TOO often, the media focuses on ‘bad news’ stories and either ignores the good news or relegates it to tiny snippets of news. That is why I try to use my monthly columns in local papers to share some of the good news items which you may have missed.

Tenbury parents will have been delighted to hear the news that Tenbury High Ormiston Academy has finally been re-inspected by Ofsted and the school is now officially rated ‘good with ‘outstanding behaviour’.

I know that headteacher Adrian Price and his team have been eager to be inspected and I’ve written to Ofsted to try and hurry-up this process and to officially prove what local people have been saying - the school is improving and the education is better than it has been for years. More parents are choosing to send their children there and I’ll be visiting the school soon to congratulate Adrian in person.

In addition, both Tenbury High and the local primary schools will benefit from the fairer-funding deal that was announced a couple of weeks ago. Schools will see an uplift in their per-pupil funding with secondary schools getting a minimum of £4,800 and primary schools getting £3,500. This is a huge boost to local schools and I am delighted to be able to deliver on a long-standing election pledge to get a much fairer funding deal for all of our great local schools. It’s going to mean an indicative funding boost of around five per cent per pupil for the secondary school each year and will be a great springboard to even better achievement.

We’ve also seen some great exam results across the county both at GCSE and A level and as you read this, local students are embarking on further study either at university or as part of an apprenticeship programme. And those who go straight into the job market will have been pleased to see yet more good news with the national employment rate at a record high level and unemployment 58 per cent lower than it was in 2010. It’s all good news and worth sharing with readers.