New nursery gets good report


A NETTLESTEAD nursery has been rated as “good” by Ofsted, while some features were out- standing.


Nettlestead andWateringbury Pre-School and Out of School Club opened in 2010 and has 54 children, of which 30 are in the early years age group. Inspector Beryl Witheridge,


Three times a winner! TRIPLETS Megan, Lauren and Emma Carter have proved that things do indeed happen in threes. The 16-year-olds all achieved 11 A*/A grades in their GCSEs -


plus two A grades at AS-level. Invicta Grammar School head Julie Derrick said: “This is an amazing family and school achievement. “The triplets all want to go to Cambridge so watch this space!


We are sure that their dreams will come true.” Emma aims to study architecture, Megan has set her sights on sciences while Lauren is looking at law for a career. She said: “We never planned to go to university but it has ended up as one of our aims.” The girls, who attended Roseacre Junior School in Bearsted, are also very sporty. They used to play football at school and for Bearsted, and now play hockey. They are all members of St John Ambulance in Lenham,where


they live. The threesome, plus another member, Lauren Wicki- son, won the regional cadets quiz - at their first attempt. Meanwhile, six more Invicta girls joined the triplets on simi-


lar pass rates - Katie Billing, Sophie Bradshaw, Annabelle Brit- tle, Eleanor Bryant, Chloe Ranger and Bethan Dowden. Mrs Derrick added: “We had more 20 students with straight A*/A grades.”


Record year IT has been another record year for Kent’s students.


62% of the county’s students achieved the key benchmark of five A*-C grades, includ- ing English and maths, (up 5%on last year) and 84% achieved five A*-C grades in all subjects – an improvement of 5% on 2010.


There has been year- on-year improvement in Kent since 1995.


Congratulation to school


as hard work pays off STAFF and pupils atMereworth Com- munity Primary school are celebrating after achieving the school’s best-ever SATs results. All the children in Year 6 achieved


level 4 in both maths and English, with 75% gaining level 5 in maths and 15% going on to achieve level 6. Head teacher Diane Moore said: “I


am very proud of the children and teaching team. They have worked ex- tremely hard and deserve the results they achieved. “It was a very satisfying end to my


first year at Mereworth. The school has received a congratu- latory letter from KCC.


who visited the purpose-built site next to Nettlestead Village Hall in May, said that policies and procedures were imple- mented by caring, professional staff. She noted that children re-


ceive a very warm welcome from the staff as they arrive and settle into the bright, attractive premises. Children had access to an ex- tremely good range of toys, learning resources and experi- ences, and their learning was extended. They felt safe in the setting


and their good health and well- being was actively encouraged.


The inspector observed that children could approach staff at any time. For instance, one child was fascinated by the tad- poles and asked if she could feed them. As she fed them, she counted the number of pinches of food, taking turns easily with two other children and they had an in-depth discussion about how the tadpoles were growing and changing. “This sustained shared com- munication helps to develop children’s ideas andmakes con- nections about learning,” said the report. Children were well-behaved


and staff were excellent role models, dealingwith any issues “quietly, calmly and consis- tently”. The inspector said that, to im-


prove still further, all staff should be involved in planning play experiences for each child and that the emergency evacua- tion routine should be practised regularly.


Academy makes progress


STAFF and pupils at New Line Learning are delighted the school is on track to meet its Ofsted targets. After a one-day monitoring visit Ofsted concluded that NLL is making the recommended improvements and working towards the goals identified in its previous “satisfactory” inspection. The latest report said attendance was now much closer to the national average and the number of pupils persistently absent had reduced consider- ably through intense support.


According to Ofsted,


the good progress was attributed to a focus on developing literacy and numeracy skills, improved teaching and behaviour man- agement, teachers ac- tively involving students in their learn- ing and enhanced tracking of pupils’ per- formance. Head of academy


Guy Hewett said: “Short notice visits like this ensure in- spectors see the acad- emy as it really is.”


NLL Academy pupils with head of academy Guy Hewett


Prep school head predicts ‘confusion’ in state schools


Lara Bowles (11), from Chart Sutton, with the Music Cup she received at speech day


FEARS over the instability and falling standards of state education were ex- pressed at Sutton Valence Prep School speech day by its head Richard Johnson. Referring to fluctuating plans, budgetary cuts and changes to the curriculum, Mr Johnson told parents and pupils: “I personally feel that so many dramatic changes in such a short space of time will create a sense of confusion that will take years to settle. “We are about to see amajor change within the state education system in this area – in both primary and sec- ondary schools – all without any extra resources.


“We are already seeing precious op- portunities in sport, music and the arts being taken away.” Mr Johnson said he was delighted


that many of the features the govern- ment attributed to an outstanding school were already present in schools such as his, where high aca- demic standards were balanced with a wealth of opportunities outside the classroom. The school’s Kent Test results this


year were the best for many years, with 46% of the year group passing and four pupils gaining 100% in all three papers. This compared with 25% across the whole of Kent.


To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330


New bursar appointed


SUTTON Valence School has a new bursar. Simon Fowle succeeds An- drew Hutchin- son, who retired last term after 18 years. Mr Fowle, mar-


ried with 10- year-old twins and two grown- up sons, joins from Burgess Hill School for Girls, Sussex, where he hed been bursar since 2006.


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