Newbury Weekly News

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Thursday, May 11, 2017
Welcome to our fortnightly education section. Newbury Weekly News education brings you interviews,
columns, schools and college news and all the issues that matter most to the children, teachers and parents
of West Berkshire. If you want to get involved with stories, opinions or simply tell us about something your
school has been up to, please get in touch via
Growing success of agricultural contest
PUPILS from special schools in
Berkshire wowed judges at a
recent annual agricultural
competition.
Every year, the Newbury and
District Agricultural Society puts
on a challenge for schools with
special needs across the county.
Schools are asked to work on a
number of themed projects over
two terms, before presenting the
finished works to a panel of
judges from the society.
This year sawNewbury College
win the cookery class challenge;
The Castle School won for their
collage of the seaside; and Prior’s
Court Young Adults were
awarded first prize for their coun-
try craft project and also for their
recycled bird feeder.
Mary Hare Primary School
finished in third place overall.
First and second place went to
Kennel Lane School in Bracknell
and Addington School in Wood-
ley, respectively.
Certificates were awarded to
all the students who participated,
as well as the winners of each
activity.
Trophies and prize money were
also awarded to the overall
winners.
Education officer for the soci-
ety, Jan Murray, said: “We have
been running this event for a
number of years now and this
year saw more teams than ever
taking part.
“It is so rewarding that the
schools are embracing it with
such enthusiasm and using the
challenges to support their
curriculums back in school.
“The students who attended
were very animated when talking
to the judges and the staff appre -
ciated the opportunity to network
and share ideas.”
MaryHareSchool pupilswith theirentryintheNewbury&District agriculturalcompetition Ref:19-3815B
Schools warn of
‘tough decisions’
“TOUGH decisions” will have
to be made as West Berkshire
primary schools continue to
wrestle with dwindling
budgets and rising costs.
The worrying news comes in a
letter written to parents from the
West Berkshire Primary Head-
teachers’ Association, which
says it cannot guarantee that
tightening budgets will not affect
teaching conditions.
However, the letter, signed by
the heads of each primary school
in the district, offers re-assur-
ance that schools will do their
utmost to prevent this from
happening.
The letter states: “School
budgets across the country have
been under pressure for some
time.
“Senior leadership teams at
many schools have been faced
with funding challenges, leading
to a number of tough decisions
being made at some schools.
“In time, it will affect more
and more schools.”
According to the correspon-
dence, the National Association
of Head Teachers (NAHT) has
shown that more than half of
school leaders felt that their
budget would be untenable by
2018/19, while the National Audit
Office estimates a £3bn real-
terms cut across all phases and
in all schools.
A new government funding
formula is set to be introduced
later this year, but the letter says
it is unlikely to improve the
financial pressures faced by
schools in West Berkshire.
“With increasing costs placed
on all schools, including higher
pension and national insurance
contributions, as well as the
introduction of the apprentice-
ship levy, the new formula will
not bring the benefits that we
had hoped to see for West Berk-
shire children.”
“We will work hard to ensure
that cuts have the least impact on
teaching possible.
“However, rising costs and a
frozen budget mean that tough
decisions will have to be taken.
“We cannot guarantee that
such cuts will not affect teach-
ing, despite doing our utmost to
prevent this.”
The heads continue: “Please
be assured that we will take abso-
lute care with budgets, to ensure
all the money we have is spent
effectively on your children.
“We are also letting the local
authority and Government know
just how serious the funding
crisis has become.
“This includes meeting with
local MPs, and the minister for
schools, Nick Gibb MP.”
Headteachers advise parents ofbudget cutsandrising costs
Report by CHRISORD
email chris.ord@newbur
twitter @chriso_nwn
BDZ backing Achievement for All
A NEWBURY businessman has
urged local schools to take
advantage of a funding scheme
aimed at closing the attain-
ment gap in West Berkshire.
