Catch up on the latest news from across the county with Abby Hook.
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00:00 Good evening and welcome to Kentonite live on KMTV. I'm Abbey Hook. Here are your top
00:26 stories on Tuesday 26th September. Schools can't cope. Campaigners issue warning
00:33 with push for special needs children to go to mainstream schools.
00:38 Without the support of teaching assistants, without the support set up within the school,
00:43 that is just not going to happen. A devastating loss. Kent firefighters return
00:50 home after heroic rescue mission in Morocco. The most grateful welcoming of people that
00:58 were just so happy that we come all the way from the UK to help.
01:03 And great expectations. Canterbury's specialist wine store receives national award.
01:09 The most prevalent reaction is, oh my word, I didn't realise that England made so many
01:14 different wines. First tonight, more children with special
01:28 educational needs might be taught in a mainstream school rather than being taught by specialist
01:33 provision. Kent County Council improvement plans have set a goal of 30% more children
01:38 with an EHCP in mainstream schools by this December. But is this too soon? Are schools
01:44 ready? And are there enough teaching assistants and SEN units? Well, every day this week,
01:49 we'll be exploring how authorities are dealing with the challenge of special educational
01:53 needs provision. Gabriel Morris has our second special report.
01:58 Supporting young people with special educational needs is a statutory service that local authorities
02:03 have to provide to children with EHCPs. Many of the 21,000 students with educational health
02:11 and care plans go to a specialist school. But this might soon be changing.
02:17 We know we have less children as a percentage with EHCPs educated in our mainstream schools
02:25 here in Kent than others do. Stat neighbour, England average.
02:31 The council says mainstream schools are often the right place for children. But those with
02:37 complex needs would continue to be in specialist provision.
02:41 Following an improvement notice from Ofsted, KCC have agreed an accelerated progress plan
02:48 with the Department for Education. Within this is APP18. It gives the target of 80%
02:57 of children with an EHCP in mainstream schools by this December. But in June this year, it
03:05 was 50%. And it's not just Kent. It seems councillors
03:11 across the country are being encouraged to make this move.
03:16 The school budget is constantly under review. And as you know, Gillian Keegan has put a
03:20 huge amount of effort into making sure that we have the right provision for kids in our
03:24 area. Here in Kent, we have some of the best schools
03:27 in the country. And that's because we run a mixed system, as you know. We run a grammar
03:30 system as well as a comprehensive system. But we also run a fantastic series of CEND
03:36 schools. If you go to Nexus in Tunbridge, you see some of the best provision that this
03:39 country has to offer for kids who need it. So what we need to be doing is making sure
03:43 that mixed provision works. Because the correct answer isn't always separate education. Sometimes
03:47 it's together. Sometimes it's with extra help. And that's exactly what we're trying to deliver.
03:51 What do you think you're going to do today? Lisa is on the morning school drop off.
03:59 Are you excited about school today, Poppy? She has two children with special educational
04:05 needs and EHCPs. Poppy goes to a specialist school, but her son goes to a mainstream school.
04:14 So my son is at a mainstream, but he attends an SRP within the mainstream. Now an SRP is
04:21 a specialist resource provision. It's basically a lovely sensory room. It's a place where
04:27 he can stim, let off steam. He can learn in a quiet environment away from a busy classroom
04:34 that he can't cope with. So it's worked out perfect for him. And if every mainstream was
04:40 like this, then I wouldn't be part of CEND reform. And many schools do have SEN units
04:47 where children can learn in an environment outside of regular classes. And these are
04:53 organised by a SENCO within a school. But are they ready for a potential influx? Having
05:01 taught in a mainstream school and having the training to educate children with additional
05:07 needs and special educational needs without the support of teaching assistants, without
05:12 the support set up within the school, that is just not going to happen. Some children
05:20 can and absolutely, but some children need that additional support that specialist schools
05:27 or even specialist units require. For mainstream schools to cope with children with special
05:32 educational needs, it's thought more teaching assistants would be needed. According to the
05:37 Government Careers website, the starting salary for a teaching assistant is £14,000 a year.
05:45 Well I'm here in Maidstone to find out what people here think about that salary. Is it
05:49 fair or should teaching assistants be paid more?
05:53 £14,000, I think it should be a bit higher.
