A YEAR ago, Eastbourne School in Darlington was labelled as the worst school in England when only 19 per cent of pupils achieved five A* to C grades at GCSE.

In the light of that, we are happy to report that this year has shown a significant increase to 44 per cent. We congratulate the staff and pupils on that leap forward and hope it continues under the management of the forthcoming academy.

But we must not forget that Eastbourne was coming from a very low base and that there is still a long way to go.

Indeed, Darlington's performance in terms of secondary education is still disappointing overall.

Hurworth Maths and Computing College remains a beacon and no one can argue with what will be among the best results in the country. Carmel RC College has also performed solidly.

But elsewhere, we should not kid ourselves that secondary education in Darlington is where it should be.

There remains considerable room for improvement.

Return to old values

THE days of Dixon of Dock Green are remembered with affection by those old enough to have lived through them.

George Dixon was the embodiment of a time when the local copper was thought of as a friend of the community; a familiar, trusted face; someone to turn to.

Yesterday, Cleveland Chief Constable Sean Price talked of "the Dixons of Dock Green" for the 21st Century" when he launched his neighbourhood policing plan which will put hundreds of officers onto community beats.

It is a strategy which we applaud and which we believe will be welcomed by all the communities involved.

Bobbies on the local beat are what the public wants to see and we wish the new Dixons of Dock Green every success.