This is a focal point of the community of Brynmenyn. it has served well is a beautiful example of victorian architecture and should be preserved for future school children. These once common beautiful buildings are becoming scarce now and the sense of community dies with them. There is no reason for its closure other than in the name of progress. and money. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody has already done some sort of deal behind closed doors on the land.

Why are they needed? Gender is more complex than a simple male/female binary. For trans or androgynous people the simple everyday activity of using the toilet may be stressful. If their physical appearance doesn’t fit gender norms they may be challenged when using gendered toilet facilities, which can be very distressing. Obliging someone to use a designated accessible toilet isn’t acceptable, since it is sends the message that they are not a ‘Genuine’ male or female. It is also best to leave accessible toilets available for use by people with disabilities, some of whom may have an unpredictable and urgent need to use the toilet. .

We the undersigned urge the Governors of Sheffield City College to cease their redundancy programme, to reject profiteering and campaign with staff unions for public investment in FE that enables long term planning and the provision of a broader menu of further and adult education.

- Education is a human right, not a privilege. - For more than 50 years after WW2 we had free education, so if we could afford it then we can afford now, when this country is in fact wealthier! - When countries like Germany, Brazil, Finland, Venezuela and Ecuador can afford free education, and when Scotland can do likewise, why can't the rest of the UK? - We have the highest tuition fees in Europe, but are also one of the richest countries in the world! This isn't right. - Tuition fees create and uphold social, racial and gender divides, so everyone should have access to free, quality education - Education and training benefit not only students and learners but also our entire society, because better educated and trained citizens can contribute more to our national economy and to the quality of life of all members of our society. - Tuition fee and maintenance loans burden students with years of debt but without significantly reducing the cost to the tax payer of funding higher education. - Tuition fees deter many people from taking full advantage of the long-term benefits of a higher education and/or training - Activists got Germany to abolish tuition fees and we won the fight against the student loan sell off in the UK. These are just two recent examples of how we can and have won what we've demanded. But how have we done this? Through a clear message and constant pressure through marches, direct action, campus mobilisation, opinion pieces and through petitions just like this(!) that show that people in this country don't want tuition fees and believe we can afford free education for all.

As part of Stonewall's 'No Bystanders' campaign, it was revealed to me that 75,000 young people will be bullied every year because they are gay, and of this number, 21,000 will attempt suicide. This figure is unacceptable, and the only way that it can be lowered is through education. As an eighteen year old, soon heading off to University, not once during my school career have I been taught that it is acceptable to be gay, bisexual or transgender - the possibility that myself, or any of my classmates may be LGBT is entirely ignored. It is for this reason that many young people struggle to come to terms with the fact that they are gay, bisexual or transgender, and it is for this reason that young people continue to bully their peers for being LGBT. The physical and psychological wellbeing of young people is of the utmost importance, and the education system has a responsibility to LGBT youths that cannot and must not be ignored.

The tax revenues could be used to make real improvements to state schools.

Some years ago the pavement outside our main entrance on Cliff Villas was widened. this was as a result of our school council writing to the local authority. This resulted in children and parents having more space to get in and out of school safely. This entrance is now much less crowded and dangerous. Unfortunately we do still have a big problem with too many buggies and people at the Nursery and Reception entrance each morning and afternoon. This is because that part of the pavement is still too narrow. It is an ordinary sized pavement with the added difficulty of some very big trees in it. This means that the adults have to move around trees, people and other buggies. as well as coping with the children and families leaving from the main entrance and walking along the street to go home. We are worried that there will be an accident soon with somebody being run over by the wheels of a pushchair or getting pushed onto the road by the crowd and into a car. If the pavement was wider, parents would have space to move around the trees without blocking another parent’s way making it much safer and calmer. If the widened pavement outside our main entrance was extended to the boundary of our school building this whole issue would be resolved. We would also like the council to consider making Cliff Villas a one way road. It would stop arguments between car drivers when they meet each other going the other way and can’t get past - it is currnetly not big enough for cars travelling two abreast. A wider pavement would not then be a problem for car drivers either. We hope the council will think carefully about our idea and can help us make outside our school safer for parents and children and that you will support us in putting pressure on them to do so by signing our petition.

