2 December 2022 weekly update

Dear Colleagues,

This week the new Kent Commissioning Plan was discussed by CYPE Cabinet Committee (from page 101). It is a fascinating record of how rapidly parts of Kent are developing and changing as well as an insight in to the complex process of the annual forecasting pupil numbers. A year is a long time in pupil place planning and as we have seen in parts of the county, unforeseen growth in the pupil population coupled with delays by developers and increasing costs have resulted in rapid solutions having to be found to create places. A big thank you to the AEOs who lead this work and to those of you that have worked with them to ensure we have sufficient places.

Work on SEND improvement continues apace and I am looking forward to hearing about the outcome of the year 6 to 7 transition meetings which are now taking place, hosted by secondary school colleagues. Kent’s recent SEND revisit was under the old framework and Ofsted and CQC have now published the new framework which will be implemented from January 2023.

I started my week in Dover where the fourth headteacher briefing took place and thank you to those of you who attended. Dover is not necessarily the most attractive of towns, but I hold a great deal of affection for it . When I was a child, Dover was the mid-point in the journey from a small mining town in the Lothians of Scotland to my mother’s home town of Pistoia in Italy. The voyage involved a night sleeper from Glasgow to London, a train to Dover, onto the ferry and then a second night sleeper to Florence. Strangely, my grandson also loves Dover, particularly watching the ferries come and go whilst eating what he considers the best fish and chips in the world in a seafront restaurant.

Have a good weekend.

Best wishes

Christine McInnes
Director of Education