More good news on local schools

As we approach the start of the new term, there is more encouraging news about local schools that was released over the holiday period.

Anthony Roper Primary School in Eynsford had its Ofsted inspection in early July. The inspectors' report - released after the school had broken up for the summer holiday - rated ARPS as Good. The school already had a Good rating, though that dates back to 2010, with a different head and a very different inspection regime. The report painted a favourable picture across the board - in pupils' learning, behaviour, the school's teaching, leadership and management - which does credit to Lynda Newton and her staff. Ofsted described the school as

• "a cohesive, orderly and purposeful community in which good teaching is the norm and high standards of behaviour are expected and are met by pupils."
  

Earlier in the year, Crockenhill Primary School under the leadership of Sarah Warshow also retained its Good rating. As previously noted, schools in the Darent Valley with weaker ratings have seen strong improvements. Now only St. Paul's in Swanley Village has a Requires Improvement rating, and that school is showing strong positive momentum.

Coupled with good Key Stage 2 performance across the County, and strong County-wide improvements in Ofsted ratings, especially for primary schools, this means that local schools should return this week with the wind in their sails.

United House

Over the last ten days, Swanley residents have been very much affected by the unauthorised encampment of a traveller group on the United House site. There were strong local concerns about the security of homes and of High Firs school.

The latter issue very much drew me in, as both local County Councillor and with my Education responsibilities. As soon as I was aware of the situation, I contacted KCC's Property team, who arranged for security cover for the school. There had been some break-ins to the school before this was put in place, but it did ensure that the site was secure from last Sunday onwards and much of what was apparently taken from the school appears to have been retrieved.

The owners of the United House site went to court for an Interim Possession Order (IPO), which the court granted them on Wednesday. This gave the travellers until 12:15 yesterday to leave; they did so late yesterday, with the police providing strong support to the bailiffs to ensure that this took place.

At local residents' request, I convened and chaired a meeting between the acting Chief Inspector,  and local residents in Swanley Town Council this morning. Town councillors, town council staff and the deputy head of the school were also present. This gave an opportunity to review all that had happened, and there was agreement to look at ensuring the best possible communication between the police (as well as councils) and local residents, while maintaining the police role as impartial upholders of the law.

All this has meant a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty for local people, as well as for the school staff, whose summer break has been significantly disrupted, and who put a lot of time and energy into ensuring that the school was secure. However, with the illegal encampment ended, hopefully those anxieties can now ease. The site itself, of course, remains the subject of a major planning application at Sevenoaks District Council, albeit one that is, I understand, in the process of revision.