New figures released by the Department for Education show the progress of pupils academically in Barking and Dagenham is one of the best in the country.

Called Progress 8, the measure determines how well students develop between the end of primary school and the end of secondary school.

A score of 0 is the national average and would mean pupils made the expected progress by the time they left, while a positive score shows further development. Barking and Dagenham has an average Progress 8 score of 0.21. This places the borough 20th out of 151 local authorities in England.

Two of Barking and Dagenham’s senior councillors have been shortlisted for the prestigious LGiU and CCLA’s Councillor Achievement Awards 2017.

London’s first OnSide Youth Zone has been given the green light after the council and the Greater London Authority approved a planning application.

Building work on Parsloes Park, Dagenham – at the corner of Gale Street and Porters Avenue – will commence later this year.

When it opens in 2018, the Youth Zone will offer a wide range of activities for young people aged between eight and 19 and up to 25 for those with additional needs seven days a week, including dance, sport, art, music, drama, media, employability and mentoring programmes.

The Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council has written a stark letter to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, outlining how a Met Police trial, which launched in April 2017, is struggling to deliver effective policing in the borough.

In the letter, dated 4 August, Councillor Darren Rodwell said: “Residents need reassurance in the form of a visible police presence and I am unconvinced that the Basic Command Unit (BCU) will be able to deliver this as it currently stands.”

Students across our borough are celebrating their A-level results today with provisional figures showing 97.9% achieved an A* to E grade – matching the performance of other youngsters nationwide.

The number of pupils receiving top grades A* to A increased at Dagenham Park School by 13% compared to last year, while Robert Clack School and Barking Abbey also recorded increases of 2.4% and 2.3%.

Plans to extend the London Overground from Barking to Barking Riverside were approved by the government last week.

The 4.5km stretch of track will provide improved transport access to 10,800 homes, which are planned for construction on the 180-hectare brownfield site on the northern bank of the River Thames.

Pupils from Roding Primary School in Dagenham enjoyed a golden celebration in honour of their caterers achieving a top ‘Food for Life Served Here’ award.

The award was developed by the Soil Association to recognise positive choices in buying and serving of food that promotes healthy eating and sustainable food sourcing. Available at three levels – bronze, silver and gold – it encourages caterers to pay attention to where their ingredients come from and what their meals contain, as well as how they can contribute to healthy lifestyles.

Neighbourhoods made by everyone, for everyone – that is the aim of a new £6.4 million initiative set to launch in Barking and Dagenham later this year.

Every One Every Day, formed out of a partnership between Participatory City and Barking and Dagenham Council, will be the largest participatory project of its kind in the country.

The ambitious scheme will work with 25,000 residents across the borough to create over 250 neighbourhood-led projects and form more than 100 new businesses over the next five years.

Updated: 27 June

Over the weekend, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) announced a 100% failure rate of fire safety checks carried out on samples of cladding.

Councils from across the country have been asked to submit cladding they suspect is “possible Aluminium Composite Material” – the type of material found to have been used on Grenfell Tower – to be tested.

Barking and Dagenham residents came together on 6 June to join the rest of the nation in a one minute silence to remember the victims of the terror attack on Saturday 3 June.

Around 350 people attended and around 300 signatories have signed a community pledge so far, which has been set up by the council to symbolise solidarity and community unity in the face of the terror attacks.

Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, Councillor Darren Rodwell, said: