School update; space allocation season.

This week has seen announcements about the allocation of primary school places across the UK.  In Suffolk over 90% of children will be able to attend their first choice school and 97% will go to one of their top three choices. Although full national figures are not yet available enough is already known to recognise that this is quite a good result.

  

There are variations across the county however with around 90 schools still having to refuse children.  I am happy to say that in the Cosford Division, all 6 schools, Elmsett, Whatfield, Kersey, Bildeston, Lavenham and Cockfield, were able to accommodate all applications for September.

In the case of Lavenham this is a relief since last year around 12 families were disappointed, and this included children from the village living quite close to the school.

Despite the fact that we have outperformed the national picture there is no room for long term complacency as last year's outcome demonstrates.   Demand for school places is likely to continue to grow in the area as a whole and some schools, including some in Cosford, have serious physical space constraints today that need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

When the children arrive at their new schools in September, happily they will be entering an improving education system.  It was revealed earlier this month that the proportion of Suffolk schools rated as Good or Outstanding by Ofsted has just hit a new high of 80%. This represents an improvement of 6 percentage points compared to just ten months ago when 74% of Suffolk schools were Good or Outstanding.

Schools in Suffolk are also improving twice as fast as schools across the country as a whole. Over the last ten months the percentage of Good or Outstanding schools nationally has increased by 3% compared to Suffolk’s 6% increase.

If you know a child who has been unsuccessful in achieving the school of choice and whose parents are unhappy about this an appeal is the only possible remedy.  I have information on this for anyone who wants it.  You should be aware however that an appeal will only be successful if the education authority has failed to follow the correct procedures.

Busy Saturday in Lavenham and Kersey

On Saturday morning I went down to Lavenham Library to present  the certificates to the children who completed the 2015 Summer Reading Challenge.   As usual there was a warm welcome from Debbie Roots and her team, pictured above.  The library is looking forward to supporting the Lavenham Literary Festival on the weekend of 14th and 15th of November.

After an appointment in Sudbury,  I went on to Kersey where I was very honoured to be asked to present the prizes at the 51st  Annual Flower and Produce Show.  There was a large number of entries in a wide range of classes encompassing crafts and cake making as well as horticultural pursuits.



























The array of silver cups and some of the exhibits are pictured above.   The first prize flower and fruit arrangement was particularly fine, looking a little like a Dutch painting!

Bus Route 112

I have had some information about the Bus Service 112 which makes a return journey every Tuesday and Thursday from Hadleigh, through Kersey, Semer, Bildeston, Chelsworth, Monks Eleigh, Brent Eleigh, Milden, Little Waldingfield, Great Waldingfield and finishing in Sudbury.  This is a service that is sponsored by Suffolk County Council.

Concerns had been expressed that this service was to be discontinued.  In response to a request for information the following comments have been recieved:
The 112 bus service which operates on Tuesday and Thursday was initially contracted for one year and I can confirm that we have recently extended the contract with Suffolk Norse for a further period securing the service until May 2016. Whilst the patronage has been variable the overall performance of the contract is such that we were happy to extend the contract. We do not plan to change the timetable or days of operation.

In addition the available budget allocated for passenger transport has remained virtually unchanged. Although this does mean that the department has to absorb any inflationary pressures the work being undertaken elsewhere in the county means that we are confident that (barring any major changes) no service reductions will be necessary.

This is good news, but one thing that residents should note is the comment that 'patronage has been variable'.  When considering a trip to Sudbury do think about taking the bus!  This could be a real use it or lose it situation bearing in mind the need to make continuing 'savings' from County Council budgets.

Village life in danger?

The 'splash' in Kersey, with St Mary's Church in the background.

We are now well into the season of Annual Parish Meetings, with one or two every week, and sometimes two on one night!

There are 18 Parishes in the Cosford Division so this keeps me quite busy.  On Monday I went to a well-attended Annual Parish Meeting at Kersey.  Many of the multiplicity of village organisations sent representatives and reports, and their number is a credit to what is, after all, not a huge community.  According to the Babergh Year Book the population in 2012 numbered 348.

Some 16 separate village groups were listed on the agenda (Including the wonderfully named Franey Rand and Pest House charities.)  This reflects the fact that Kersey is a very community minded place with a great deal going on.

However, in common with most of the villages I represent, Kersey has a problem.  Too few people are now prepared to get involved with helping to run village organisations.  This means that the burden falls on just a few, and the few are getting older.  