Iqra is 18. She was a full time school pupil yesterday, today she is unemployed. She can't attend college full time because she has high anxiety levels caused by her autism. There are not enough part time specialist places for her to get the same opportunity as her mainstream peers. THE UNKINDEST CUT OF ALL – EIS HIGHLIGHTS SCALE OF COLLEGE ASN CUTS The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country’s largest union for teachers and lecturers, has highlighted the significant impact of long term cuts to Further Education funding on Additional Support Needs (ASN) provision in Scotland’s colleges. The EIS submitted Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to each college in Scotland asking key questions regarding each institution’s ASN provision. The results show a significant decline, nationally, in the level of support available to students with ASN in Scotland’s FE colleges – with significant regional differences in provision. EIS-FELA (Further Education Lecturers’ Association) President John Kelly said, “The results of this national survey of ASN provision in Scotland’s colleges clearly indicate a significant decline in ASN provision for students since the Government began implemented funding cuts for FE colleges four years ago. The evidence from this EIS-FELA survey shows that it is the students who both require and deserve specialist additional support that are suffering the deepest and most damaging consequences of funding cuts. Continued funding cuts have led to a systematic reduction in ASN activity and a reduction in total college capacity to support ASN students – the most vulnerable students in society. The sad truth is that cuts to ASN provision make it far more difficult, if not impossible, for many of these learners to access education at all.” He added, “The Survey also identifies an alarming range in the amount of ASN provision different FE regions provide, which raises serious equality concerns. For example, Dundee College had 699 DPG18 (ASN) students in 2012-13 whilst Aberdeen College had 240, despite being a much larger college. In the same year; West Lothian College, Aberdeen College and Anniesland College all delivered similar amounts of DPG18 ASN activity despite significant differences in their size and geographic footprint. ASN provision is erratic and it would seem purely historical, with no nationwide planning, that the levels of support ASN students receive is dependant mainly on where they live. For Learners with ASN, potentially having to travel to an institution in another part of the country can present a significant barrier to their access to education.” He went on to say, “These are the most vulnerable students in tertiary education and they deserve better. The EIS-FELA survey shows clear trends over the last four years – and starkly identifies the decline in ASN provision within every metric we surveyed – fewer DPG 18 students, fewer ASN courses, fewer qualified staff, fewer rooms and so on. The FE Colleges are now funded as a public sector, with the Scottish Funding Council overseeing regional outcome agreements based on government priorities. ASN provision needs to be restored to 2009-10 levels, and greater consistency of ASN activity delivered across Scotland. The Scottish Government and the SFC will need to ensure that all Regional Outcome Agreements have similar terms.”

Abbey School is a valuable community resource, providing education for children with special educational needs. In 2008 it was rated Outstanding, in 2011 it was rated Good and in 2014 it was rated Inadequate. The school can regain its previous standards with support and encouragement. Closure of the school would represent the loss of a valuable learning establishment, which has become part of our town's social fabric. We call upon Rotherham Council to take appropriate steps to improve the effectiveness of Abbey School and preserve it for the benefit of future Rotherham generations.

