Blog: How wonderful, among all the ongoing doom and gloom, to have something to celebrate – and I’m not referring to a certain wedding next April, writes Dave Morris.

The spotlight has fallen on the “outstanding” education and care being given to children and young people across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin.

Nearly 30 schools, childcare providers and children’s centres from the county are included in the prestigious annual Ofsted report.

It acknowledges the success of those classed as “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills, Christine Gilbert, said: “This level of success does not just happen by chance, it is the result of high expectations linked with dedication and serious commitment.

“It is good news for the local community and, indeed, nationally too.”

She is absolutely right.

I have long said that we have much to be proud of regarding education in the county, both in the private and state sectors.

Taking Shropshire Council run schools as an example, they consistently score higher than the national average in primary and secondary performance tables – despite the authority being one of the worst funded in England.

Standards also continue to rise in Telford & Wrekin Council schools.

My children, long grown up, attended the biggest comprehensive to be found in either education area, and I never had any reason to complain about classroom standards.

The county has some of the best teachers to be found anywhere. There is plenty of truly amazing and inspiring work going on, though it may not always be reflected in performance table indicators.

Ofsted inspectors often refer to the exceptionally high quality of teaching.

But let’s not forget that the county has many thousands of children and young people who enjoy school, and are keen to listen and learn.

However I’m not looking at the picture through rose tinted spectacles and I well know that not everything is perfect.

A report this week to the Shropshire Council cabinet on the next steps to be taken regarding the Shirehall’s new schools organisation policy, says there are three principal county wide pressures.

One of these is an increase in the number of schools deemed by Ofsted to be performing to a satisfactory rather than a good level.

It will be interesting to see how this particular issue unfolds.

But in the meantime let’s congratulate those highlighted as “outstanding” in the Ofsted annual report.