Citylife in Rugeley and Cannock Chase March April 2021

LOCAL NEWS
Rugeley Student
Secures Oxford Place
The Hart School in Rugeley is celebrating its
first ever Sixth Form student securing a place to
study at Oxford University.
Budding criminal barrister, Anya Tregay of
Rugeley, is believed to be the first Rugeley high
school pupil to be accepted at the prestigious
university.
Subject to achieving her predicted A Level
grades, the teenager will study for a degree in
Law, with Spanish Law, at the university’s
Hertford College, whose alumni includes
authors Jonathan Swift and Evelyn Waugh.
Headteacher, Rachael Sandham, said: “Anya’s
impressive achievement is proof that anything is
possible with drive, hard work, determination
and the right support. But what is equally
important is that it shows that Rugeley students
are just as capable as the best and brightest at
other Staffordshire schools.”
The Sixth Form is in the top 5% of Sixth Forms
in the area for student progress and has a wide
range of BTECs and A-Levels to choose from, in
any combination. It is now accepting
applications for its 2021-2022 intake. For more
information visit www.hartschool.org.uk/sixthform,
email Mr Brennan on
ben.brennan@hartschool.org.uk, or call 01889
802440.
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Extra Support as 2021
Census Approaches
The next Census
takes place on
Sunday 21st March
and to ensure its
success in Cannock
Chase District, the
Office for National Statistics (ONS) has
appointed a Census Engagement Manager to
support residents in the area.
Kirat Raj Singh, the area’s Census Engagement
Manager, will help organisations, charities, faith
groups and community leaders within the
8
Anya Tregay with her Oxford letter
District raise awareness of the census and the
value to residents in taking part.
The census is a once-in-a-decade survey that
provides a snapshot of households in England
and Wales, helping to plan and fund public
services.
For the first time, the census will be run
primarily online, making it easy for most people
to complete the questionnaire on any device –
whether that be a computer, a mobile phone or
a tablet. Local Census support centres will be
offering help, while paper questionnaires will be
available for those who need them.
For more information visit census.gov.uk. Kirat
Raj Singh, as the local Census Engagement
Manager, can be reached at
kiratraj.singh91@field.census.gov.uk.
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St Giles Celebrates
TreeCycle Success
Socially-distanced TreeCycle volunteers
St Giles Hospice is celebrating the success of
this year’s TreeCycle campaign after it collected
more trees and raised more funds than ever
before.
The environmentally-friendly recycling
collection picked up 4,428 Christmas trees
during the month of January in return for a
small donation to St Giles, raising more than
£65,000 for the hospice.
Last year’s collection picked up 3,430 trees,
raising £35,000. All funds raised by TreeCycle
help to ensure that St Giles Hospice can
continue to support people and their families
living with a terminal illness.
Despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and the
challenges raised by the new lockdown, St Giles
was able to run the popular annual fundraiser
for the sixth year running thanks to collection
teams who followed the latest Government
guidelines as they hit the streets.
Working in same-household bubbles, 76
volunteers took part in a socially-distanced
operation which covered 3,176 miles between
Wednesday 6th and Wednesday 13th January
(2021). They collected trees from Lichfield,
Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Burton, Rugeley,
Burntwood, Uttoxeter, Swadlincote, Stafford
and surrounding areas.
New Free School
for Rugeley
More than 1000 children in Rugeley will have a
brand new school after the Government
announced a major building programme
recently.
The new Rugeley John Taylor School will open
to nursery, reception, and Year 7 pupils in
September 2023. Conservative MP for Cannock
Chase, Amanda Milling, welcomed the “great
news” for the area and said the school would
ensure that future generations get the skills
they need.
The new school, the first all-through school to
be built in Staffordshire, will be built on the
power station site and will be operated by the
John Taylor Multi-Academy Trust (JTMAT).
The John Taylor Multi-Academy Trust already
runs a number of schools in Staffordshire and
South Derbyshire and were announced as the
school sponsored by the Department of
Education.
The school will focus on Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and will
help future generations leave school with the
skills they need to succeed.
The Free School programme has helped raise
educational standards across England, with
more than 80% of free schools rated good or
outstanding by Ofsted.
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Chimney Demolition
You may not have had
chance to watch the
recent demolition of the
Rugeley Power Station
chimney, with lockdown
restrictions in place.
However, you can watch
our video of this event if
you head to our
Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/citylifeinrugeley and click
on the ‘videos’ section.
Competition
Winner
Congratulations to Mr G
Painter of Rugeley who was
selected as the Just Granite
competition winner!
Well done!