The message from every group was the same: ‘unless new people come forward to help the future of this organisation is under threat’.  The warning was particularly stark from the Church.  Like other churches Kersey's has put in a kitchen and toilet facilities which means that the building can be used for a broader range of activities.  However, without warm bodies to do the work,  raise money and take the life of the church forward, the outlook for its preservation and conservation is bleak.

St Mary’s Church stands high and proud at the top of The Street.  It is a landmark from several miles distant, and a diminishing group of volunteers means that its bells still ring out on most Sunday mornings.  Were it to close for lack of support  the village would lose a key to its identity, and one vital source of its community spirit

Of course some of the very pretty cottages in the village are not occupied full time and the prevalence of weekenders is often blamed for the decline in village life. This is not necessarily so.  One of my villages now has its Parish council meetings on a Saturday morning because most of the councillors work away during the week.  They are, none the less, dedicated to the life of the village, which they clearly regard as home.

It is difficult to know what can be done.   You cannot force people to participate in village activities, particularly if they believe that if they take something on then they might be stuck with it indefinitely.  It would be interesting to research the problem more closely: to look at the demography of the village, the number of cottages that are not occupied much of the time, the number of ‘newly retired’  who are unengaged (often a rich seam to mine for new recruits).   Perhaps this could be done by the returning Parish Council in May, provided that the already overburdened members can find the time!

Pictures from Christmas Fairs

Christmas Fair in Kersey Church

On Saturday morning I managed to go to two Christmas Fairs, one in Kersey and one in Great Waldingfield.

Both events were well attended and there was much of interest on sale.  I was able to solve quite a few present problems and also buy some useful edibles in time for the Christmas season.

Both events were notable for a wide variety of baked goods.  There were cup cakes in Kersey and a fine selection of square and round miniature christmas cakes at Great Waldingfield.  In addition many people in Kersey were enjoying the light as air sausage rolls, donated by the Rose at Lindsey.

Cupcakes in Kersey

Waldingfield's legendary miniature Christmas cakes

Christmas is coming; local events in late November.

Designer bauble by Gisela Graham

Christmas is on its way and I have had notice of two pre Christmas events taking place on the last weekend of November.

Firstly, the Friends of St Mary's Church, Preston St Mary are holding their 17th annual 'Christkindmarkt', or Christmas Market, at Priory Barn, Preston, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday 29th November.

Traditional stalls, refreshments and designer decorations by Gisela Graham are promised.

Meanwhile in Kersey Church on the evening of Friday 28th and on Saturday 29th of November there is to be a traditional Christmas Fayre.   The notice reads 'Old Stalls, New Stalls, Great Atmosphere' and I am sure that all this will be delivered and more.

Why not spend time attending both events and get all your christmas present and decoration problems sorted!

A day in the life of a new County Councillor

On Monday I spent my first day really working as a County Councillor, and although I started early and finished at around 10 p.m. I did enjoy myself.

The day started with a drive to Ipswich.  On the way I dropped into the Monks Eleigh Community Shop to get hold of a copy of the village magazine.  I hope to persuade the editor to include my e mail and phone number so that residents know how to contact me.  I also checked on the exact whereabouts of the school for a meeting later that day.

Then onto Endeavour House;   my new pass got me into the car park and I climbed higher and higher to finally find a space on the roof.  Seagulls were whirling and shrieking overhead. It was a reminder that Ipswich really isn’t very far from the sea, a fact I often forget.   

I needed to see one of the officers about a request for funding that I have already received and I am happy to say that the scheme falls within the guidelines to quality for a County Councillor’s locality budget.  Immediate success meant that the meeting was shorter than I had expected and so, with time to spare, I decided to have a go at accessing my e mails on one of the computers in the Members’ Area.

I sat down at the computer, and to my distress I realised that I had completely forgotten how to turn on a desktop!  I have, since leaving work, always used a laptop computer and I was completely foxed. I tried to think back fourteen years to my last job in Cork Street, working for Putnam Investments, but in the end had to seek assistance.  What an embarrassment!

I then had a meeting with the Leader of the Council,  Mark Bee at which I learned about various opportunities for further work that might be open to me in the next four years….I will write more about this in due course.

After lunch I had a meeting in Monks Eleigh concerning the village hall, which is now barely fit for purpose having been built at the time of the Coronation.

Then it was time to drive through the pouring rain to three separate Parish Council meetings, at Bildeston, Kersey and Great Waldingfield.  I was welcomed very politely by the parish councillors at both of the new villages, and it was nice to finish the evening with some old friends, who didn’t seem to mind me turning up when their meeting was virtually over and were happy to stay and chat for a while.

I think that the next four years will be quite active!