The post you are reporting:
Great news about Shatterlocks but I see there is no further information about where we stand in the global league tables, not that well I suppose or he would have bragged about it.
"Time for an aspiration nation
Improving education is a key priority of mine. So much progress has been made in in recent years – in Dover and Deal and beyond.
Back in 2010, school standards were heading in the wrong direction. The UK was tumbling down global league tables. A major study found that within a decade we had dropped from 7th to 25th in reading, from 8th to 28th in maths, from 4th to 16th in science. Things looked bleak.
Fast forward to today and the picture is completely different. Shatterlocks in Dover has just become the latest local school to have an outstanding Ofsted rating. Inspectors noted the children were “exceptionally keen learners who rise to the high expectations set for them”. Teachers, pupils and parents deserve huge credit.
Those higher expectations were part of radical reforms. And the results are plain to see. Across Dover and Deal 2,432 more children are now attending schools rated good or outstanding than were doing so in 2010. Across the UK 85% of schools are now good or outstanding – compared to just 66% in 2010.
There’s more funding too. I was one of those fighting for a new funding formula to address historic unfairness. Our pupils got so much less than their London peers. The new formula means Dover district secondary schools will get 7.2% more from 2020. A transition period saw them receive £1.23 million extra in September. Total school funding in Kent has now topped £1 billion for the first time – the highest amount for any local authority area in the UK.
Yet there is still more to do. Last week I visited Whitfield and Aspen Primary School – another local school rated good by Ofsted. This amazing place cares for many children with special needs. The teaching quality is excellent, but they are running out of space. Almost 500 are taught there. A second site was supposed to be built two-and-half years ago. We need to see this taken forward as quickly as possible.
Every parent wants their child to have the best possible start. Our area has been leading the way in education for youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds. A Government social mobility report puts us in the top 10 in the whole country. Children are also getting a better start at home, with an all-time high of around nine in 10 children in the UK now living in a household where at least one adult works – and 300,000 fewer living in absolute poverty.
I’m passionate about giving people ladders in life – at every stage. That’s why I’m also fighting for more funding for our further education colleges, which have lost out in the past few years.
We must send a message that no matter where you come from, no matter how old you are, you should have the chance to work hard and get on in life. We must be ambitious for every single person in Dover and Deal. Only then can we realise the full potential of our community."
