Newham Council is delighted to announce that following a rigorous selection process, Vik Verma has been appointed as the Director of Education, Inclusion and Achievement. Vik is due to join Newham early in the New Year.
This is a vital role leading on the council’s work with schools, support for vulnerable students and driving improvements across services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Vik is currently the Director of Education at Dorset Council, and has achieved significant successes in this role, including major improvements to service for children with SEND.
Vik Verma said: “I am delighted to be joining Newham to deliver on the ambitions for children and young people. Newham has excellent schools and there is a great opportunity to build on local strengths and achieve world-class education and support for Newham families.”
Cllr Joshua Garfield, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Vik to Newham. Vik has a strong track-record delivering innovation and improvement, with some excellent experience turning-around services for children with special educational needs and disabilities. I am delighted that Vik will be part of the next steps in delivering on our high aspirations for our children and young people and look forward to working closely with him to continue on our improvement journey for SEND provision.”
Vik joins a management team across Children’s services in Newham that was described in September as outstanding after a successful Ofsted report following an improvement journey led by Corporate Director of Children and Young People Tim Aldridge.
The vast majority of schools in Newham are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, and they continue to achieve very strong results. At GCSE, 77% of students achieved a level 4 or better in English and mathematics - eight percentage points above the provisional national figure (69 per cent). 60% of students achieved a more demanding level 5 or better in English and mathematics - around ten percentage points above the provisional national figure (50 per cent)
The average Attainment 8 score was 53 points - five points ahead of the provisional national average (48 points).