In summer of 2017 the new build of St Nicholas Community Primary School ground to a halt as the contractor went into liquidation (https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/education/schools-new-5m-building-wont-411409 ) preventing the school opening on schedule in the summer. The new site opened after a two week half term in October, this delay cost parents and teachers a considerable amount in childcare. Further delays followed as utilities on site were not up to standard. Staff endeavoured to minimise disruption to the children’s education at the cost of their own time and effort. Some of this disruption has been going on since the start of the new build over two years ago. Today the school is still a building site with areas cordoned off, and re-cordoned off when the weather blew those down. Throughout the winter children have had to access a poorly lit school for after school events and clubs. There is no street-lighting on the path leading into the school beside St Nicholas Church. It is not safe and very frightening for pupils. The path has not been widened and does not provide enough space for the footfall accessing the school with prams, bikes, scooters or more than one child. There is no easy or safe access for parents to drop off or collect their children without causing obstructions, trespass or danger to life. Choke points make it dangerous for children using their bikes, scooters and walking into school. Poor traffic control on the corner of Holme Church Lane, Bulcher Lane, and Beaver Road is also putting lives at risk. The extended closure of footpath No12 leading from Holme Church Lane to Grovehill Road continues to cause elderly residents problems, disorienting them or making it impossible for them to navigate. All these matters were raised at the planning consultations. None of them have been resolved. This is not a 21st Century school as one ward councillor hoped for. The school field was lost when the new build began, two years later children still do not have access to a large, suitable by law, play area. Currently 300 children are limited to exercise on a small tennis court. Once again contractors are delayed due to poor drainage and contractors are now damaging original work while repairing other problems. Many minor injuries have been caused on the footpath. Children are scared of attending school clubs, deciding against after school activities because of the dark. Car drivers are not able to see/react to those crossing the roads in the area resulting in a number of close calls. Children have to wear mud soaked clothes when they fall from their bikes or slip in the mud as there simply aren't enough spare uniforms to go around. Play and exercise time is limited because of lack of space. We believe our children should be able to access and use the school safely. This is not the case. The health and well-being of the pupils have been put second for too long.

Many parents do not have cars and feel that it is both too far for young children to walk, especially in bad weather, and is also unsafe because of the busy roads along the route - despite officers stating otherwise. Does gan nifer o rieni ddim ceir, ac er gwaethaf honiadau am ddiogelwch y llwybrau gan swyddogion y Cyngor, credwn fod y daith yn rhy hir, yn enwedig mewn tywydd garw, ac yn rhy beryglus.

This library and its staff provide vital services to one of Somerset's most deprived areas where community assets are already scarce. Not only is this an essential information and communication resource but it also contributes significantly to health, wellbeing and social life, in particular for the considerable number of residents with limited mobility, especially older, disabled, and low-income residents.

We feel that the distance from Blaenllechau to both schools in an unfair distance for a child to walk especially Infants aged children (3-7). This would be considerably worse in the Winter months. Also with some children in full-time and some in part-time this could means numerous trips to and from school in one day. Traffic around the school is already an issue and this could lead to further increase in traffic flow around the school. We feel no consideration has been taking in declaring the route to school as a "safe route". There are being no extra measures introduced to increase the safety of our children. Public transport is not an option as we only have one bus every hour, which would either make you 40 minutes early for school or 20 minutes late.

There have been a lot of near misses with pedestrians, I witnessed a cyclist being knocked off his bike at school pick up time. I have seen numerous car accidents (all be it minor ones) which could of been a child. I think campaigns to get parents to use their cars less has failed and unfortunately some people are still being selfish and parking in forbidden zones. An area to cross safely away from the chaos will potentially save a child's life. Let's get as many signatures as possible to tell the council that we want and need a crossing!

Carillion was managing support services at the British Museum when they announced bankruptcy on 15 January. Five years ago PCS members campaigned against outsourcing when directly employed staff were privatised and transferred to Carillion. Many have worked at the museum for over 20 years. Now they are being paid by the receivers and face an uncertain future. Under insolvency rules staff have no protection of their terms and conditions if they are transferred to another company. The Museum Director Hartwig Fischer has not even met with staff. This threat is not limited to British Museum: • The Imperial War Museum privatised its gallery services back in 2014. The private contractor Shield went bust in 2016 and was bought up by yet another private firm Noonan leaving staff unsure of the future of their pensions. • The National Gallery privatised 400 workers back in 2015 despite a long-running campaign opposing it, made from striking employees, other culture unions and a number of art campaigners and lovers. Private company Securitas has refused to honour promises and has been less than cooperative with workers represented by PCS. Meanwhile the National Gallery itself has de-recognised the union arguing that most of its members were now working for Securitas. • Some of Tate’s visitor services were provided by privateer Wilson James who used Zero Hours contracts and paid their employees far less than Tate. PCS members won union recognition and parity of pay after their EqualiTate campaign. But in 2017 the contract was passed on to Securitas who immediately de-recognised the PCS union.

At 10 am on Tuesday 13th March a West Lothian Council committee will discuss a proposal to PERMANENTLY STOP all strings and percussion tuition and discontinue Bathgate Academy String Ensemble , Linlithgow Academy String Orchestra and Junior Strings, St Kentigern’s Folk/String Group, West Lothian Sinfonia and West Lothian Folk Group.To axe the strings and percussion instrumental service would be grossly unfair to those pupils who presently receive tuition and would deprive younger children of instrument choice. It would be discriminatory to continue to provide an instrumental service for one group of pupils and not another and we want the council to explore alternative funding sources,which they haven’t done.

