Efforts to improve Norfolk's schools have reached a key milestone after the county hit the national average for the number officially rated 'good' or better, councillors will hear tomorrow.

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It marks a dramatic turnaround from three years ago, when the proportion of schools with the top Ofsted grades lagged 13pc behind the England average, and the chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, asked 'why is education so dire in much of Norfolk?'

Now an analysis of the latest Ofsted inspections in Norfolk has shown it has closed the gap with the most recently published national average, with 85pc of all schools judged 'good' or 'outstanding'.

Council bosses believe the county could rise above the average by the end of term.

As of March 31, 79pc of Suffolk schools and 77pc of those in Cambridgeshire had reached the same level, and Norfolk County Council said the county's rate of improvement over the previous 12 months had outstripped all other parts of the east of England.

James Joyce, chairman of Norfolk's children's services committee, which meets tomorrow, said: 'The great thing for Norfolk kids is that around 30,000 are going to a 'good' or 'outstanding' school who were not before.

'Now we have got to this level, we cannot take a breath, because we have to keep going. We are now 85pc 'good' or 'outstanding' but we want 100pc to be 'good' or 'outstanding'. Now we have got the belief among teaching staff that we can do it.'

Chris Snudden, head of the council's education achievement service, said the realisation that not enough Norfolk children were in good schools had 'galvanised' the system. She said key elements of the improvement strategy included bringing clarity over who was responsible for standards in schools – their leaders and governors – and opening the county up to ideas from elsewhere, particularly London, following its transformation from the worst to the best performing area of England.

Mrs Snudden said: 'Our ambition is that every Norfolk child needs to go to a good school. It sounds trite to say it, but it needs to be 100pc.'

She added that the 'absolute priority' now was improvements at Key Stage 2 – the last phase of primary school – where Norfolk was ranked in the bottom 10 in England following last summer's tests.

Glyn Hambling, headteacher of Northgate High in Dereham, and chairman of the Norfolk Secondary Education Leaders Association, said: 'We are extremely pleased at the latest data which demonstrates the significant improvement in Ofsted outcomes for Norfolk schools over the last few years.

'This has been achieved through the collaborative work of all those associated with the Norfolk education system, to include Norfolk Children's Services, headteachers, governors, teachers, support staff and of course our Norfolk families.'

Binks Neate-Evans, head of West Earlham Infant School, and chairman of the Norfolk Primary Headteachers' Association, said 'this great collective achievement has created energy and momentum for further improvement'.

Do you have an education story? Email martin.george@archant.co.uk

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