Back to Basics

The news that Education Director, Rose Collinson is to step aside has come as a surprise despite the fact she has had a rough time in the position.

I do not know Rose well; having only recently joined the Council I can say that whenever our paths have crossed she has dealt with me in the highest level of professionalism and especially over my concerns on the Bishop of Rochester Academy; it is noted that she is one of those officers who will email at all times of the day whatever the issue from the member. A truly dedicated public servant she has, as I understand, worked her way to senior office and has a background in Special Educational needs.Her departure however presents an opportunity for reform in the structure of the department which is so desperately needed.

It was always a surprise that the Conservative administration chose to link in the Education portfolio with a number of other demanding departments including child care and adult learning.

Each of the departments would be challenging enough if they were all working seamlessly; as it was and is, there were inherent problems with a number when she inherited the job [and there have been marked improvements in a number of outcomes]. However, the subsequent high-profile issues surrounding Primary School re-organisations, 11+ fiasco, Primary school building funding and issues around governor training the perception was the department was struggling

The education budget has also come under increased scrutiny and pressure over the last 12-18 months. With Conservatives cutting budgets aligned to Supporting People, cost increases in the number of child care related case work, and with issues around SEN funding it was becoming apparent that on a number of fronts the pressure was immense. How on earth anyone could anyone focus on all those aforementioned; and then go onto challenge under-performing primary and secondary schools.

This of course would have been a red flag to a capable portfolio holder.

Unfortunately the person in post at the moment is utterly incapable; and the public have seen over the last 12-24 months the culmination in a failure to lead from the front. Les Wicks could have taken responsibility for each of these fiasco's and as the political lead should have done; as it was it appears that whilst he is still in post the officer has fallen.

It is in my mind the most important of all portfolio briefs which is why this angers. The future education of our young people is more important to residents then many, if not all, the other functions the Council carries out.

The political leadership is woefully lacking.

A suggestion perhaps for Tory backbenchers to persue; get a new portfolio holder (perhaps a capable back-bencher) and split the department in two; hire two directors. With Medway not performing at Key Stage 2 across a number of Primary Schools and a very mixed set of GCSE and A-level results, we need a senior person to focus on improving results and the glut of other structural Education changes on their own. The other brief can focus on child-care, adoption and adult education. It is a full-time job just to improve education for young people irrespective of all the other issues on the table.

I wish Rose all the best in her chosen field; but we now have an opportunity to look at the structure of the department and under needed fresh political leadership develop a structure which can focus on failing schools and engage in the improvements which are necessary.

GCSE results below average

Medway is amongst the worst performing in the South East region under Medway Tory LEA

The failure in political leadership in the education department is once again in the spotlight as the GCSE result league tables show that Medway schools continue to suffer under the management of this lacklustre Conservative controlled Local Education Authority

One school, Bishop of Rochester Academy, which sits in a neighbouring ward to Luton & Wayfield, and whose catchment is in my ward now sits in the top three worst performing schools in the UK, with only 16% achieving five good GCSEs

Medway is also below average with only 55.7% achieving five good GCSEs when compared to an average of 58.2%.

There are many good schools in Medway and they should be allowed full autonomy from the hand of Cllr Wicks. They do not want, nor desire, the attention of the Conservative cabinet.

It is however an abject and utter disgrace that despite all the complaints by residents in Luton & Wayfield and Chatham Central that their children are suffering a substandard education and have done so for such a long period of time.

We also continue to see poor results at other schools and the public expect better.

The Tory in charge, Cllr Les Wicks, has now overseen GCSE league-table results below the national average, with several schools amongst the worst in the UK and yet there is no apology on any Conservative website.

He has lost the confidence of the public over the botched 11+ test and the Primary school re-organisation fiasco's. He should do the honourable thing and stand aside for someone with an intellectual grasp for education and that can inject new leadership.

Not my words; but from his own Conservative colleagues.

It is time the administration relentlessly focus its attention on the failing schools from Hundred of Hoo, Robert Napier and Bishop of Rochester. Focused resource and political attention on the schools which need to do better.

In addition, would have at least expected a detailed statement today on the School results with an acceptance that they were not good enough. Yet there was nothing accept one casual remark to the press saying the results were good; below average performance is not good!

It is almost as if the league table results are not of any importance.

This school, and the others which have worsened under the Tories, have the responsibility to educate hundreds of young people to a good standard and yet the administration have put out no public statement as to how they will improve. It is a lack of direction which worries parents.

It is simply unacceptable to have a number of our schools amongst the worst in the UK. Medway is not a poor area and has significant areas of affluence; it is the lack of political leadership which has led us to worsening SATS and now below average GCSE results in many of our schools.

Cllr Les Wicks should go and new dynamism injected immediately

11+ Fiasco; Tory spin cycle continues

Despite the volume of news over recent weeks around the closures of Care Homes and the opening of the 'dynamic' open-plan bus facility in Autumn the issue of the 11+ fiasco continues at a pace behind the scenes.

Let us remember that hundreds of parents of potential grammar school pupils were mis-managed by the Education department overseen by the Tory Councillor Les Where's Wicks.

The Portfolio Holder who spent the days after the fiasco at Conservative Conference and who took 13 days to apologise.

Peter Read - the independent education expert - is currently pulling his hair out at the utter incompetence and chaff that is being dispensed by the ruling Tories to hide the mismanagement.

Remember; we never did get the full report published on the scale of the incompetence involved merely a covering paper on recommendations.

Despite his attempts to get detail on the fiasco he has been met with a cold wall from the Tory-led Council; some might claim to hide the fiasco and its impacts on MPs who should actually be holding the Council to account for its actions.

Medway Council took 43 working days to respond to his Freedom of Information request, only a month after the legal deadline of 20 days to reply, rejecting his request. See bottom of page for more.

The original article by Peter is here. Copied below

p.s. If I were a parent looking to send a child to a Grammar School in this Tory-controlled area i'd be very worried indeed.

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I remain very concerned about the Medway Test shambles, which the Council appears to be trying to bury, hoping that everyone will forget about it, although its ludicrous claim that no children were disadvantaged by the problems stands as a PR disaster, in that it angered so many parents, who would otherwise have just written the matter off to incompetence.

I hear that the Local Government Ombudsman is preparing a draft report which, if it is subsequently published, should shed further light on the mystery of why Council officers and members made so many public statements that proved wrong.

My problem is that, in trying to understand further what went wrong, ...........

I submitted a Freedom of Information request on 22nd October, which the Council is required to respond to within 20 working days. When 32 working days had elapsed without response, apart from the standard next day acknowledgement, I was starting to suspect that this was a deliberate strategy to deny me the information I was seeking. I therefore submitted a complaint on 8th December about the matter.

To cover myself, I sent a simpler FOI request on 11th December, seeking a subset of the previous, in case the Council was going to wait until the last moment to tell me I had asked for too much information (or am I being cynical?). However, I have not even had an acknowledgement of this second request (although I wrote again to the council asking if there was an acknowledgement to come) and don't know if the council is going to treat it as the previous one.

I have therefore, on 20th December, sent a second complaint, about the failure to acknowledge. I am well aware that the many parents who complained both at Stage 1 & Stage 2 of the Council Complaints procedure regarding the Medway test received uniformly unsatisfactory responses, and some have subsequently taken their complaints off to the Local Government Ombudsman (see above). In this case, my next step is the Information Commissioner's Office, but what a waste of everyone's time, when all I need is an answer to my questions.

I am not a Medway resident, but parents who complained about the Medway Test to local Councillors or their MP have also received a brush off with superficial responses.

Can anyone advise me if there is a simpler way to secure my information without going through what is a tiresome process?

