A good Samaritan

This story is a nice modern parable.  Also appears to be true, it's not Christmassy or religious, but something that seems to fit with the Christmas spirit. 

Hat tip - to Martin on Reading freegle cafe (I'm a lurker there!)

The EMA

Is the EMA a good thing?  I have plenty of anecdotal evidence but as a friend recently accused the government of 'hating statistics' and I laughed along with him I guess that would be unfair.  So lucky for me the IFS has just published an analysis .

So  yes, it is - even if the only purpose is to encourage participation rates,  and ignoring the getter attendance, grades etc.

I've no doubt that my most regular commenter will be ready to jump on this post.  That's fine with me, but I'm not going to argue with you about this one - write to the IFS if you want...

Save the Whitley Excellence Cluster!

I've spoken in the press about this already - I find it shocking that the coalition is so blasé about ending the good work of Whitley Excellence Cluster.  I hoped that Cllr Ralph, the lead councillor for Education would be able to commit to at least looking at a way to continue the work.  However all he has said is "We hope the [Pupil] premium will help cushion the blow, although at this moment we don't know any more than that."  We've had silence from our MP so far.



That's why today I'm launching a campaign to save it - lots more detail is here.

It's time to show the council that we value the work that the Whitley Excellence Cluster is doing and that we want it continued.  Please sign the petition I've just set up, and let me know if you can get involved - my email address is racheleden.whitley@gmail.com

The giving tree

Sights of mounted police charging what looked like peaceful protesters, protesters smashing windows, student sit ins.

It's like the 1980s are back.  I really hope not and all this is a one off.

On a more positive note, there's still a time to donate a present to the Giving Tree!

I read in the paper someone saying that they hadn't come across this concept elsewhere, which I find really surprising as it is a well established Reading institution and I'd assumed there would be something similar all over the country.

If you haven't done it before it's really easy, you just go along to the Broad Street Mall, pick a label off the tree and buy the present asked for on it.  The presents asked for aren't very pricey in general (I saw one tag asking for some warm socks) and they go to children in Reading who might otherwise not get a Christmas present this year.  I think one less present for my daughter is worth that!

Education cuts

I paid tuition fees at University,although it was under the short lived system that was means tested so I paid less.

I can see the reasoning for graduates paying part of the cost of their education and I am not a denier of the private benefit that is received by students.  However I believe that higher education should be in a way that shares the cost of education between the individual and society as a whole*.  Of course part of what the media haven't really focused on (because I guess a few vandals are more interesting than figures) in the debate is that teaching grants to Universities are being cut by 80%.  That seems like a crazy amount to me, even the most deficit obsessed politician isn't proposing that for any other area I can think of.

It was with this in mind that I was happy to go along to the march to Rob Wilson's office supporting a petition collected by pupils from Reading schools.  They said they had taken just two days to get 900 signatures - impressive by any standards!  Although of course Rob Wilson wasn't there we had hoped a member of his staff would be to collect the petition but mysteriously not only was the door locked and no-one was home but the usual Conservative party posters had been removed from the window!  It didn't dampen spirits though and it was a cheerful, noisy march.

*Incidentally I also do have problems with the current system set up by my own party by which a graduate going into a 'typical' graduate job like teaching can be paying back their debts over decades while a city trader pays back very quickly.  I hope that we agree a better policy where those who earn more after graduation pay more.

Advent has definately started

I've started getting Christmas themed forwards.  Below is the best so far.  Although it clearly was a bit of a set up, since there are so many camera angles, it's still pretty uplifting:

November councillor's report

Summary:

November has been a busy, but productive month.  It has been affected at the very end by a family bereavement.  There has been a lot going on in the ward, and I have felt I have spent less time in the Civic centre and more time out and about, which what I like to do.

Council

I attended the November meeting of the Transport Management Advisory Panel (as a non-member) to raise concerns about the Hartland Road markings, I was unable to attend cabinet to support the petition but Cllr Orton spoke in place of me and the lead petitioner.

I also attended the Reading 2020 event, which was an interesting chance to look beyond the short term and think about where our town should be in 2030.

I attended the SACRE meeting, which is the body that oversees the provision of Religious Education in our schools, where a lot of discussion was the impact that national government will have on the SACRE - and that the council looks like it will be no longer providing an administrative support for this, despite it being a stuatuory body.

I also met with the pupils from the Whitley Excellence Cluster School councils who were meeting the Mayor in the Civic centre and listened to their ideas for their schools.

Out and about in the ward:

We held our regular monthly surgery at the beginning of the month at the South Reading Youth and Community Centre.
I visited the Madjeski Academy on "National Non fiction day" to see the work done by students under the guidance of two great illustrators - one who illustrates the horrible histories and one who illustrates pop up books including the gruffalo.
I also visited Christ the King primary to see their plans for a new specialist centre for children with autism, that will serve children from across the borough.
I was at Sure start for their art exhibition and for their open day, along with our new candidate Kelly Edwards, and had a good chat with members of staff and other parents at the centre.
I also went along to meet the Mum and Tots group on Kennet Island and to let them know that I was pushing the developer to get them some playground equipment.

Labour party and campaigning

Our big news in Whitley is that Jim has decided to retire as a councillor.  Jim has been a really welcoming comrade since I was first selected as a candidate over a year ago.  The Whitley Labour party branch has selected Kelly Edwards to stand for election in May and I have been out campaigning with her and introducing her around the ward.  It's great working with her and I really hope she is elected to join our team.

I've been out campaigning in other wards too, including Church ward with Paul Woodward, our excellent candidate there.

We've had a big push to get the Reading Labour party newsletter out and we've started delivery of the pre-Christmas Whitley newsletters.

Looking ahead to December:

The very sad personal situation is likely to reduce my activity in December a bit and of course over Christmas there will be some family time.  However there is still lots to do in the ward and around town, I will keep you updated.  Take care if the weather stays as it is.

I won't be blogging as regularly as usual for the same reason but I will still be working hard for Whitley!