05:57 Would you become a teaching assistant on £14,000 a year?
06:01 Probably not, no. Well in this day and age, that's not a lot of money.
06:07 And it is shocking considering that you have to spend two years trying to be a teaching
06:12 assistant. No, I don't think so. When you think a teacher,
06:17 anything up to what, £30,000? I think it's disgusting to be paid that much
06:21 for people for what they do. I think they need a lot more money.
06:25 Kent County Council say they're increasing the robustness of SEN units within mainstream
06:31 schools. A lot of parents have been telling us that
06:34 schools don't have the teacher assistants, enough of them, or a strong enough SEN unit
06:40 to deal with that and that's why they're resulting and going for an EHCP.
06:43 And that's precisely why we're doing some really detailed work with schools on the whole
06:47 of the inclusion agenda. Just a couple of months ago, I actually changed Kent County
06:52 Council's guidelines on inclusive education from just being guidelines to being a formal
07:00 council policy and that gives us much greater leverage to work with the schools to ensure
07:05 that there is full inclusion within the schools. Many campaigners believe that if the number
07:10 of teaching assistants were to increase, fewer parents would go for EHCPs, reducing the strain
07:18 on upper tier councils. Gabriel Morris for CAME TV.
07:23 Well, Gabriel joins me in the studio now. Your second report of the week, Gabriel.
07:29 Yeah, there seems to be a drive to make mainstream schools more exclusive, but big targets by
07:35 December as we saw in my report. Now, I've spoken to many parents who have children with
07:39 special educational needs and there's mixed response. Some say their children just have
07:45 too complex needs to be able to cope in a mainstream school and talking to the council,
07:50 they recognise that those children would most likely remain in a specialist provision. Other
07:56 parents tell me actually they would like their child to go to a mainstream school. Parents
07:59 who already have a child or want their child to go to a specialist school, but mainstream
08:03 schools don't have the amount of teaching assistants that they need. I did a search
08:08 today to see how many teaching assistant jobs there are in Kent. There were more than 40
08:13 posted in the past 24 hours, so big challenges ahead.
08:17 Thank you, Gabriel. As we say, the rest of your reports will be coming out the rest of
08:20 this week. Next tonight, Kent firefighters have returned
08:23 home after 10 days spent in Morocco, helping the thousands who were hit by a 6.8 magnitude
08:29 earthquake. It was the most powerful earthquake the African country has seen in more than
08:34 a century and its deadliest since 1960. Our reporter, Sophia Akin, got to speak to the
08:39 Kent Fire and Rescue firemen that went to Morocco earlier this month.
08:44 Four firefighters from Kent have returned home after being deployed to Morocco earlier
08:48 this month when the country was hit by an earthquake which reached a depth of almost
08:54 12 miles. The team spent 10 days in the North African country, but when they got to the
09:00 Atlas Mountains, they were met with a devastating loss of life.
09:05 It was quite clear early on when you arrived in these villages that life had been lost,
09:10 which was incredibly sad. But then you look at what can we do for this community? And
09:15 part of that is letting them know that there is nobody else alive, which in their culture
09:20 is just as important as, or almost as important, as making sure that all the live victims have
09:26 been recovered. You know, we rescued a donkey and you can kind of think, well, we travelled
09:31 all the way to rescue a donkey. That donkey was the only mean, the only working animal
09:35 left in that village. It would be like, you know, one of our rural communities in Kent,
09:40 you know, them losing their car with no bus service. That was kind of the level of what
09:45 that donkey did for that community. It's almost like on the scale of something
09:48 post-apocalyptic because of the devastation damage that's occurred. You know, there'd
09:52 be the call for silence while someone thinks there's a tapping or knocking noise or someone
09:57 calling out. The search dogs are set off to work to try and search as well. But all too
10:02 often it was followed up with a cry from a mum or a sister or a family member that they
10:07 had that confirmation that their family was deceased.
10:12 Fifty thousand homes damaged, almost four hundred thousand impacted, at least three
10:18 thousand deaths and thousands more injured. The result of this 6.8 magnitude earthquake,
10:25 which hit at 11pm on the 8th of September. I think it's really about the specialist
10:31 skills that we can provide. You know, we carry out a lot of training. There's countries
10:35 scattered all around the world that have United Nations classified rescue teams and obviously
10:43 make sure that we work to a certain standard. We treated quite a few people for injuries.
