FULMER NEWSLETTER - Fulmer Village

ALL CHANGES IN EDUCATION
In November the County Council launched a consultation on introducing charges for home to
school transport. School transport has been a big budget item for the council for a long time,
and there has been a struggle to contain costs which have been running at over £20m p.a.
Free transport is currently provided if you live three miles or more from the school and the
school is a catchment school. Seven years ago new, more tightly drawn catchment areas were
introduced partly to reduce transport costs. Three years ago Bucks outsourced the
management of school transport and this has resulted in annual savings of £3m. So why the
need to seek further savings? Partly it is the old story of diminishing resources. More
significantly the Council is concerned at the potential effect on costs of the huge changes
taking place as a result of government reforms. In the last year all of the grammar schools in
the county except one and many of the upper schools have become academies. It is very likely
that in the next year or so all secondary schools in Buckinghamshire will have become
academies. Academies have control over their admission rules and catchment areas, yet the
council will retain responsibility for the funding of school transport. With current rules but
freedom for the school to set catchment areas, there is a danger that transport costs will
escalate out of control. Hence the proposal to charge for transport if your child does not go to
the nearest school. The possible options in the consultation are actually a lot more
complicated than that, and if you are likely to be affected please look at the consultation
document on the bucks website (www.buckscc.gov.uk). Whichever option is chosen,
however, it must put a ceiling on the potential transport liability to the council. The move to
academies also affects the future of Buckinghamshire as a selective authority. Academies can
decide their own admission rules. One upper school in Wycombe is considering admitting
pupils in attainment bands. It will be open to grammar schools to devise or source their own
testing procedures. The County Council will only operate the 11-plus if the grammar schools
wish it to do so, and if individual schools were to start opting out the county-wide system may
well collapse. It will be ironic if a Conservative education secretary ends the 11-plus in
Buckinghamshire as an unintended consequence of allowing schools more freedom.
PETER HARDY, 883057, phardy@buckscc.gov.uk
FULMER SCHOOL PRIZE WINNERS!
Steve Barnes, a Governor of Fulmer School has sent the following message:
The School are delighted to have won the Pride Of Buckinghamshire - Love Where You
Live - Youth Pride Award at an awards ceremony in Aylesbury. The website
www.bucksinfo.net/recycleforbuckinghamshire/love-where-you-live
will give you a better understanding of the award, which is sponsored by the Keep
Britain Tidy Campaign and focuses on recycling. For those of you who may not have
seen it on "you tube", there is a link through to a video of the children (at the bottom
of the page) which features along with the children, Mrs Hunt and Mrs Harrod showing
some great recycling skills.Simon Wheeler from UPM (United Paper Mills) who
presented the award to the school, was very impressed with the video and our efforts
as were all the judges and councillors alike that I spoke to on the evening. Mrs
Harrod and I collected the award and £100 on Thursday evening, a very proud
moment for the pair of us and our school to have such BCC recognition, and reinforces
the eco agenda at our school. My thanks to Cathy, the team and all the children that
supported the initiative.
We welcome the new head, Cathy Hunt, to Fulmer School and send our congratulations
on this award to all involved - Editor