The Queen Edith’s Community Forum is planning a fun and informative environmental family day in May in conjunction with the City Council.

Paper peopleThere will be loads to do:

• An arts & crafts marquée
• Face painting from T J Kids 10.30-12.30
• Take it or Leave It (swap your old stuff for new stuff)
• Seed sowing with Transition Cambridge
• Cambridge Carbon Footprint – measure your carbon footprint
• Cambridge Woodworks craft stall
• Free Lunch from Cambridge Foodcycle (they recycle unwanted but still edible food donated by supermarkets)
• Nature walk round Nightingale Ave. Recreation Ground 2.00 – 3.00

It’s 10.30 a.m. till 2.00 p.m. at St James’s Church and outside the Wulfstan Way shops. Hope to see you there!

School books

has been christened!

This will be a sister school to the Queen Edith Primary School in Godwin Way, opening next September. Building has begun and is scheduled to finish in July.

The school takes children from the combined catchment areas of Ridgefield, Queen Edith and Morley Primary Schools.

Here is a update from the Federation’s website.

Library sign

Like many others, I attended a meeting at Rock Road Library this evening put on by the Friends of Rock Road Library  to discuss ways of keeping it open. I didn’t count the people present, but estimate there must have been over 100, with standing room only even before the meeting kicked off. This fantastic show of public support goes some way towards explaining why so many hits on my site this week have been using keywords like ‘library’ and ‘cuts’! A big thank you to the Friends for arranging the meeting, as well as to all the groups that have helped publicise it so well, especially the Morley children who made posters.

We heard from Jane Elliott, the Chair of the Friends, Christine May from the Library Serice, and county councillors Geoff Heathcock (Lib Dem, Queen Edith’s) and Tariq Sadiq (Labour, Coleridge).

The library service in Cambridgeshire has a gargantuan savings target set by the Tory administration, and Rock Road Library is on the County Council’s hit list for infrastructure changes. These could include self-service machines for issues and returns, more volunteers (for children’s stories and computer support … and maybe more?), and community management boards. We heard about how the Council is looking into sharing buildings with other public service, and that there are already ten community-run libraries in Cambridgeshire.

Rock Road Library, founded 75 years ago, is one of the best used in the county, but we are on the list for change because we are a relatively well off area and not far from other libraries. However, half the library users are young children and pensioners – acknowledged as less able to travel on their own. Costs come to just over £100,000 a year (2009/10).

Despite the big dark cloud looming over this vital community facility, the meeting was commendably calm and constructive, although person after person questioned the need for such massive cuts, as well as the feasibility of volunteers being able to plug the gap in funding.

One big problem is the democratic gap – Cambridgeshire County Council is run by the Conservatives, who have no councillors representing any part of the city of Cambridge. The councillors for Queen Edith’s are already convinced of the library’s value to the community. It was suggested that people should express their concerns by writing to the Conservative MP for the area, Andrew Lansley, as well as to Sir Peter Brown, the county councillor with portfolio responsibility for Cambridgeshire libraries. Those with contacts in the villages of Cambridgeshire that do still have Tory councillors could also call on them to write to those councillors about the library service, particularly those villages that have libraries.

Rock Road is a great library, with a range of events for all ages. The Friends put on talks and events such as books sales and wine-tastings, while the library itself has an excellent programme of children’s events. The next one is this Saturday, a Chinese New Year celebration of the Year of the Rabbit – stories and crafts from 10.30 till noon. I’m told red is the lucky colour – well, I’ll try anything as I’m sure we could all do with some luck!

The community is rallying round the campaign to preserve Rock Road Library.

Children at Morley,  just round the corner from the Library, have been designing Save Our Library posters and local groups are passing on news of a campaign meeting to be held this Wednesday.

The Friends of Rock Road Library are organizing a meeting on Wednesday 2nd March to discuss the County Council’s planned cuts to the Cambridgeshire library services and possible changes. They aim to come up with a strategy to preserve our local library and keep it open.

The meeting will be 7.30 – 9.00 at the library. Your Lib Dem councillors will be present to support the library campaign, and so will Christine May, the Acting Head of Libraries, Archives and Information at the County Council.

The Friends are also putting on a wine-tasting event on Friday 4th March – 8 – 10.30pm at the library, with wine expert Anthony Jenkins introducing wines selected by Hedonist Wines and there will be savoury nibbles and a sampling of local cheese. Tickets are £15, available from the Friends — email rockroadfriends@yahoo.com.