10:47 I think there were 16 over the time we were out there in the ten days. We take along doctors
10:51 and paramedics with us who, first of all, they're there for our safety, but when they're
10:55 part of the team they will also treat people they come across. Unfortunately we didn't
10:59 find anyone alive under the rubble, but we were able to treat and help people in other
11:04 ways. This here is an acoustic and seismic life
11:07 detector. It's some of the equipment that they would have taken with them to Morocco.
11:11 What it does, if there's any sound, vibration, movement happening underground, it picks it
11:15 up on this machine so it can give them a clearer idea of where people might be.
11:21 Those at the fire service also expressed condolences to all those that were impacted by the earthquake
11:26 in Morocco. Sophia Akin for KMTV.
11:31 Sophia Akin meeting those firefighters that have been out there in Morocco doing some
11:35 incredible work as you saw there. We'll continue to follow their journeys as they help overseas
11:40 aid as well. Now, coming up after this very short break, workers are taking more sick
11:44 days than at any point in the last decade. We'll find out why after this very short break.
11:49 See you then.
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15:08 Hello and welcome back to Kentonite live on KMTV. Now, more than £100 million will be
15:15 returned to customers of some of the UK's largest water suppliers, including all of
15:20 those who supply water here in Kent. Ofwat has ordered the suppliers to pay back £114
15:26 million by lowering bills after they missed key performance targets, including those relating
15:32 to leakages, supply and the reduction of pollution. It's not clear how much individual customers
15:37 will see their bills reduced by at the moment. However, Thames Water and Southern Water have
15:41 been ordered to pay out the most at £101 million and the £43 million, respectively.
15:48 Just a police officer has pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual assault by touching
15:52 in Maidstone. PC Mark Slade appeared at Maidstone Magistrates Court today. During a night out
15:58 in Maidstone in January this year, Slade sexually assaulted five victims by touching them in
16:02 a sexual manner without their consent. He was suspended back in February and resigned
16:07 from the West Mercia Police in Hindlet, Worcestershire this month. He will be sentenced at Maidstone
16:12 Crown Court, a date yet to be confirmed. And Deputy Chief Constable Alex Murray said this
16:17 is an example of an officer who has no place in policing. He said, "I'm pleased that he
16:22 has pleaded guilty and spared his victims the distress of a trial."
16:27 Next tonight, sick days at work hit highest levels for 10 years in the UK, including Kent.
16:33 Workers are taking more sick days than at any point in the last decade, according to
16:36 the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development. On average, staff took nearly
16:41 eight sick days in the past year, up from 5.8 before the pandemic. To find out why and
16:46 what this means for local businesses, Chatham employment lawyer Gemma Fairclough-Haynes joins
16:51 me in the studio now. Gemma, thank you very much for joining us. Really interesting statistics.
16:55 Why do you think that it's gone up? Well, I think there's a number of reasons,
16:59 really. One would have thought it would have lowered since the pandemic, but that hasn't
17:03 been the case. And I think people are stressed for a number of reasons. One, workplace culture
17:09 has changed. Two, we've got the cost of living crisis and mental health is just at, you know,
17:15 a low as to where it was compared to what it was beforehand.
17:19 And we saw all that switch to online working and it's actually changed a lot of workplaces.
17:23 A lot of people do work from home now. So do you think that's sort of had an impact
17:27 as well? Absolutely. Now, the thing about it is, it's
17:30 not that working from home is bad. I'm not saying that at all. However, some people don't
17:35 deal well with that isolation. For many of us, when we become adults, that's how we make
17:39 friends, isn't it? In the workplace, that's how we get our social filter, our social cap
17:45 filled up. And if you're not having that, then it can be quite an isolating experience.
17:49 Do you think people are genuinely sick? They are more stressed? Or do you think it's an
17:53 attitude change? Or do you think perhaps there's a mixture of both?
17:56 No, I think people probably are genuinely sick. I mean, a lot of businesses don't pay
18:01 sick pay for the first three days of your sickness. And so for someone to take the time
18:07 off sick, usually they are experiencing some level of sickness.
