subjects, some of which were actually on the agenda. I over stayed my time and could easily have stayed another couple of hours. Apologies for mucking up the plans.

Again, dedicated, focussed staff entirely devoted to children and their families. One area that I couldn’t understand was the separation between the locality team work and the social care team that I had met in the morning. Combining the two around a locality seems the way forward but I must pause and think that through with colleagues before saying much more.

Having 6 children of my own, all now in their 20′s I recognised what a difficult area this is. The trouble is if parents and children can’t make it work it seems to fall to the authority to sort things. All work we can do on early interventions make a lot of sense and I was pleased to hear about a number of projects that are pushing this.

Children’s social care team – Huntingdon

I had the opportunity to visit the Buttsgrove centre in Huntingdon. An odd building more like a rabbit warren than usable office space but it did have the benefit of being located in an area of need.

I met a number of staff who look after each of the stages of supporting families and in particular the children. Social work has for a long time had bad press. If staff don’t act fast enough they are criticised and equally if they act too fast they are seen as interfering and breaking up families. A tough ask and a fine line to walk in a very complex and emotional area.

What I did find were dedicated, well motivated staff focused on not just the needs of the children but of the families as well. These staff are on the front line of supporting some of our most vulnerable families.

I was keen to explore the organisation structure and the rational behind how things are. Most of it all makes sense to me but there were a couple of organisation issues that I could not work out which I will be following up on later.

Interestingly, staff were very keen to share with me, with some pride, their achievements. This felt like a part of the organisation that was on top of their game and not only giving huge reassurance that the young people of the county have an effective safety net but were also value for money. Keeping families together, where ever possible, makes sense for the children and for society as a whole.

A great visit.

One nagging thought. I keep reading comments in the papers and on line that seem to suggest councils are always rubbish. I am concluding that those people who make those sort of comments are either stuck in a time warp from long ago or are commenting about a different council. I am seeing, a professional, well run, dedicated work force that compares favourably with my experience of the private sector. I will ponder how we can show this positive side more effectively and give reassurance to the doubters.

The Manor School – Arbury Cambridge

I have been pleased that I have been pointed in the direction of all sorts of schools with a mixture of styles, abilities and challenges. This was my first visit to a secondary school in my recent tour of the county.

I was met by Ben Slade, the principle. What a fine example of an inspirational leader dedicated to driving up standards in a pragmatic way. He was also excellent company.

I had a chat with a group of mixed aged children and discussed a range of issues. I found them polite, restrained (no one grabbed any of the biscuits on offer, although I was not able to resist) and all smartly dressed in uniform. Ben was keen that he was not in the room so I could hear the children with out any influence from him. I was surprised how shy they were.

We discussed how difficult they felt the transition to a secondary school was, how they like attending a relatively small school and how difficult it felt when everyone felt that Arbury was a rough place to live when it fact the opposite is true.

The teaching seemed lively, interesting and so much better than the chalk and talk techniques that I remember from school.

Ben was so obviously proud of the school and with some reason. This school continues to improve and felt like a good place to send a child. This is reflected in the growing number of parents who are registering their children for the Manor.

I left thinking that this school is suffering, as are the children, because of a prejudice. A prejudice against a community that feels wrong. Compare Arbury with any number of cities around the country and it could never be classed as rough.

I have pledged to do what ever I can to support this school and community.