ESSEX COUNTY STANDARD U's REPORTER SIMON SPURGEON DELIVERS HIS THOUGHTS ON Colchester United IN HIS WEEKLY COLUMN: I’m convinced that there’s a conspiracy of silence going on at my daughter’s school.

Every day I come home and ask her what she has been up to in class and I’m met with the answer: “It’s a secret.”

That’s why I always look forward to parents’ evenings so I can actually find out what she does do during her time in the classroom.

We had one this week and, apart from the discomfort of having to manoeuvre my 37-year-old body into furniture designed for five-year-olds so I can sit and chat to her teacher, it was a nice experience.

Despite her resolute determination not to let me know anything about it, my little girl is clearly flourishing at school and enjoying every moment of it.

It was a welcome insight into the progress my daughter is making and it got me thinking about what a parents’ evening would reveal if Colchester United were the subjects rather than little Miss Spurgeon.

John Ward stated at the start of the season that his aim for this year was for the team to “improve” and while there are still 11 games to go, I think teacher would say that there have been really encouraging elements of progress.

After a difficult start to the season with injuries, Ben Williams is back to the superb form he showed in goal last year, with the added benefit this year that Mark Cousins has developed as a real contender for the number one jersey.

At the back, long-term injuries and departures have had to be overcome, but the team is looking more settled as a defensive unit than I’ve seen for a while and the way Ben Coker and Matt Heath have stepped up have been particular highlights for me.

The midfield didn’t have a good time last year and a lot of that can be put down to the direct style of play under Aidy Boothroyd.

But Ward has got them working again, playing attractive football and that’s a reason for celebration.

It hasn’t always come off, but we now have an accomplished playmaker in Lloyd James, the tenacity to do the dirty work by the likes of Kem Izzet and David Perkins and the flair and energy of Ian Henderson, Anthony Wordsworth, Ashley Vincent and Andy Bond.

The building blocks seem to be there and Ward’s improvement targets are being met – apart from up front.

It’s not that the opportunities aren’t being created, but the U’s just don’t seem to have anyone at the moment able to consistently take advantage of them and that’s been costly throughout the season.

At the start of the campaign, there was a reliance on the goals of Bond, Henderson and Wordsworth.

But as the season has gone on, the lack of a clinical edge up front has been the major factor in holding the U’s back from the play-offs.

Oh, how a 20-goal striker is needed.

I’m fully behind the work that John Ward has done this year and I have great optimism for the future under his guidance so I’m confident that he is on top of the search for a solution.

At the moment, the teacher’s parents’ evening assessment would surely be ‘could do better’.

Let’s hope that clinical edge is razor sharp today.