18:11 And as an employment lawyer, what sort of rights do people have to sick days? What's
18:14 the entitlement they owe? And I suppose on the flip side, the employers have to, the
18:19 company.
18:20 So, as an employee, you can take time off sick if you need to. And the first three days
18:26 ordinarily are unpaid. And then from the fourth day, you'll get a statutory payment, which
18:30 is a small amount of money over a period of time. However, as an employer, then you might
18:36 find that if someone's having excessive sickness, that that won't work for your business. We
18:40 have to think not just about what your clients are experiencing, but also that spreads the
18:44 workload across the team. So if you do see excessive sickness, then you might need to
18:50 do some return to work interviews. And ultimately, you might need to dismiss.
18:55 Is it something that happens quite often as well? We heard those sort of statistics and
18:58 those figures. But for us here in Kent and the South East, do we see a lot of people
19:01 taking sick days? Is it a problem in the workplace?
19:04 It is a problem. Absolutely. I mean, finding people to work is quite difficult anyway.
19:09 At the moment, recruitment is very challenging. And then when you add sickness to that, it
19:13 makes things even more hard. Well, Gemma, thank you very much for coming
19:17 in. Really interesting to talk about some surprising figures there as well that perhaps
19:21 some didn't expect. But it's interesting to talk about that trend. Thank you very much
19:24 for your time today. You're welcome.
19:27 Next tonight, in sports, Maidstone's Alessia Russo is likely to start for England as they
19:33 take on the Netherlands in the Nations League tonight. The Arsenal striker was left out
19:37 of England's winning squad against Scotland last week. She was given some extra days off
19:41 by Serena Weidman after playing for the Gunners in the Champions League. Speaking ahead of
19:46 today's game, the Lioness boss said that everyone is fit and available to play, which includes
19:51 Gravesend defender Laura Coombs, who played in the World Cup. England currently sit second
19:56 in League A Group 1 after beating Scotland 2-1 last time out.
20:01 And Kent Cricket have begun their final county championship match of the season against Lancashire.
20:06 It's their last hope at avoiding relegation from Division 1. After winning the toss and
20:10 electing to bat first, Lancashire have been formidable so far today, posting 250 runs
20:15 in the first 72 overs, largely helped by top scorer in the championship Josh Bohannon,
20:21 who scored his fourth century of the season before being stumped off the bowling of Jack
20:25 Leaning for 113. Kent have come alive in the final session this afternoon, taking four
20:30 wickets to try and start batting before the end of the day. At present, Lancashire are
20:37 317-9.
20:38 And now, with Storm Agnes likely to bring some disruption from strong winds and heavy
20:42 rain, let's take a look at the forecast for us here in Kent.
20:51 Well this evening, actually looking fairly warm. Highs of 19 towards east, Kent lows
20:55 of 17 by Tambridge Wells. Tomorrow morning staying fairly similar by 10am, 19 across
21:01 most of Kent. And by the afternoon, warming up with clear skies to 21 degrees across most
21:06 of the county. A bit of wind coming in from the south too. And the next few days look
21:11 like this, a bit of rain Thursday, a mix on Friday and Saturday, but sunshine Friday,
21:15 highs of 21.
21:25 Next tonight, it's been a tough year for Kent's businesses and producers, with rising costs
21:30 and a competitive industry. But one Canterbury wine store has powered through the hard times
21:34 and even won a national award. Like most wine producers, they sell red, rosé and sparkling
21:40 wine. But their beverages aren't just from Kent and the UK, but internationally too.
21:45 Finn McDermid went along to see whether the samples were up to scratch.
21:49 Tuscany, Bordeaux, Sicily and now Kent. One Canterbury business has won Best Specialist
21:55 Retailer in the Decanter Awards in England and Wales, beating out competitors like Waitrose.
22:02 Cork tucked right on the doorstep of Canterbury Cathedral is a wine store, but has much more
22:07 to it than meets the eye. I spoke to Cork's founder, Jonathan Piggins, about the industry,
22:13 the business and what makes Kent's own wine so special.
22:16 They love it. You get various different reactions, but the most prevalent reaction is, "Oh my
22:26 word, I didn't realise that England made so many different wines and Kent made so many
22:30 different wines." And then they taste it and they go, "Wow, it's really rather good, isn't
22:35 it?" And you go, "Yeah, it's very well-made wine." So it's, in a way, sort of, it brings
22:42 joy. It's a journey of discovery for a lot of people, which is why we have the machines
22:47 as well, so they can try many different varieties and many different vineyards and winemakers.
