A Kent County Council employee has won a national award for his plan to tackle the educational impact of child poverty during the school summer holidays. Rob Comber, a Service Development Manager in the council’s Children, Young People and Education directorate, was crowned winner of the 10th annual LGA (Local Government Association) Local Government Challenge…
A group of Kent and Medway partners is delighted to invite businesses, training providers and apprentices to the first Kent Apprentice Graduation Ceremony at Rochester Cathedral on Friday, October 4. Thousands of organisations are now employing apprentices. With the desire to recognise and celebrate apprentices’ achievement akin to that of a University graduate, work is…
Swift actions have already been taken to improve care for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), following a critical letter from Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) and the CQC (Care Quality Commission). Kent County Council and the NHS are working together on a joint strategy to improve care…
Young people in Kent can now prepare for their adventures abroad by signing up for unique travel safety training that is only available in a limited number of counties throughout the UK. The Education People, a Kent County Council Local Authority Trading Company (LATCo), has teamed up with a former Metropolitan Police close protection officer…
Over 97% of children across Kent will start their formal education in 2019 at a Primary school named by their parents on their application. That figure – 16,839 children in all – includes 15,450 who were offered their first preference. This takes the percentage of first-choice placements to over 89%. Roger Gough, Kent County Council’s…
Tackling the exploitation of vulnerable children and young people was at the heart of a conference in Canterbury this month. Leading experts in the field were at Canterbury College on Thursday, March 14 to raise awareness among the 180-strong audience of professionals about the varied and complex reasons why children and young people fall victim…
More than 95% of children will receive an offer from one of their four preferences after more families than ever before applied for a secondary school place in Kent. A total of 21,473 applications were received, up 3.58% on last year’s cohort, while the number of Kent applicants rose from 17,442 in 2018 to 17,959…
Do something green in 2019. That was the message sent out by Sevenoaks Primary School pupils as they helped create a wildlife pond to mark the launch of Kent Year of Green Action. Based on the government’s national Year of Green Action campaign, Kent Year of Green Action is an initiative of Kent County Council’s…
A teenager from Kent has spoken in Parliament about her own mental health struggles and the importance of involving young people in shaping and improving the services that support them. On Tuesday, February 5, four young people, from Folkestone, Ashford and The Canterbury High School, attended a Parliamentary event on the mental health of young…
Nursery children told the nativity story in a festive film as they put on a Christmas show with a difference for their proud families. Staff at Discovery Day Nursery in Park Wood, Maidstone, came up with the unique twist on the traditional festive celebration, which also saw the children using sign language while singing Christmas…
Once again, pupils in Kent have excelled in their Key Stage 2 assessments, achieving higher than the national average for the three main subjects combined. For the third year running, the percentage of pupils in the county who met or exceeded the expected standard in Combined Reading, Writing and Mathematics was higher than the average…
Nurseries and pre-schools across Kent are celebrating after being honoured with prestigious awards to recognise their commitment to supporting continuous improvement. Five nurseries and pre-schools were honoured with a prestigious Threads of Success Improvement and Achievement Award. They were Bertie’s Nursery in Faversham, Discovery Day Nursery in Maidstone, Kiddie Kapers Neighbourhood Nursery in Ashford, Magpie…