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APLANto build amuch-needed 1,200-place secondary school inMaidstone has been delayed by a year after a bitterwar ofwords between itsmanagement and the borough council. In a letter to parents from Valley


InvictaAcademies’Trust (VIAT), co- chief executive officerVicAshdown apologises to thosewho had hoped to secure a place at the New Cut Road school next September, blam- ing it on an “impasse”with council- lors. The fate of the application for the


Maidstone School of Science and Technology (MSST) will now rest with a government inspector. The letter states: “We have lost


faith in the ability of the (Maidstone Borough) council to deliver the nec- essary and lawful planning permis- sion in a timely fashion and have referred the matter to the Planning Inspectorate. “We understand that this will


offer little comfort to those of you who were seeking places in 2018, but given the circumstances pre- sented to uswe have been unable to


SCHOOLS in Maidstone are fac- ing amajor shortage of governors – but that has come as no surprise to one education expert in Kent. Figures from Kent County


Council and analysed by the edu- cation charity Governors for Schools shows there are 564 un- filled positions. Maidstone and Tonbridge and


Malling areas are short by 156 – the highest in Kent. Dartford, Gravesham and Sevenoaks are short by 150 and Ashford, Shep- way andDover by 145,whileCan- terbury, Swale and Thanet are all looking for 113. Peter Read, a former teaching


professionalwho runs Kent Inde- pendent Education Advice, said he is “totally unsurprised” by the figures. Mr Read (pictured), himself a


former governor, added: “A lot of governors are not appreciated by


Artist’s impression of the proposed new secondary school in :Maidstone


proceed in any otherway.” In it, the trust claims the council


was looking for contributions to- wards infrastructure totalling about £1m, but states this is “potentially neither reasonable, nor legal”. It says the council failed to com-


municate, deferring decisions be- yond the set deadline of June 2017, while the project received govern- ment backing in May 2015. But councillors say that,while they sup- ported the new school, the appli- cants were unwilling to enter into


School governors shortage ‘unsurprising’


their schools or the wider community. “There is


also a signifi- cant degree of expertise r e q u i r e d which most n o r m a l working peo-


ple do not have the time for. “There is no point in being a


governor to sit around and agree with everything the head teacher does. You have to challenge the head.And I think that is an essen- tial part of accountability, espe- cially in this day and age.” As a governor,Mr Read said he


often had to read documents whichmeasured six inches deep at times. The chief executive of Gover- nors for Schools, Louise Cooper,


said: "While many of the head- lines at the moment are around teacher shortages, the problem in recruiting governors is just as acute. "Governors are critical in ensur-


ing that schools are being man- aged efficiently and effectively so that they can deliver excellent ed- ucation." She said becoming a governor is


"incredibly rewarding". But one former Maidstone gov-


ernor said: "LouiseCooper is right about it having its rewards but you have to have the time and there can be a large amount of pa- perwork. "Silly as it sounds, if your panel


meets at 6pm or 6.30pm and you work more than five miles away from the hall, the chances are you'll get stuck inMaidstone traf- fic. That was one of the reasons I gave it up."


Terrific Toby throws his way to county crown


A MAIDSTONE schoolboy who learned to throw the javelin in his school PE lessons just over a year ago has scored a hit by being placed third in the UK. Toby Hughes, a year eight pupil


at Cornwallis Academy, Linton, threw an amazing 38.57metres in the Kent Championships last month, making him not only the KentU13 Champion but third in his age group in the UK. Toby, aged 13, from Loose, only


started throwing the javelin in the summer of 2016, as part of his


school PE lessons. He went on to join the after-school club and has also joined Medway and Maid- stone Athletics Club. Cornwallis Academy Head of PE


Dane Smith said: “Toby has shown a natural ability for both javelin and shot putt and hasmade amaz- ing progress during the year. “We were all thrilled to hear of


his achievement. It was well de- served and we look forward to sup- porting himwith future training in the sport.” Toby also competed in the shot


putt where he achieved fifth posi- tion with his throw of 8.41metres. Toby’s PE teacher Thomas King


said: “Toby is a fantastic performer in PE lessons, displaying enthusi- asm, and giving his all to learn and progress. “We are thrilled to see Toby per-


forming at such a high level, con- sidering he only started javelin last year. “We hope he continues to excel


in his Javelin and look forward to hearing about more records being broken.”


Maidstone Weald November 2017 31


negotiations and took the plan to appeal 36 hours before itwas due to be approved by the council’s plan- ning committee.


‘ Themost inflexible


approach I have come across in 20 years on the planning commit- tee..


Cllr Clive English The committee approval would


have included conditions to satisfy issues including school transport provision and traffic congestion. The chairman of Maidstone’s


planning committee,CllrClive Eng- lish, described the approach taken as “the most inflexible I have come across in 20 years on the planning committee”. Cllr English added: “Any reasonable applicant would have waited a day to have the plan considered in the properway. “We were not against the school,


which ismuch needed, but the plan- ning process is about dialogue.” Cllr English says councillors had


wanted to discuss issues including the loss of mature trees, access and design issues, and a contribution to- wards the cost of running school buses, butwere denied the opportu- nity. He added: “It ismy belief that tak-


ing the plan to an inspectorwas seen as a way to avoid consultation and escape conditions and costs ofmeet- ing the needs of the community.” Adetailed submissionwill be sent


to the planning inspector,making a strong case for the borough and county council’s needs to bemet as part of any final approval.


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