22:54 But we also do wine by the glass as well, so people can just sit down, relax and enjoy
23:00 a glass of English sparkling or an English still wine.
23:03 Their most impressive claim is that of Clive Barlow, their resident Master of Wine, a prestigious
23:09 title that is only held by 400 experts worldwide. But don't be fooled into thinking this is
23:16 any simple winery. Cork is very with the times, as Jonathan showed me with the wine sampling
23:22 technology that Cork has.
23:26 This is our enomatic machine where you can try lots of different wines. So we have English
23:32 wines. We've got six English white wines here and on the other side we've got four English
23:36 red wines. And what you do is you get one of these lovely little cards, you put some
23:40 money on it, you slot it into the machine and what it enables you to do is actually
23:46 choose different sizes. So you can have a sample size, a large sample or a glass, but
23:51 it means that you can discover lots of different wines. I'm just going to have a lovely bit
23:55 of the Wayfairer Pinot Gris.
23:57 Jonathan tells me that he sees many tourists who are visiting from overseas, with a town
24:02 and cathedral drawn in to sample some Kentish wine. So I just had to try some.
24:07 Here I am in Cork in Canterbury, enjoying a Woodchurch sparkling rosé made right here
24:13 in Kent. Well, if you're looking for a wine tasting experience with a specialism in Kent
24:19 wines, I say come down and drink it all in.
24:22 That's very nice.
24:27 Well Cork's revolutionary wine vending process, extravagant selection and incredible views
24:33 are sure to be a best seller. For anyone looking to sample wine from the vineyards of Kent,
24:39 Finn McDermott for KMTV.
24:42 Well Finn got very lucky with that report today. Now coming up right after Kent tonight
24:46 is another brand new episode of Made in Kent. So joining me in the studio to discuss this
24:50 in a bit more detail and give us an idea of what's to come, the show's presenter, Sophia.
24:53 So what's to come in tonight's episode?
24:55 Well we're going to be starting with Finn's story once again, finding out a little bit
24:58 more about the wine. It's become quite a running theme on Made in Kent, trying different wine.
25:04 But we have so many vineyards in Kent so we're trying to sort of make our way through all
25:07 of them.
25:08 Must be because you're the presenter of course and I think you just want to try more wine.
25:11 Exactly, I've done that quite well haven't I. If wine's not for you though, we've got
25:14 a few other things coming up. We've got a Chatham, a show is coming to a theatre in
25:19 Chatham about a by-election that happened in Deal in the late 19th century.
25:24 Bit of a politics Made in Kent crossover there.
25:26 Bit of a random one isn't it? Bit of a random one but it sounds quite interesting. It's
25:29 meant to be a bit of a comedy, bit of satire. So I was joined earlier by an actor and producer
25:34 from the show to tell us a little bit more about that. We'll also be finding out what
25:38 else is happening in Kent. If wine and theatres aren't for you, there's always loads of stuff
25:43 going on across the county. So we're going to be finding out what there is to expect
25:47 with our reporter Gabriel who's going to be filling us in.
25:50 And you also on Made in Kent, you urged local businesses and producers like we said, vineyard
26:00 or arts and crafts as well. We had plenty of that last week. That show's on the website
26:04 as well. You can take a look at some more arts and crafts. But the focus is that it's
26:08 Made in Kent, however which way that is.
26:10 Everything has to be Made in Kent. We're always urging more people to get in touch
26:12 with us. Made in Kent at kmtv.co.uk and come on our show if you're a local business.
26:17 Amazing. Well, I think it's time to hand over to you in just a few minutes. Thanks
26:21 Sophia.
26:22 As I said, you'll be with Sophia in just a few minutes' time. But for now, you've
26:25 been watching Kent Tonight live on KMTV. There's more news made just for Kent throughout the
26:29 evening as well with our 8pm bulletin with Bartholomew Hall. And you can always keep
26:34 up to date with the latest news by logging on to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
26:37 That's all from me and the Kent Tonight team. We'll see you with Sophia and Made in Kent
26:42 very soon. Bye bye.
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