Managing director of BDZ, Bob
Rae, recently formed a partner-
ship with education charity
Achievement for All, who are also
based in Newbury, to provide a
specialist support programme for
pupils who are under-achieving
or from a disadvantaged back-
ground.
The scheme will see BDZ cover
50 per cent of the cost of the
programme.
Mr Rae said: “Schools are such
a vital part of any community and
as a local organisation, we want
to do our best to support as many
schools as we can in West Berk-
shire.
“Achievement for All does
fantastic work in helping all
pupils to achieve academically,
but also socially and emotionally.
“We are pleased to be able to
help schools to pay for this
unique programme and I am
delighted to announce that BDZ is
in a position to fund half the cost
of the programme for 40 schools
or Early Years settings in West
Berkshire.
“I’d like to encourage schools to
make the most of this opportu-
nity and get in touch with the
team at Achievement for All to
see how it can support you.”
The charity offers schools and
Early Years settings a two-year,
coach-led programme which
supports teachers in closing the
attainment gap.
The scheme provides up to
£6,000 of funding to each West
Berkshire school to register.
Any schools or Early Years
settings that are interested in
registering with Achievement for
All can contact schools partner
Sue Bowen via sue.bowen@afaed-
or 07788 281 520.
Young poet makes her mark in national contest
A YOUNG poet from Trinity
School has received a special
commendation for her entry
in a national poetry reading
competition.
The school entered the Poetry
by Heart Competition for the
first time and was delighted
when Year 13 student Koshesai
Fundira made it through the
regional round and went to
London for the semi-finals.
The talented teen didn’t reach
the final, but received a commen-
dation from judges for her
performance of Minority by
Imtiaz Dharker.
Following the competition, she
said: “I honestly am gutted that it
was my first and the last time I’d
be able to enter because I enjoyed
it so much, but poetry is defi-
nitely now something more for
me than just a GCSE exam – so
surely that is something to take
away from the whole experi-
ence.”
Glowing report for St Andrew ’s
STAFF and pupils at St
Andrew’s School in Buckhold,
near Pangbourne, are cele-
brating following a glowing
report from the Independent
School Inspectorate (ISI).
Following their visit to the
preparatory school in March,
inspectors deemed the quality of
pupils’ academic achievements
and the quality of personal devel-
opment to be ‘excel-
lent’.
The inspectors
recognised ‘skilful
and knowledgeable’
subject teaching and
significant achieve-
ments in music,
sport and the arts,
as well as noting the
diverse range of
extra-curricular
opportunities avail-
able to pupils.
The school, which has 289
pupils, also met all required stan-
dards of compliance and safe-
guarding across all areas.
Pastoral care was deemed to be
of the highest calibre, with
pupils’ moral devel-
opment described as
‘outstanding’.
Inspectors also
praised the school’s
leadership, noting:
“Pupils’ high standard of achieve-
ment is supported most effec-
tively by strong governance and
leadership.”
Responding to the report, head-
master Jonathan Bartlett said:
“The report is a tribute to the
hard work and commitment of
the school’s exceptional staff and
supportive community.”
He added: “Our focus now is on
planning for an exciting future.
We are developing new facilities
for sports and performing arts as
part of our commitment to deliv-
ering the best all-round educa-
tional provision of any prep
school in the area.”
StAndrew’sSchool andheadteacher Jonathan Bartlett
Week commencingMay 29th 2017
Publication Issue Date Classification Space & Copy Deadline
Newbury Home Search Thursday June 1st Property/Accomm display Thursday May 25th, 10am
Accommodation lineage Friday May 26th, 12 noon
NWN inc N2 Thursday June 1st ROP Ents + cinema Wednesday May 24th,10am
Features Wednesday May 24th,10am
Leisure Tuesday May 30th, 10am
Motors Tuesday May 30th, 10am
Classifieds/Trades Tuesday May 30th, 10am
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BMD’s Wednesday May 31st, 10 am
Advertiser Friday June 2nd All As Above
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