I know, because I had similar problems a few years ago with other FOI requests, and finished up complaining to the Council about the failure of the Complaints Officer to act. On that occasion I decided I had better things to do when in retrospect I should have pushed on, as I will on this occasion.

On the positive side, I find that normally I get an excellent service from the education admissions department and the Department that co-ordinates FOI, who are most helpful, so I can only conclude that there are other reasons for the current obstructiveness by Medway Council (motto - Helping You!).

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After a delay of 23 days beyond the required deadline, and 14 days after filing a formal complaint about the lack of response, Medway Council has deigned to contact me. What a coincidence that that it happedn on this date. However, apparently, my request fails because: it contains Information that is likely to inhibit the free and frank provision of advice or the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation; Third party personal data; and Confidentiality.

There are actually ways to provide most of the information requested without breaching the second and third aspects of these, and there is great public concern about the quality of provision of advice, which should surely be in the public domain. For example - the one document I did receive was that issued to Medway Test Review Panels, to explain the circumstances of the problems at the Medway Test Centres.

The first two sentences of this are: Some of the signs directing families to the registration area were not clearly displayed and therefore parents were uncertain of exactly where on the site they needed to be.This meant that a high volume of children and parents arrived at the sports hall later than the scheduled registration time.

This is frankly rubbish and has been thoroughly demonstrated as such by many parental testimonies. Parents knew where the sports hall was by seeing the long queues that went much of the way round the building which had been built up before the registration desks were opened. Parents certainly had the intelligence to work out that they joined the back of the queue!

If this is the quality of information being served up to the Review Panels, it is surely in the public interest to understand how this level of misinformation could be disseminated so long after the original incidents. I could go on, and shall do so in another place.

Primary School Results Shame

The news today of KS2 results revealed the shameful state of Primary School education under the management of Councillor Wicks.

Tory-led Medway LEA is amongst the worst performing authorities in the entire United Kingdom, and has effectively remained static over the last five years - remaining consistently below the national average.

For the full breakdown please the Department for Education statistics website

It is not as if Medway operates amongst the poorest areas in the United Kingdom. The Medway Unitary Authority has some of the wealthiest wards in Kent.

Councillor Wicks has a lamentable record managing our kid's education. The fiasco over school mergers on dodgy statistics, mis-management over primary school building programme's and the 13 day wait for an apology of his departments error over the 11+ fiasco.

Medway Labour have consistently warned about the Tory failure over Primary School education which is why it formed part of our local election manifesto in May 2011. The fact is these results can not continue, year-on-year, to be below average; it really should not be acceptable that we fail one third of our kids, and in some areas more than half attending some schools not getting the right grades.

It simply isnt good enough. Our kids deserve better.

Cover up over 11+ fiasco?

Yet full report is not put online for public scrutiny...

Below is an article from Peter Read, a Kent Independent Education Advisor, who has written for the Kent News on the 11+ fiasco.

The article itself raises serious questions about the ability of Rehman Chisthi to adequately represent his constituents after he expressed full confidence in the education department under Les Wicks. A questionable judgement were it not for partisan self-interest.

He needs to make it clear that if the Ombudsman rules against Cllr Wicks that he will call for his resignation.

The article does not mince its words and effectively accuses the Conservative administration of colluding in a cover up.

'Children who were treated unfairly at 11-plus test centres will never know if they would have passed

The row about the shambolic Medway Test arrangements at two test centres, described by Councillor Les Wicks, portfolio holder for education at Medway Council, as “a mortification” - continues unabated.

The Medway 11-plus is held in a number of large centres (mainly schools) on a Saturday morning in September. There have been complaints about the operation of these tests for years, the council agreeing nine changes in procedures with the Ombudsman in 2008 after a large number of complaints; last year the council admitted fault after another large number of complaints about one centre and agreed to put in a number of improvements to monitor the process.

Sadly these failed to stop what the council has now agreed were major faults at Rainham School for Girls, although it disputing the problems at the Chatham Grammar centre.

