SUCCESS has been stamped all over schools performances, results and league tables in 2004 - but education in Worcestershire has seen a turbulent year of key decisions on contentious issues.

The year began and ended on a high, with a January Ofsted report into the LEA naming the county among the top 10 in the country.

It also praised provision for those with special educational needs, touching on one of the most emotive issues in 2004 - the reorganisation of special schools.

"I hope the council will be prepared to take very difficult decisions," said director of education Julien Kramer, when the report was released.

"Parents may not like the disruption but if we don't keep building and strengthening the provision we could get into trouble."

It proved something of an understatement, as hundreds of parents spent 2004 fighting plans to streamline special schools and introduce SEN pupils into mainstream schools.

Though the debate began long before the beginning of the year, and will rage long after it ends, 2004 saw the crunch decisions faced up to and taken by the council.

Cliffey House School, in Hanley Castle, closed in July and though, in Worcester, only Manor Park is set to follow, the remaining special schools will be transformed forever.

"Special needs reorganisation was one of the hardest things to do but the council has been brave in what has been a benchmark year for education," said Mr Kramer.

Among the other issues in a year of upheaval were the Wyre Forest Review, which could see 15 schools closed in a switch from three-tier education to two, and the continuation of the fair-funding campaign, which promises to bear fruit - but not until 2006/7.

With such high profile and emotional issues on the agenda, it was little surprise the year saw numerous parent protests - in both Westminster and Worcestershire - and even calls for Mr Kramer to stand down.

However, there was no shortage of good news for the director of education, who firmly supported and oversaw the county's first Fresh Start initiative at Elbury Mount Primary.

The remarkable success of Fairfield Community Primary School, which replaced its struggling predecessor, has been the good news story of 2004.

"The outcome has been an exciting one and there has been excellent intervention in other struggling schools this year," he said.

Elsewhere in Worcester, the public inquiry into the relocation of Christopher Whitehead High School saw further procrastination with very little resolved.

At least 2004 was not unique in that regard - it must seem like Groundhog Day after at St John's school after similar results in 2000, 2001, 2002...

The year has also ended with plans to merge Ronkswood Infants and Junior schools, with similar situations in Northwick, Warndon and Malvern to be assessed in the future.

Among the most bizarre stories of 2004, the remarkable tale of Hartlebury School, a small independent school near Kidderminster, stands out.

The headteacher claimed he did not have the funds to pay the staff and then disappeared during the summer, leaving the teachers, parents and pupils to decide on its future.

After a leap of faith and no little effort from those involved, a new governing body and headteachers were selected, with staff working without pay until funds were corrected.

The school is now up-and-running again and, for those at Hartlebury, I suspect 2005 can not come soon enough.

Among the other stories in a topsy-turvy year was:-

n The whole of Elgar Technology College being banned from the nearby Lidl store.

n 11-year-old Stephanie Franklin, who completed seven years at Elbury Mount Primary without missing a single day.

n 86-year-old Norman Cooke, who returned to his school to be presented with an award he had forgotten 70 years ago.

n Walter Jones, headteacher at Royal Grammar School, announcing he is to step down and run a school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

n Rosemary East reaching the televised stages - the final 50 in the country - in the Hard Spell competition.

n Cameron Dean claiming an A* in his French GCSE at the age of 10.

There was also a mixed bag for further and higher education in the year.

An outbreak of mumps at University College Worcester in March darkened the mood before things cheered considerably in April, when the Higher Education Funding Council for England handed over £10m towards a second city campus.

In September, the St John's college officially bid for university status, the Holy Grail of college upgrades, while November saw a less complimentary BBC documentary on the "student menace" in the city.

In October, colleges across Worcestershire welcomed the Strategic Area Review, which has promised £105m to improve skills and training, adult literacy, specialist status in schools and increase modern apprenticeships.

For Pershore Group of Colleges the news was particularly heartening, after StAR pledged to support it despite a highly critical Ofsted report in April.

Finally, the year ended, as it had begun, on a high, with the county council's education provision last week rated as "excellent".

"It's been our most successful year to date, with our best results and some outstanding performances," concluded Mr Kramer.

"The test is whether our success is durable. Can we build on it?

"Our financial position hasn't changed but it has not prevented us from achieving our goals. Just imagine what we could do if we were funded as other authorities are?"