A COUNCIL education chief was quizzed by teachers at a borough school on a visit last week.

Cllr Tamoor Tariq, the borough's children's services cabinet member, sat down with headteachers from the three schools within Vision Multi Academy Trust in Whitefield, including Sunnybank, Higher Lane and Peel Brow primaries.

They discussed how the local authority can work with them to improve the quality of education for children in the borough.

Among other things, Cllr Tariq was asked about the recent Ofsted report on children’s services, and what will be put in place to improve it going forward.

Cllr Tariq said: “It was really exciting to see the developments that are taking place at the trust, where there is outstanding provision for special needs pupils across the board.

“We now have an agreed approach on how to deal with these issues and I was delighted to take a number of questions from teachers and be grilled on what’s happening and I look forward to working with them going forward.”

Carol McLachlan, CEO of Vision Multi Academy Trust, said: “We were very keen to talk to Cllr Tariq about policies being put into place to combat the educational challenges we face.

“He was very attentive and listened to what everyone had to say, so it was a very productive conversation.”