At Rainham, the council put in just one registration desk for more than 200 children, with the result that anxious queues rapidly built up waiting long past the 20 minutes allocated, the tests starting 40 minutes late. Children were therefore on site for six-and-a-half hours. There were only three boys’ toilets, half the girls’ toilets were not working so many children spent the whole of their breaks in toilet queues.

They had been told to bring a piece of fruit and a bottle of water to sustain them, which was evidently insufficient for the extended exam period. Any adult subjected to such chaos for an important exam would probably have walked out.

As it was some of the children did not have the stamina to cope. I have just listed here some of the many problems at Rainham, and Medway Council has now acknowledged that no fault attached to the school, although at least two councillors alleged the problems were down to the incompetence of the school and had apologise for this later. I could go on about the problems at Chatham, sparked by the invigilators’ failure to provide the question paper for the first exam of the day, but you can read the details at www.kentadvice.co.uk.

Medway Council’s astonishing verdict was that as half the children passed the test at Rainham, none were disadvantaged – apparently they didn’t consider the half who failed! The council promised to carry out a thorough investigation of the problems and make the outcome known to all concerned. However this has turned out to be a ‘management improvement report’, a single-page document looking forward to stop such problems recurring, that does not address the issue of why the problems arose in the first place. One can only hope it is more effective than the promises of 2010 which were supposed to stop such problems!

However, parents continue to be angry, not necessarily because of the original blunders, but because of council attempts to cover them up, and its ludicrous refusal to acknowledge some children were disadvantaged by the conditions to which they were subjected.

We await the ombudsman’s verdict on this one, but spare a thought for those children who will never know if they would have passed, if treated fairly.'

11+ Report slaps Wicks

The late 11+ fiasco report was finally published today, but has yet to be linked on the Medway Council website for full public review.

The report is several days late and was due to be published last week. Another delay it would seem by the Tories

For the sake of public transparency and accountability the Administration need to publish this report in all its details and in the full public domain.

Grammar school parents and pupils have been let down by the Conservative portfolio holder and the narrow clique that support him.

Hiding the report in the background when there is demonstrable public interest is not best served. Details of junior staff can be redacted if there are any conflicts of interest but some form of public document needs to be produced.

I have not had a chance to read the report; so I can not possibly comment on its content but from leaked snippets it would appear to be pretty damning on Cllr Les Wicks and his political leadership.

What I would say is that it took 13 days for Les Wicks to apologise; which is an outrageous delay, and most importantly, after he and colleaugues blamed the schools themselves.

In addition this fiasco is but one in a litany of failures on schools.

The Labour Group were rightly disappointed at last week’s Council meeting (still not published) to see that Cllr Les Wicks was unwilling to accept responsibility for his actions

This despite the litany of errors that fall within his remit:

• The 11+ exam fiasco at the Chatham Grammar School for Boys and the Rainham School for Girls where Medway Conservatives blamed the school for internal Council failures
• The botched Primary School re-organisation programme which used incorrect pupil statistics to close local primary schools, including the closure of Ridge Meadow and proposed closures of St Peter’s, Rochester and St John’s, Chatham
• The £350,000 bill to cancel photocopier contracts across schools
• The £1.8m overspend on the Walderslade School
• The £1.25m overspend on the Woodlands School
• Failure to back the Educational Maintenance Allowance for 16-18 year olds
• The cancellation of the School improvements at Luton School and the cuts to Building School budget from £5m to now cover maintenance only
• Medway being ranked close to the bottom of the Level 4 league table, with only 67% of pupils across the area gaining the level required

In any other job, that amount of error and incompetence would surely lead to dismissal.

Once I get hold of the report I will publish it online with permission

Update

The Council have not published a full report and have opted for a 'management document' which is effectively a summary of outcomes. It appears that Tories are unhappy to reveal the truth or reveal any reasons why we continue to see, year on year, cock-ups with the 11+ test.

So much for democracy.

