South May 2015

downsmail.co.uk

School struggles to make grade

SUTTON Valence Primary School is still struggling to pull itself out of the woods, after being ranked as requiring improvement more than 18 months ago. A number of governors had re-

signed since the 2013 report and, al- though the chair and vice-chair had been replaced, there were now six vacancies on the board. A head teacher, Marianne Terry,

was appointed in April 2014 and a deputy was due to start, but there were still temporary teachers in three year groups and no subject teachers for English or mathematics. A second Ofsted monitoring in- spection since the schoolwas singled out for improvement, carried out in February this year, found that while the head was working hard to rem- edy matters, sometimes her efforts were misplaced. The behaviour and safety of pupils

at the schoolwas good, but the qual- ity of teaching, leadership and man- agement needed improvement. InspectorAmandaGard said: “Se-

nior leaders and governors are not taking effective action to tackle the

areas requiring improvement iden- tified at the section 5 inspection in September 2013.” The school failed to meet the gov- ernment’s minimum standards ex- pected for reading, writing and mathematics in 2014 and was un- likely to do so again this year. How- ever, the learning environment had improved, according to the report. The inspector had praise for the

head and the new Senco, adding: “The special educational needs co- ordinator (Senco) is putting more ro- bust systems in place for pupilswho require additional support. “Lowstandards and the lack of ca-

pacity for improvement is a concern and the school is unlikely to be judged good at its next section 5 in- spection.” A spokesman for KCC said: “We

are aiming for all schools in Kent to be rated as good or outstanding. The new headteacher at Sutton Valence is leading the school through a pe- riod of significant change and the school is being monitored regularly by Ofsted. Parents are being kept in- formed of the changes.”

News

Park and ride plan should be blocked, say candidates

RESIDENTS in Linton will be hoping that the new MP forMaidstone and TheWeald has the courage of his or her convictions. Members of the pressure group

Keep Linton Green wrote to all prospective parliamentary candi- dates in advance of the election ask- ing about their stance on the proposed park and ride for south Maidstone. Maidstone Council is considering putting a park and ride facility at or near Linton Crossroads, to serve vil- lages south of the borough and ease traffic flows into town. The principal contenders for the

seat both replied to say theywereop- posed to the idea, which would dam- age the environment and destroy a prime greenfield site. The result of the election was not

knownwhentheDownsMailwent to press, but this is what the candidates had to say: Helen Grant (Conservative): “I am not con-

vinced that the benefits of a park and ride at Linton Crossroads out- weigh the harm it would cause to the

environment in terms of pollution and intrusion into the countryside. “The extra traffic wouldmeanthat

the already-congested crossroads would come to a virtual standstill at peak times. “Although traffic modelling will

clarify the position,my stance at this momentis that the site should be op- posed. Jasper Gerard (Lib Dem): “Linton cross-

roads is already gridlocked at peak times and develop- ment here would exacerbate the problem. I do ac- cept the logic be-

hind park and ride in principle but the Lib Dem council group has already declared that, if we gain control of the council, we will look to block this site.

“Improving the bus service from

Staplehurst and other villages would be a better investment.” The verdict from Keep Linton

Green? “If these comments are to be be-

lieved, everyone is against the scheme. So why is it still in the local plan?”

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