Shoreham School: encouraging Ofsted report

Ofsted inspectors have issued a very encouraging report on Shoreham School. This was the latest of a series of so-called Section 8 reports, which track developments at the school since it went into Special Measures late last year. Reports in December 2013 and March 2014 were relatively encouraging, but the July report - issued just before the summer holidays - was much more negative.

The latest report, based on a visit on 25-26 November, praises progress under the new head teacher, Mrs Gillian Lovatt-Young, and highlights improvements in teaching and children's progress. Having visited the school and met Mrs Lovatt-Young and the chair of governors a couple of weeks before the inspection, I picked up a sense of strong momentum under her leadership. Mrs Lovatt-Young, the governors, staff and pupils at Shoreham are all to be congratulated.

Since the summer I have visited six of the seven primary schools in Darent Valley. It is not very long since we were in a position where one (Shoreham) was in Special Measures and three (High Firs, Horton Kirby and St. Paul's) were rated as Requires Improvement (the former 'Satisfactory' rating by Ofsted, or 3 on the 1-4 scale). In July, High Firs under Colin Turtle's leadership has regained its Good rating. A visit to Horton Kirby left me hopeful that we could see a better rating there soon, and now we have this encouraging report on Shoreham. I will be visiting St. Paul's and meeting its new head in the New Year.

Overall, Kent's primary schools have demonstrated a sharp improvement in Ofsted ratings in the last few years. It is good that Darent Valley seems to be sharing in this progress.

Gateway signs go into Swanley Village

As promised earlier in the year, some key projects in Swanley Village are being paid for from my Member Fund. I told a meeting of the Swanley Village Residents Association a few weeks ago that village gateway signs should be installed before Christmas; this has happened today. Some other promised works, such as installation of high friction surfacing, should take place during the February half term. Action to remove and replace the village sign should also take place shortly.

Also in Swanley Village (though not paid for from my Fund), I understand that the gullies in Button Street from just south of the motorway bridge to the junction with Wood Street should be cleansed before the end of tomorrow.

Crockenhill: works go ahead at Green Court Road

I have worked with Crockenhill Parish Council and Kent Highways to improve safety at the junction of Cray Road, Main Road and Broadway for some years. Last year, high friction surfacing and an interactive sign were among the measures introduced, but more needs to be done. Although it seemed that we had some potential ways forward over a year ago, we have come up against the stumbling block that many of them would involve road closures that would be unacceptable to the Parish Council and to local opinion. Attempts to establish a safe crossing in the area have proved similarly difficult to take forward.

Having undertaken speed surveys in the area, we are now looking at a range of measures that would include  hanged to parking and to the interactive sign, as well as village signs. These can be paid for from money set aside from my Member a highway Fund for earlier versions of the scheme.  Meanwhile, there were a number of agreed enhancements to tackle speeding as traffic comes down to Broadway from Green Court Road that do not require a road closure, including safety fencing by the village green to highlight that pedestrians are approaching a road crossing.

Frustratingly, there have been a variety of delays and contractor problems. However, work started today to install the fencing. Additional works for which orders have been raised and which should be carried out in the near future include a SLOW sign in the road, improvements to signage and a refreshing of lines in the road around the junction. Hopefully this will be the start of further progress on tackling problems at the heart of Crockenhill.

Community wardens: responding to the consultation

Following the consultation on proposals to reshape the community warden service, reducing the number of wardens to 45, KCC announced last week that warden numbers would be kept at the present level of 70.

The County Council will still take half of the proposed saving of £1.3 million by reductions in management and supervisory structures, but the remaining funds will be found elsewhere within the Growth, Environment and Transport (GET) directorate.

This follows a powerful public response to the consultation, making clear how much the warden service is valued by communities across Kent. The response was particularly strong from Parish Councils; almost all of those within Darent Valley responded to the consultation.

At the start of the process, I said to Parish Councils that the consultation was for real rather than a sham process. Last week's announcement confirms that, and is good news for the wardens and for the communities they serve across the County.