19/01/2017 Look East (West)

me now on BBC Two. That's Newsnight with

Must try harder - with below average results from most

Big in Bedford - how a community of entrepreneurs are hoping to put

And plenty of winter sunshine to end the working week.

All the details later in the programme.

Most children in our region are leaving school

with qualifications below the national average.

Pupils are now measured using Attainment 8, based

on a broad range of GCSE and other results

Only Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire were above

Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire were just below.

With Luton then Peterbourough falling well behind.

And concerns about pupils average results in Fenland has caused

the Government to commit an extra ?6 million to help them.

Figuring out the formula for success.

The answer may be as complex as cracking this equation,

but the Government is opening a new ?6 million fund

The children at this Wisbech school live in one of the country's

A share of the money will help recruit new teachers

As we know, educational outcomes improves social mobility.

Because of the access to further education and the labour market.

However, it is about much more, because we have to raise

We need them to want to do well, to believe that success

is possible, but also to engage with their learning.

That goal of raising aspirations is what prompted the local MP to

My parents did not go to university, my mum

left school at 15 without a single academic qualification.

My dad left school at 16, and I got the

I once children in schools in my area

not to say, well, my parents didn't go to university, or my parents

didn't do certain jobs, and therefore I don't think it will be

I want children within Fenland and East Cambridgeshire to have those

These pupils may only be a few miles away from the more affluent centres

of Peterborough and Cambridge, but historically, schools here have

received less funding than other parts of the country.

The concern is that low levels of finding can lead to low levels

of ambition among children from poorer backgrounds.

They do need that constant push and motivation sometimes to push

them to get that bit further in education.

It doesn't matter which school you go to, if you work hard enough,

you can go where you want to go. When you aspirations take you.

When you apply for things, they see your postcode,

and they think, oh, someone from, say, somewhere in London would

They are more likely to get something.

However, I have worked really hard and I have pushed

So what does social mobility look like?

The question posed at this careers event in Cambridge.

Here, children are being encouraged to think about where good school

It's something that opens up career paths for them,

extends their opportunity, gives them the access

to higher paying jobs, more satisfying careers.

According to the Government, the new ?6 million fund

will break down barriers by rewarding disadvantaged children.

But with 75 schools across East Cambridgeshire

and Fenland sharing the money, is the good news spread too thinly?

to those league tables that were published earlier

Well, until this year, how a school performed was judged

on the number of children who got five GCSEs at grades A star to C.

Simple but unfair, according to headteachers.

Schools argued that the league tables didn't reflect the extra

effort it took to teach children who weren't high-achievers,

children from families who don't speak English,

children who tend to live in deprived areas like Fenland.

So if you were a school for instance in a low income area

like East Cambridgeshire, chances were you'd be

languishing at the lower end of the league tables.

This new tranche of money it's hoped will give those

So those were the old league tables - what's replaced them?

Something called Progress 8 and Attainment 8.

Progress 8 charts the progress a child makes

Attainment 8 measures a pupil's average score across eight subjects.

It may be fairer but for parents who like to read league tables,

this new system is certainly more complicated.

An investigation's underway after a pedestrian was knocked down

and killed by a fire engine in Royston.

It happened last night while the vehicle was responding

The man's been named as Mitchell Bailey,

It was during a routine call to a house fire at around 8:45pm

last night that this fire engine came off the road and overturned.

It is unclear what happened to cause the crash,

which resulted in a pedestrian losing his life.

According to the police, the fire engine was going

Instead, it overturned here, hitting a pedestrian.

Police say the man died at the scene.

His next of kin have been informed and are being supported

saw and heard what happened and said they're left stunned.

I heard it coming down the road, I wondered what it was.

We heard all that the commotion and I think after it happened.

We saw the blue lights flashing from my house.

We could see all of the fire engines and police coming.

We heard the air ambulance coming as well.

It must be devastating for the family obviously.

And the fire crew, especially the driver.

I think it has left the town in shock, really.

Four people were on board the fire engine at the time.

Two were taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

Today, Hertfordshire's Chief Fire Officer offered his condolences

We are supporting the police in all their work.

We know there was an accident, we do know unfortunately someone died.

We are there to help and save people.

We don't want to be involved in incidents like this.

Again, condolences to everyone involved.

Investigations by both the police and Fire Service are now underway.

To find out how and why this came to happen.

Cambridge has its science parks, Northamptonshire a world-renowned

motor racing centre, and Stevenage is the centre

But when you think of business in Bedford, no major

So tonight, the first meeting of the Community Business School

is taking place to try and grow "from the ground up"

Working from his parents' kitchen table in Bedford,

26-year-old Alex Somerville is part of a new breed of entrepreneurs.

With a friend, he founded One Third Stories.

He publishes educational children's books written partly in English

He has sold 2000 copies already, but entering the world of business

As a languages graduate and linguistics and literature

graduate, we didn't know about entrepreneurship

The thing that helps the most, we have found, is having people

around you who can guide, mentor and support you.

The local MP is putting on a master class for local

Helping small businesses to become bigger.

I think it is important that Bedford focuses on small businesses.

I also think that Government should focus on it.

We have seen big businesses getting away with murder.

It is our small businesses, truthfully, that create new products

and innovations as much as large companies.

There is no doubt that Bedford is an entrepreneurial time.

You are 20% more likely than you are here as in the rest of the UK.

Look here, not packed full of chain stores in this arcade.

In fact, almost every single shop is a small,

Zak will be speaking at tonight's conference.

His barber business, started in Bedford, is growing fast.

In a year he has gone from four shops in this region

For him, it is no surprise that Bedford is a hub for entrepreneurs.

There is a lot of entrepreneurial people in Bedford,

it is underestimated, there is support on offer

People think there is not a lot going on here in Bedford,

there is more in London and Milton Keynes,

but when you haven't got those opportunities,

But he hopes some of the tips he learns at the conference tonight

will help him to succeed and be another Bedford success story.

And that's the late news from Look East.

I'll leave you with the weather from Julie.

Although the blue on the map is indicating it is going to be cold.

Clear skies, temperatures are really falling.

It could drop a little bit lower than these

numbers - down to possibly minus three or minus four.

It is a widespread frost, and with light winds probably some

patchy mist and fog, and even some ice, too.

Tomorrow, high pressure in charge, so the dry conditions continue.

Any mist and fog may take a little while to clear,

And then the frost should go, and any remaining thicker cloud

So it is a largely dry and sunny day tomorrow.

Temperatures of around six Celsius, 43 Fahrenheit.

And it looks like we'll have plenty of sunshine to end the week.

And then under clear skies again tomorrow evening,

those temperatures dropping away quite quickly.

In a moment, Helen has the national forecast.

But I will leave you with the outlook.

With a little bit of brightness and sunshine.

The best of the sunshine on Sunday, as far as the weekend is concerned.

cloud on Sunday. Now the national picture.

Good evening, it will gradually get colder in the UK in the next few

days, something we don't have to worry about in Australia at this

time of year. Of course it's the Australian tennis open at the moment

and there's a big