DLOL

Dont laugh out loud.  (DLOL) 


A long time ago we got our then eight-year-old up and ready for the first day of the new school year only to find Mill Road deserted. We had a school newsletter form the previous term with all the term dates and had total confidence. But then the Lower School (all previous personnel I might add) decided to run a training day on the first day of the new school year  and I assume a scrap of paper explaining this came home in the bottom of  school bag. we missed this, result embarrassment.  

Check out the school terms for the forthcoming year  on CBC's website with the proviso that  this is no protection from local variations as described above. 

For fuller deets go to :
CBC  School terms

2014 - Autumn school term and school holidays

• term starts on 3 September
• half term from 27 October to 31 October
• term ends on 19 December

2015 - Spring school term and school holidays

• term starts on 6 January
• half term from 16 to 20 February
• term ends for the Easter school holidays on 27 March

2015 - Summer school term and school holidays

• school term starts on 14 April
• half term from 26 to 29 May (25 May is a bank holiday)
• summer term ends on 17 July

Cranfield Parish Council 19 June

Headlines from last night.

The application for a moped assembly facility (for hot food delivery vehicles) in Barratt's Yard, Crawley Road was approved by CBC, it was reported. This was despite valiant efforts by Cllr Alan Bastable on the development control committee and and an appeal on behalf of Cranfield Parish Council by Roger Baker and a contribution  from residents. As previously reported, weekend working has now been vetoed. The applicant must submit in writing, measures to contain any noise.

Peter Haddon, Holywell and Joanne Farbon, Lower school did a joint presentation on plans for the schools to expand to deal with  the impact of housing development i9n the pipeline. Holywell will go up to around 720 and the Lower school to 450 with 150 of these being on the proposed Central Motors site. Joanne stressed that this is a 'dual site'  school not a 'split site' school. I'm not sure what the different is but I'll be whittling away at this for some evidence of meaning and I'm sure it will become clear eventually.

The following section 137 grants were approved

£500 to the short mat bowls club 
£500 to link-a-ride
£100 towards the Bedfordshire regiment memorial appeal

Contact the clerk,  Rosie Davy Hunt at Cranfield Parish Council for guidelines on applying for section 137 grants (max £500 except in very special circumstances)

Parish Council this week

At this week's Parish Council meeting, we will welcome reps from the Lower School  (Cranfield Academy) governors to talk about the future of education at that tier in the village and maybe to make sense of the recent extraordinary goings on over Flitt Leys at CBC.

Wednesday 3^rd April 2013 at 7.30pm Holywell School

All members of the Committees are hereby summoned to attend for the purpose of considering and recommending upon the business to be transacted at the meetings as set out hereunder.

BUSINESS TO BE DONE

7.00pm.   Speakers: Sarah Brown, Rob Wyatt – Cranfield Lower School

In attendance: 

To receive apologies for absence:  CB/PCllrs: 

To receive declarations for Members in relation to: (a) Personal Interest or (b)   Prejudicial Interest in any Agenda item.

1.     General Purposes Committee

1.1.  Beds. Fire Service – supply of defibrillator  (draw up list of questions and suitable sites)

1.2.  Notice Boards

1.3.  Litter pick

1.4.  Membership of the Council

Reports - Correspondence - Agenda Items

2.     Environment Committee

2.1.  Digley report and RFQ’s.

2.2.  Cranfield British Legion – sowing of poppy seeds.

2.3.  Hotchcroft – replacement of tree. Review of hedging and fencing panels.

Reports - Correspondence - Agenda Items

3.     Burial Grounds

3.1.  Wild flower area – churchyard

3.2.  Captain Swabye’s Gravestone – restoration

3.3.  Topple testing – churchyard.

3.4.  Risk assessments – church tower and churchyard topple testing

3.5.  Baby burial area

Reports - Correspondence - Agenda Items

4.     Planning Committee

4.1.  General Planning Matters

4.2.  Flitt Leys Close

Reports - Correspondence - Agenda Items

In the classroom

In a direct challenge to the hundreds of thousands of governors in the UK, (Ofsted head) Sir Michael Wilshaw said businesses should instruct senior staff to become governors at their local schools, to improve the calibre of those involved. And he warned time was running out for those at low-achieving schools, who would rather spend time "looking at the quality of lunches and not enough on maths and English" - press report

I read this with amusement. I've never heard such condescending codswallop from a senior official. As a former Cranfield lower school governor I am aware that schools are complex organisations and the factors that contribute to their success are both internal and external. Most people on the governing body are not education professionals and unless you set out to micromanage the head and senior staff,  changing things as a governor is very difficult. Anyway, with bullies like Wilshaw around why would you even want to serve?


Wilshaw stated in 2011: "If anyone says to you that ‘staff morale is at an all-time low’ you will know you are doing something right." 

Sounds like his aim is to improve governance by reducing morale to rock bottom. And he doesn't care if the kids stuff their faces with turkey twizzlers and drink fizzy drinks all day long.

Education planning

Another update from CBC regarding my letter to the head of sustainable communities.

The officer writes:
While I appreciate that you are probably fully aware of the planning policy position for this site, I feel it would be useful to highlight the current position. The site is allocated for residential development of no more than 135 dwellings and the provision of a new lower school, if required. I can confirm that this allocation has been assessed by a number of Highways officers, who have confirmed that it is sufficient to serve the residential development, lower school and health centre.

The capacity of the lower school (Cranfield Church of England Academy) is being considered  by education and planning officers, who have been working closely to consider all possible options for the future provision in this area. These discussions are currently ongoing with the school and no decisions have yet been finalised.

Lower school worries

How on earth we plan lower school education in the village is anyone's guess. Major development was approved by an inspector a decade ago on the basis that the current schools could handle the extra children from new housing. But the Home Farm proposals required extra playing space as the current Lower School site in Court Road is so cramped. The solution was a field, a quarter of a mile away from the school, on the Home Farm site.

Under previous school leadership the governors explored access to the Recreation Ground but this went down in a village poll by about nine to one. Then the Parish Council discovered that Central Beds had been having private talks with the National Playing Fields Association to see if it could unpick the covenant on the land which the PC introduced (I will confess I opposed this at the time but it's looking a good bet at the moment).

In the background there was several years of uncertainty about whether Beds would go to two-tier schools. Recently the Lower School has adopted academy status which probably brings its own uncertainties. Now someone, somewhere is earmarking a site for expansion at the end of Flitt Leys Close, though governors have not made any decisions about the way forward. When it comes to parking problems Flitt Leys would be Court Road on a triple letter score. Pcllr Roger Baker has already described Court Road at 8.45 am as "frenzied jostling".

I have recently talked to the chair of the Academy governors and I know they are doing their best to find a solution to this problem. But they have been dealt a tough hand.