Grammar School snub as Wicks remains

The Medway Conservatives declared war on the grammar school mum and dad last night by backing the feckless Councillor Les Wicks to retain his education portfolio, despite plea's from concerned parents over the botched Chatham & Rainham 11+ tests.

Thousands of parents are simply aghast that the Conservatives could put partisan self-service before that of the public, and the 43,000 pupils across Medway's 100+ schools. The Council received huge numbers of complaints and the Medway Messenger board was inundated with comments calling for a full review.

The full review that had been promised by the Council leader had been delayed; a deliberate ploy perhaps to save the portfolio holder face at a public meeting. Yes, of course it was.

Councillor Les Wicks continues to retain responsibility for the important Child Safety, adoption and school entrance selection process and was congratulated by colleagues for his 'first rate' performance including in Rainham.

There was no apology for the mis-spent millions on school projects including at Woodlands and Walderslade. Instead parent-governors were blamed for poor financial scrutiny.

The management of the 11+ test system is a fundamental to the Medway system of secondary education. Parents from Rochester to Rainham prepare their children assiduously for the test so that their child can aspire and reach their full potential.

Yet, the failure of Les Wicks to manage not one but two test centres has left hundreds of parents feeling that their child could have been discriminated against their peers on the basis of increased stress caused by the organisational failure.

The fact it took 13 days for Cllr Wicks to apologise to Grammar School parents and staff at the Grammar schools concerned - because he was at Conservative Party conference - shows the contempt with which he holds these schools.

A ward colleague, Cllr Vaughan Hewett who was silent last night, was not even aware that one of his own schools was actually an Academy. An insult to the hard work of staff, pupils and the governors.

If Conservatives think that back-slapping and fawning over Wicks in the Chamber means a jot to the public they have another thing coming.

By clinging onto an individual who would be fired in any private-sector role for budgetary mismanagement they have sent a message that incompetence and feckless leadership is not only supported by Tories; it is positively rewarded.

They have failed the Grammar schools - parents, staff and future pupils in Medway - and that is unforgivable.

13 days but... im so so Sorry

Click to enlarge

Only took 13 days, numerous comedy press articles, opposition statements and screams from his own back-benchers Cllr Wicks has finally admitted he cocked up and apologised to parents over the bungled 11+ fiasco. Only after he got back from his Party conference though.

Priorities priorities...

Conservative Cllr Wicks is pictured above in the local press with 'D' hat.

Where's Wicks?

The ever silent and ghost like Cllr Wicks has not spoken a word since the fiasco over the 11+

Today, even more revelations were revealed from school teachers themselves, which lay bare the incompetence and shambles of a portfolio holder who just cant accept the blindingly obvious fact that not one parent, teacher, pupil or resident has an iota of confidence in his ability.

The damning indictment of Cllr Wicks, was delivered by the Chair of Governor's Sheila Mann who pointed the blame firmly at the department managed by the portfolio holder

"As chair of governors of Rainham School for Girls, in light of recent media coverage, I feel compelled to write to clarify the involvement of the school in the Medway Test on Saturday, September 24, 2011.

"On August 8, Rainham Girls’ School was approached by the student services manager at Medway Council to see if we could provide another venue, as the number of parents requesting the test had been underestimated. It was made very clear from the outset that the student services team at Medway Council would administer the test and supervise children on the day.

"Rainham School for Girls were not asked to provide any extra assistance other than premises access. The administration and organisation of the test on the day was agreed to be the sole responsibility of Medway Council, this is a fact that appears to be overlooked."

You would think Cllr Wicks would have been immediately available, think again... Rehman Chisthi also has remained strangely silent; not one call from the MP for any resignation over this issue.

Journalists at the Medway Messenger have been struggling to find the ever elusive portfolio holder and have dubbed the quest 'Where's Wicks'.

They were told he was first on 'holiday' by ward colleagues but this was denied by the Council.

