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Girls to attend


awards night INVICTA Grammar School was celebrating after hearing that two of its students had been shortlisted for the 2012 Acad- emy Excellence Awards. The pupils, in years 12 and


13, entered the biology and de- sign and technology categories of the awards. Jessica McCafferty (year 13)


and Emma Carter (year 12) will now be invited to attend an in- spiration day and awards din- ner at University of Nottingham on July 4, where they will find out if they have won a £1,000 prize and a work placement at a top UK company. The awards recognise the out- standing academic achieve- ments of students aged between 16 and 19 studying at acade- mies in England. This year students were chal- lenged to write essays in re- sponse to questions set by experts at University of Not- tingham.


School holds


music festival A ONE-day music festival is being planned by Five Acre Wood School, Maidstone, for pupils with learning difficulties and special needs. The event, called Five Acre


Wood Stock, takes place from 10.30am to 3pm on July 6, on the school’s field in Boughton Lane.


There will be bands through-


out the day, aswell as stalls and games organised by the pupils as part of a creative project. To help fund this event, teacher Dan Zaccheo and a col- league were taking part in the Maidstone triathlon.


Bring along your


little monsters FAMILIES with young children are invited to go along to a new playgroup at Beechwood Hall, Maidstone. The Beechwood Monsters Playgroup aims to encourage learning and development, with the parents’ or carers’ in- volvement, in line with the Government’s Early Years Foundation stage. The cost per family of a morning or afternoon session is £3, or families can stay all day for £5. Snacks and hot drinks are included in the price. For details, go to the website at beechwoodhall.org.uk


Testing times PARENTS who want their chil- dren to sit the Kent Test (for- merly known as the 11+examination) this Septem- ber, for grammar school entry in 2013 need to register before Monday July 2. More details are available on-


line at www.kent.gov.uk/ola or by calling 01622 696565.


32 Town


Chief pilot Capt Blaine Ashurst and clinical man- agers GaryWareham, Richard de Coverly and Rob Wilkinson with their Jubilee honours


Ofsted praise for grammar


STUDENTS attending Oakwood Park Grammar School in Maid- stone can look forward to “an exceptional learning experi- ence”, according to Ofsted in- spectors. The team, which judged the school to be outstanding, said the head, governors and senior lead- ers provided an “extremely sup- portive ethos”. This enabled pupils to achieve highly, both personally and academically. Pupils were said to make good progress from years 7 to 11, con- sistently achieving above the national average in GCSE exam- inations. Effective leadership, accurate self-evaluation and a commit- ment to the success of every stu- dent underpinned the school’s


capacity for high performance and improvement. Students showed an enjoy-


ment of learning, and behaviour and attendance was good. They were said to be reflective young people who made an excep- tional contribution to the suc- cess of the school and the well-being of the community. The well-tailored curriculum supported students’ high attain- ment, widened their horizons and inspired them to aim high. Teaching was said to be mostly good across all subjects, and some was outstanding. It ensured students understood how to improve their work, and probed their understanding through excellent questioning. Asurvey of parents and carers


ANAllington grandfather saved by theKent AirAmbu- lancewasamongVIP guests at a concert in aid of the charity. Retired shopkeeper John Bradford (75) had just re-


turned from dropping offhis grandson at schoolwhen he suffered a cardiac arrest inMarch 2010. His wife Hilary dialled 999 and carried out CPR be-


fore paramedics arrived. Hewas given emergency treatment byKent Air Am- bulance’s doctor and critical care paramedic before being flown to King’s College Hospital in just 25 min- utes.


John spent three weeks in intensive care and on a


high dependency unit before he was allowed back home and has since made a full recovery. Heand his wifewere amongguests at RiversideRo-


tary Club’s charity concert at AllSaints’ Church, Maid- stone. The concert featured the London Welsh Male


confirmed strong support and appreciation of the school. One parent said: “Oakwood strikes the balance between academic study and wider achievement, and, because of this, my son loves school and can’t wait to join the sixth form.” To improve still further, in- spectors recommended that the school increase the proportion of outstanding teaching by shar- ing the very best practice. They should start lessons with activ- ities that engaged students quickly, capturing their interest and challenging them. Opportunities for students to


lead learning should be in- creased and the students should have a detailed understanding of how to improve their work.


Survivor John is special guest at charity concert


Heart attack survivor John Bradford with his wife Hilary, grandson Richard, Dr Dean Kerslake and pilot Capt Kevin Goddard


Voice Choir with musical director Edward-Rhys Harry. Proceeds of the event went to the air ambulance, The Heart of Kent Hospice and other local charities.


Royal awards for crew AIR ambulance crew member Rob Wilkinson, of Maid- stone,and four colleagueshavereceivedQueen’sDiamond Jubilee medals for their contribution to pre-hospital care. Clinical manager Rob was an electrician at Chatham


Dockyard before training as a nurse in 1982 at Medway Maritime Hospital inGillingham. He firstworked on the air ambulance in1999andbecamearegistered paramedic in 2005. He has lived in Maidstone for 12 years with his wife and three children. Medals alsowent to pilots BlaineAshurst andKevin God-


dard and clinicalmanagersGaryWareham and Richardde Coverly.


School making steady headway with necessary improvements


OFSTED inspectors who re- turned to Archbishop Courtenay Primary School in College Road, Maidstone, this year found that the school had made satisfactory progress in making improve- ments. The school had been judged to


be satisfactory at a previous in- spection inMay 2010, but several areas of improvement had been suggested. Attainment in year 6 for English andmathematics had fallen in 2011, but mobility had had a significant impact on this year group, and fewer than half had attended the school through- out key stage 2. Those who had attended had made satisfactory progress and the gap between reading and writingwas closing. The significant proportion of


pupils with special educational needs and disabilities was well supported. Pupils’ progress was improving, but the proportion of good teaching was not yet high enough. Pupils hadmore opportunities


to use their writing skills in other subjects, but in some lessons, teachers’ expectations were not high enough. In most lessons pupils behaved


well, but they became distracted when they were not fully chal- lenged. The inspection took place just


prior to the school’s move to Ec- cleston Road, Tovil, in February. It was hoped the move to new, less cramped accommodation would allow the school to im- prove faster.


Police release CCTV


clue to store theft POLICE have released this image of aman they would like to speak to following the theft of around £500 worth of cosmetics from


a


Maidstone store. The inci-


dent occurred at Boots in King Street at about 5.30pm on May 16.


Officers believe the man may


be able to provide valuable in- formation in relation to the re- port. Call the police on 101, quot- crime


ing YY/8709/12. You can e-mail the Downs Mail — info@downsmail.co.uk


reference


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