THURROCK Council leader John Kent has started visiting schools as part of his plan to visit every school in the borough. 

Mr Kent, who is the councillor responsible for education, visited Thameside Primary in Manor Road, Grays, yesterday with director of children’s services Carmel Littleton.

They were met by head teacher Christina Pumfrey.

Mr Kent said: “I was really impressed by how Christina has taken the school’s long-standing community ethos and driven it forward in her short time there.

“Education is vital to success across all our communities and to do that our schools must be able to understand their local people.

Mr Kent added: “In this programme of visits I aim to speak with as many teachers and pupils as possible; I want to know what they think about their schools and what can be done to make it better.

“I can’t promise to do it all, but I can promise that I will listen and take their concerns, thoughts and ideas to senior officers here at the council.”

Ms Pumfrey added: “We are seeing real improvement at our school, thanks to the dedication and hard work of teachers and support staff, but also the enthusiasm and energy of our pupils and commitment of parents.

"It is fantastic to see our young people progressing so well through the early years of education.”