Cambridge City Councillors are seeking assurances that county Conservatives will not close libraries. Liberal Democrat city councillors put down a motion at a meeting of Cambridge City Council on Thursday (Thursday, October 21) demanding that Cambridgeshire County Council rule out closures in the libraries review.

Now city council Leader Sian Reid will write to Cambridgeshire County Council Leader, Jill Tuck urging her to give assurances that libraries are safe.

The motion was proposed by Cllr Mike Pitt and seconded by Labour Cllr Lucy Walker:

This Council applauds the role the Library Network plays in the social cohesion, educational development, life-long learning and well-being of Cambridge City Residents and indeed residents across the county. This Council regrets that the County Council Cabinet has to date failed to rule out library closures, which would be irreversible, and requests that the leader of this Council writes to the leader of the County Council to seek assurance that necessary savings will be sought through other means. 

I spoke in the debate on the importance of the local community of Rock Road Library, which provides much more than access to books, vital though they are: information, Internet facilities, children’s activities and a range of social activities via the Friends of Rock Road Library.

The councillor who opened the library back in 1935 said, ‘I hope that in the days to come, this building  will become more and more the intellectual home of the people who live round it.’ It is just as important now, as there are many people who cannot travel to the library in the city centre easily.

Cambridgeshire County Council is reviewing the library service in Cambridge (see previous post). To our great alarm, the Tories who run the County Council have refused to rule out closing libraries.

As part of their decision-making process they have been doing counts as well as consulting. There have already been two counts at Rock Road Library and another is taking place this week (18th-23rd October). Theyare counting the number of people who use the library as well as the number of books.

Please  take time to visit the library and encourage your family and friends to do the same.

Congratulations to Caroline Peet and the Queen Edith’s Federation Team, who have won the contest to run the new primary school on Gunhild Way.

At the County Council Cabinet meeting at Shire Hall yesterday, councillors voted unanimously for the Queen Edith’s Federation to run the new school.

I and my colleagues Geoff, Viki and Jean are delighted by the county council’s decision to back the project. The Federation has worked incredibly hard to put the bid together and the 300+ signatures show what incredible support they have from local parents.

Queen Edith’s already has two very good primary schools, the existing Queen Edith’s on Godwin Way, and Morley Memorial on Blinco Grove — but there are too many children and not enough places, so it will be fantastic to have a third school to address this need.

Congratulations to everyone for the support and enthusiasm they showed for this project.

Good news for local children: Cambridgeshire County Council education officers are recommending the Council’s Cabinet to vote for the Queen Edith’s Federation to run the new school on Gunhild Way.

The councillors in the Cabinet get the final say when they meet next Tuesday – so Queen Edith’s nearly home!

Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat Minister for Children and Families, is asking Lib Dem councillors about how the current system of providing support and education for children with special educational needs could be improved so I am posting a request for information on your experiences and opinions. The views will feed into a Government Green Paper to be published later this autumn. She has said

“Children with special educational needs and disabilities should have the same opportunities as other children. But the current system is so adversarial that too often this doesn’t happen. I want parents, teachers, charities, teaching unions and Local Authorities to come forward with the changes they think are needed to make the system better for children with SEN and their families.

 I want to hear from anyone who has experienced services for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities – those who use them, and those who provide, or commission them.  People’s perspectives are varied and understandably deeply felt. I want everyone to have their say, and the opportunity to influence our future direction.

 Please tell us about your experiences and the problems and priorities from your perspective. Share your ideas for practical solutions.  Where things are working well, let us know why they work, or how they save money or time.  Thank you for helping us make the system work better for children and their families.”

Here is the link to the survey. Please pass this on to anyone you know who has a child with special needs, or any teachers or school governors. If you need a paper copy, please let me know.

Time is running out to comment on the competition to run a new primary school on Gunhild Way — the County Council’s consultation closes this Friday. If you haven’t already commented, you can do so up till 20th August, by writing to David Clark at Cambridgeshire County Council (david.clark@cambridgeshire.gov.uk).

Comments are invited from everyone, but the choice of provider of the new school is especially important for parents of children about to go to school, ie those currently at nursery school or younger, who will be applying to primary school soon. Astonishingly, nursery schools have not been included in the consultation.

There is a significant amount of local interest, but please spread the word, as I am still getting people telling me they are unaware.

Many people have heard through email grapevines, chat forums etc. There is a Facebook page about it, which draws together individuals’ comments as well as press reports. If you’re on Facebook please share the page with any local parents.