ST GEORGE'S CHURCH - It’s with great regret that we wish to notify you that the retired vicar of St George's Church, Don Scholey, passed away on 23rd January 2010. His funeral will take place on Monday 8th February at the crematorium in Milton Malsor at 4.15pm, the Parish Council will be represented.
STREET DOCTOR - If you need to report poor road surfaces, pot holes etc call 0845 601 1113.
TREE PROBLEMS - Any trees requiring urgent attention need to reported to the Borough Council on 01604 837 578.
PARISH COUNCIL MEETING Date of Next Parish Council Meeting is Wednesday 17th February 2010, this will be held at the Wootton Community Centre at 7pm SCHOOL CLOSURES - There is now a web page for Parents and Carers which can be acessed on www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/ismy schoolclosed
Wootton & East Hunsbury Parish Council
Welcome to the Wootton & East Hunsbury Parish Council website. We hope that you find it helpful in letting you know what is going on at the Parish Council, and within the Parish, including events, details of your Parish Councillors, information about our Community Centres, minutes of our meetings, details of planning applications and local public transport, read the local Police update, or find out what’s going on as part of our Youth Project
Best wishes
Jonathan Nunn Chairman
School Admissions Policy Consultation
The county is currently being consulted over revised admissions policy for a number of schools. Within our Parish the most significant changes (scheduled for the September 2011 entry) are proposed for Caroline Chisholm School (CCS) Year 7/Secondary.
Whilst this will affect pupils and parents within feeder schools and catchments, there are others in the parish who may also be affected indirectly, including other parish residents and local businesses.
The Parish Council would strongly encourage all residents to consider the issues, and respond to the consultation. The consultation closes on 19th February 2010, with a decision being announced on 10th March.
In a nutshell, the Local Education Authority (LEA) is concerned that at present, there are insufficient places available for pupils who attend linked schools (Preston Hedges, Wootton, Caroline Chisholm Primary and Woodland View (Grange Park)) and live in the defined catchment areas. Current admissions policy has led to pupils living within Wootton and Simpson Manor failing to gain places at CCS despite living in catchment and attending feeder primaries.
The LEA has considered a number of options in developing its proposals, and consideration of projected pupil numbers attending local school highlights a worsening problem if nothing is changed.
Indeed, there is no easy fix to the situation as many parents and children are anxious to attend this successful local facility.
To resolve the matter for forthcoming years (from September 2011), the LEA has proposed the following:
1) Preston Hedges, Caroline Chisholm Primary, Wootton Primary will remain feeder schools to CCS Secondary.
2) Hardingstone Primary will move from Roade catchment to become a CCS feeder school.
3) Woodland View will move from CCS catchment to become a Roade feeder school.
This is referred to as ‘Option D’ within the consultation. In principle, this effectively frees up 30 places at CCS, thus eliminating the oversubscription from feeder schools, and guaranteeing places for children who attend Preston Hedges, Wootton, Hardingstone and CCS Primary. Students already at CCS would of course be unaffected by the change.
Unallocated places would still be available to a number of pupils from Grange Park/Woodland View.
The LEA Admissions website gives further details at:
In addition, there are FAQ’s regarding the admissions proposals, and a copy of a presentation summarising the background to the consultation exercise.
The proposals were discussed at a well attended Parish Council meeting held on 27th January. Issues were discussed at length, and councillor and parent/residents views explored in depth.
The council agreed that whilst the decision to move Woodland View to a Roade feeder school will be upsetting for many residents of Grange Park, this must be weighed up against the current situation where children within the same School class or Street are being divided by the existing entrance criteria. This combined with the positive impact on local traffic and longer term community cohesion, led to the council decision to support the proposed changes to the admissions criteria.
A number of local residents and parents are also keen that this consultation be highlighted to parishioners. Their pamphlet highlighting their concerns and ideas can be seen on:-
Wootton & East Hunsbury Parish Council, Wootton Community Sports Centre, Curtlee Hill, Wootton, Northampton, NN4 6ED, or telephone +44 (0)1604 705055 or email bookings@woottonpc.co.uk