It has since emerged that instead of managing his department overcome this fiasco he has in fact, according to reports, been at the Conservative Party conference, presumably cheering the same cuts to education budgets which are undermining the future for children across the borough.

The Council stated that children were not disadvantaged in the 11+ chaos but this is increasingly hard to believe. It seems our portfolio holder is dealing with other matters to make any comment.

Councillor Wicks has a record of failure and has been allowed to get away with it for too long:

• 11+ exam fiasco at the Chatham Grammar School for Boys and the Rainham School for girls
• Botched Primary School re-organisation programme using incorrect pupil statistics to close local primary schools including the closure of Ridge Meadow and St Peters and St Johns threatene
• The £350,000 photocopier contract with Ridge Meadow School
• The £1.8m overspend on the Walderslade School
• The £2.25m overspend on the Woodlands School
• The cuts of 144 frontline teachers and teaching assistants in 2010/11
• The cancellation of the School improvements at Luton School and the cuts to Building School budget from £5m to cover maintenance only
• Medway ranked close to bottom of Level 4 league table with only 67% of pupils across area gaining level required

We have all had enough. Go.

Rehman deliver for 11+ parents?

Very odd that a number of comment posts on the Medway Messenger website come out in support of Rehman Chisthi.

Some would say very convenient indeed.

The simple and obvious fact is that this 11+ fiasco comes under the management of Councillor Les Wicks, who so happens to be a Conservative and Rainham colleague of no other than Rehman himself.

Les even campaigned for the election of Rehman on a ticket of competence in the General Election; both share the same platform of competence in education.

Now the MP for Gillingham is stuck in the middle

Grammar school parents represent a core vote for the MP who now occupies an uber marginal seat. So the MP needs all the positive comments he can get ... and so they appear.

With half his constituency party in arms at his parachute selection, we should all be watching closely to see if the MP has any credibility.

A credible MP would put the interests of parents first and call for the immediate resignation of Cllr Les Wicks, who has clearly failed to manage the education department. We have witnessed a huge number of fiasco's under his watch.

Will Rehman put the interests of parents above partisan affiliation and his political colleague and call for his resignation?

Don't hold your breath.

Conservative 11+ Failure

Another failure by Medway Conservatives as Councillor Les Wicks and his education department once again become the focus for residents wrath

This time the Tories have totally mismanaged the 11+ examination process which could lead to hundreds of expensive appeals and potentially a total collapse of the entire entrance system.

Another Tory failure in education which is hitting concerned mum's and dad's across the borough. All of whom have now witnessed the the utter incompetence of Conservatives in Gun Wharf.

Hundreds of residents have commented on the Medway Messenger website as anonymous Tory surrogates seek to extol the virtues of Rehman Chisthi MP. Dont tell me that Tories arent concerned - they have failed to manage the 11+ exam process and have let hundreds of parents down.

Are residents that surprised?

Take one look at the tired faces on the Medway Conservative benches and you can see why they cant manage a simple process. They simply lack energy and the ability to manage officers efficiently and effectively. They are past their use by date - many of them a vestige of the Thatcherite 1980s.

This time Medway Tories have utterly mismanaged the 11 plus exams which could lead to unfair advantages, and huge numbers of appeals by concerned parents. All of which are suffering the indignity of Medway Tory failure over education.

This is quickly turning into an utter fiasco. A Medway Conservative fiasco.

Not one Tory Councillor has had the gall to apologise to the public. What spineless toads.

Medway Conservatives should immediately apologise and Cllr Les Wicks - the very definition of an incomptent portfolio holder - should resign.

His record in managing education has been utterly lamentable - from million pound overspends on Woodlands and Walderslade Schools from the failure to manage Primary school improvements across Medway. Coupled with the inability to answer basic questions at Council and cuts to teachers and teaching assistants.

In a few weeks we will know whether some of our secondary schools are performing in Chatham. I have already made my judgement which is the same as thousands of parents across the borough -

Resign Wicks!