AN OPEN AND TRANSPARENT COUNCIL DOUBLE COUNCIL HOUSE BUILDING REINSTATE SURESTART CHILDREN’S CENTRES MORE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION REGENERATE OUR HERITAGE
AN OPEN AND TRANSPARENT COUNCIL DOUBLE COUNCIL HOUSE BUILDING REINSTATE SURESTART CHILDREN’S CENTRES MORE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION REGENERATE OUR HERITAGE
The Mannington & Western Councillors, representing the Toothill community, have expressed their disappointment that the Cabinet on Swindon Council have decided to ignore the wishes of the Toothill community and refuse to look in to reinstating a loliopop person (school crossing patrol officer) for Hazelwood Academy or insert a pedestrian crossing for the school. Hazelwood Academy contacted Mannington & Western’s Councillors about the council withdrawing the school’s lollipop person (school crossing patrol officer), the school and parents have called for…
Mannington & Western Councillor, Steph Exell, was joined by representatives of Hazelwood Academy to present a petition to the Swindon Mayor, Eric Shaw, to reinstate a school crossing patrol officer at the school. Hazelwood Academy contacted Mannington & Western’s Councillors about the council withdrawing the school’s lollipop person (school crossing patrol officer), the school and parents have called for this person to be reinstated as it became dangerous for young pupils to cross the road. Following this communication Mannington Western…
The Government new proposed schools funding formula has been criticised as “unfair” by the Conservative Cabinet Member for Education, Fionuala Foley, with her signing joining with 38 other Cabinet Members for Education in signing a letter condemn to the Prime Minister expressing their concern for the government’s proposals. The Government new proposed schools funding formula has been criticised as “unfair” by the Conservative Cabinet Member for Education, Fionuala Foley, with her signing joining with 38 other Cabinet Members for Education…
Swindon’s University Technical College has been judged as inadequate following an Ofsted inspection. Last November the Labour Spokesperson for Education, Cllr Carol Shelley, wrote to Ofsted calling on them to inspect the Swindon UTC and Ofsted confirmed would be inspecting the Swindon UTC during the 2016/17 school year. Last year it was reported that Swindon UTC had only filled 25% of its student places and their 2016 results “well below the national average”. The University Technical College’s 2016 Key Stage…
Swindon Council has failed in its attempt to take three Swindon families to court for taking their child out of school during school term time. The children in these cases had a high attendance rate and in one case a family had taken a child out of school for only four and a half days The families were prosecuted and were ordered to pay a fine by Swindon Borough Council but were cleared at the Salisbury Magistrates’ Court. Swindon Council…
Over the last few weeks the people of Swindon will have seen the reasons why our town desperately needs a change of administration. In the last two weeks we have discovered that Ofsted deem Swindon Council’s education system as “failing at all levels”; that the Council have put on notice of closure most of Swindon’s community libraries; and the town’s road network has become gridlocked because of the shabby work the Council did on Bruce Street Bridges. We also learnt…
The Labour Group’s Leader and Spokesperson for Education, Councillors Jim Grant and Carol Shelley, met with Bradley Simmons (Regional Director for Ofsted) and Simon Rowe (Senior HMI) on Wednesday this week to discuss the problems with Swindon’s education system and how it can rebuild. The Labour Group agreed with Ofsted’s assessment that the Council was too defensive and failing to understand the problems faced in Swindon’s education system. Ofsted also said that the Council’s 2014 Education Improvement Strategy had the…
Following Labour Spokesperson for Education, Cllr Carol Shelley, writing to Ofsted calling on them to inspect the Swindon UTC, Ofsted has confirmed they will be inspecting Swindon UTC during this school year. Please find the Ofsted inspector’s letter to Cllr Carol Shelley attached. Last week Councillor Carol Shelley wrote to Ofsted urging them to inspect Swindon UTC after it was found that only 25% of student places were filled at the college and their 2016 results “well below the national…
Labour is calling for action to resolve Swindon’s failing education system, following the Regional Director for Ofsted sending an open letter to Swindon Council criticising them for not recognising the problems in its local education provision. The letter was sent on Friday 11th November to Swindon Council, the town’s two Conservative MPs and other local education stakeholders. Bradley Simmons, Ofsted’s Regional Director, expresses his concerns in the letter about Swindon’s declining local education provision with less than 50% of Swindon…
I was interested to read an article on the BBC website making the point that fewer than half of all grammar schools in the country use free-school-meals as part of their admissions process. We hear lots of talk of the social mobility impact of grammar schools, but at the most local grammar school to Swindon fewer than 4% of pupils receive free-school-meals. This compares to the Swindon average of 36% of pupils. Will those pupils from more advantaged backgrounds in…
The government is forcing Swindon’s schools to get their non-white British families to disclose their child’s country of birth and nationality, as part of the 2016 School Census survey. The Human Rights Group, Against Borders for Children have called on parents not to supply this information. The group also claims that such data could be used against families by Home Office immigration enforcement. Families can refuse to answer the census’s questions. This news follows the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, announcing…