Closure Tynyrheol primary school, Llangeinor Bridgend CBC is expecting a shortfall of £50 million in finances, surely it should be looking at cost savings such as bringing good quality brick solid buildings up to standard, especially if they have been modernised with double glazing and full central heating. All that is required is to provide dis-abled persons access which can be easily achieved. If Bridgend CBC would like the option of a new building, even though it will have no money, the building should be located where it is easily accessible to the school children and residents of Llangeinor. To save money Bridgend CBC could employ an overall head teacher based in Betws, Brynmenyn or Bryncethin, which would help with staffing costs.. The objections against the closure of Tynyrheol primary school are as follows:- There is no public transport service between Betws and Llangeinor, and with a shortfall in finances there will be none. There are fourteen pupils at Tynyrheol primary school who receive free school meals. If any of these children have an accident or are taken ill in the new school, it is unlikely that their carer’s could afford the bus fare to go to Bridgend and from Bridgend to Betws to collect their child. Certainly they could not afford a taxi fare to bring the child home. The Highways Department of Bridgend CBC has confirmed that the 1.7 miles distance between the two schools has no safe pedestrian way for the children to walk to school. Therefore it would be necessary for school buses to be provided. At the time when the Council is trying to cut costs by keeping transport costs to a minimum. The LEA representatives state that the education of the children would be improved because of additional provisions at the new school, this is not true. Because children from Llangeinor would need to catch a school bus, they are unlikely to benefit from these facilities. There are approximately forty pupils at Tynyrheol primary school who take advantage of the free breakfast facilities at their present school; these pupils are unlikely to be able to take advantage of any facilities if a new school building was located in Betws because of transport problems. Free breakfast facilities which is a Welsh Assembly initiative, and at Tynyrheol primary school has been proven to be beneficial, not only to the children’s health but the children are more alert during lessons. Tynyrheol primary school at present runs a series of successful after school clubs which are regularly attended by twenty to twenty five children at each session. These children will lose out if they are dependent on a school bus service. Children attending Nursery aged three upwards for two terms during the school year are part time, concerns are raised about safety supervision of these children if there is a school bus service, provided for them, which is additional unnecessary transport costs. These children for two terms during the school year are at the school on a part time basis. Who will ensure the safety and transport of these children back to Llangeinor, if the Council is seeking to cut costs? Bridgend CBC LEA has submitted monetary figures to the Cabinet of Bridgend CBC, and concerns have been raised about the integrity and correctness of these figures. At the moment there is approximately seventy five to eighty pupils at the school.

I am a school governor of a school which is being closed, against the wishes of the community, children of three years of age are expected to get up early, travel in a bus and very possibly go without breakfast. These children will lose all the comradeship attained through living in a close community. The only community shop will close because parents will not be taking the children to school, and will no longer be customers. This is a disaster for a close community.

The Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA) is a fund that covers the additional costs of attending university with a disability. It has enabled many thousands of students in the U.K to access higher education where this otherwise would not have been a possibility. A key part of the allowance goes to providing the assistance of support workers. Support workers see students regularly, depending on the student's needs, and are one of the most important aspects of support for students with disabilities at university. The government are proposing a cut to DSA that would remove the funding for a support worker (for full details of what aspects of DSA are being cut and which are remaining in place please see the link below(2)). According to a 2014 study by Randstad: “More than one in three students with a disability (34%) say they would definitely not have attended university without DSA support, while a further 36% are unsure if they would have originally attended. Less than one in three students with a disability (30%) would still definitely have decided to go to university without the support of the DSA.(1)” I am a support worker myself, and two of the students I support have said that they would not have made it through the first year of University without the support they received. I have seen first-hand what a difference the presence of support workers make to students’ experiences of university. It is in the Government’s interests, also, for the funding for support workers to be in place. In the long term, there is much more money to be saved by enabling a large proportion of people with disabilities to enter into work, and hence less reliant on the welfare system, by providing access to higher education. Disabled students who are granted DSA, assigning them support workers, are much more likely to complete their course and get a higher grade(1). The government are defending their decision to make cuts to DSA based on the fact that Higher Education Institutions would be obliged to fund support workers. Although, in theory, this is a legal requirement on the part of Higher Academic Institutions, this would create a market where admitting students with a disability would cost the university a great deal more than non-disabled students, and would result in some universities not providing the necessary quality or quantity of support. For more information on this issue please visit (1) http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2014/november/fight-dsa-cut and for the original statement from David Willetts see (2) https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/higher-education-student-support-changes-to-disabled-students-allowances-dsa. If you agree that a cut to DSA funding of support workers is unacceptable, please sign this petition. I will be writing to the three Brighton MPs for delivery on the 20th November, asking them to please vote against this decision, so the matter can come up for debate, and hope to have a wealth of signatures to back my request. Many Thanks, Priya.