These children are already an ethnic minority and, as such, they need extra support to allow them to access education. They and their families are very vulnerable and, therefore, require emotional support to help them to adjust when settling into schools and local communities. They presently receive this care and support from designated specialist teachers of EAL and GYpsy Travellers. I understand that we need to make savings because of austerity. However, it is totally wrong to cut this vital service which is already at crisis level with retired staff not being replaced, budgets cuts annually, and so on. I truly believe that this is a massive mistake by the Welsh Assembly Labour Government and I, as a Labour member myself, urge everybody to sign this petition so that these already marginalised children can continue to receive the support they so desperately need.

The university employer body, Universities UK (UUK), has proposed an end to the defined benefit portion of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), drastically reducing the retirement income and security of affected staff. Independent modelling of what the changes would mean for a typical lecturer found they could lose as much as £10,000 a year in retirement income. USS benefits are already lower than other teaching staff pension schemes. These cuts will only weaken both the position of staff in the scheme and the attraction of working in institutions where USS is offered. That’s why USS members in the University and College Union (UCU) have voted overwhelmingly for sustained strike action to defend their pensions from these damaging changes. Strikes which disrupt students’ learning are always a last resort and we are committed to resolving this dispute by meaningful negotiation if possible, but as no agreement has been reached a wave of national strikes began on 22nd February 2018 and is scheduled to continue until 16th March. We support the UCU members taking strike action and call on UUK to engage meaningfully in negotiation with UCU, submit the USS scheme to independent and transparent valuation and agree to UCU's proposals to maintain the sustainability of the scheme. For more on UCU's proposal see www.ucu.org.uk/article/9364/Further-talks-agreed-in-universities-pensions-dispute?utm_source=lyr-ucu-members&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=members&utm_term=uss-all&utm_content=USS+update

Wolsingham is a market town in Weardale in the west of County Durham. There has been a secondary school in Wolsingham, serving the Dale and beyond, since 1614. Children of the area have always been able to continue their education to the sixth form and Wolsingham School has consistently had good results. Some families have seen generations of children attend Wolsingham School. Wolsingham School is currently in the top five performing schools in the county and lies in an area of outstanding natural beauty. A recent refurbishment has provided state of the art facilities. The provision of sixth form education in Weardale is particularly important for children who live in the upper Dale, who face significant hardship and long travel times to suitable alternative sixth form providers. Some children will be required to travel for almost four hours per day and will then have to find time to study. Wolsingham School is more than a school. It is central to the sustainability and vibrancy of Weardale, a rural area covering around 200 square miles. As well as catering for the children of established Dales families, the school brings new settlers into the area in search of a rural lifestyle and a good education for their children. Of course, the entire infrastructure of Weardale depends on a stable population – shops, businesses, GP surgery, pubs and restaurants – and a threat to the school is a threat to the very life of the Dale itself. The Board of Governors has taken the decision without prior consultation with parents, students or the wider community, to suspend the sixth form for two years, from 2018 to 2020. Although this is reported to be temporary, closing the sixth form will lead to student numbers declining in favour of applications to schools with access to on site sixth form facilities. Indeed, parents are already choosing to take their children out of Wolsingham School. The Board of Governors can, and indeed should, overturn its decision. If Governors believe that suspension of Wolsingham's sixth form facility is a viable option then this should only happen after a major consultation exercise. We, the parents and wider community are passionate about protecting our school and ask the Board of Governors of Wolsingham School to: 1. Overturn the decision to suspend the sixth form; 2. Undertake a meaningful, open, inclusive and far-reaching consultation programme to present a range of options for the school to the Dales community; 3. Work with the parents and wider community to tackle the very specific issues facing the school to ensure its survival for generations to come.

We don't just use libraries to borrow books - we use them for reading, we use them for researching, we use them for the Internet services they provide and we need libraries to foster our learning. Older people need libraries, adults and young adults need libraries - and families need libraries. ... and this means libraries with trained librarians, not just volunteers. In spite of much deprivation and poor Internet access, Highbridge and many other similar communities are now growing - new houses being built and new young families moving into the area - this town needs a hub for its local services. What better place than the library? The current library opening hours provide only restricted access to library services - the town is expanding - this service needs expanding. The County Council has kept open the Highbridge Children's Centre and should be using the same arguments for investing in the Library. The Highbridge library is a valuable information hub - not only for the residents of Highbridge itself, but all those many, otherwise isolated, users in the outlying areas, some of which may only have mobile library access now, e.g. Mark, Walrow, Isleport, Bason Bridge & Watchfield. These are users who can get to Highbridge Library using the existing (yet slender) public transport links. Burnham on Sea Library is just one further step away. For a young parent with little children in Highbridge, it has been calculated that it costs £9.00 to get public transport to Burnham and back - but you can walk to the Highbridge Library! "Google Can Bring You Back 100,000 Answers. A Librarian Can Bring You Back the Right One." Neil Gaiman "Cutting libraries in a time of recession and austerity is like cutting hospitals during a plague." (adapted from Eleanor Crumblehulme library assistant)

This is extremely important: 1. We students are being under-represented 2. We have already paid for a service which we are not going to receive 3. We students must take a stand for ourselves and not allow people to take advantage of us. 4. Students and lecturers are both being financially penalised and we should not accept it.