It is not a safe walking distance for the children. The children have to walk through rival areas which could/would lead to gang fights. There are very busy roads if the children had to walk.

The school has been promised money from both the council and the government again and again and they have still received nothing. Schools in Halifax have great facilities and yet Tod High is consistently ignored. The school has recently received 'Good' from Ofsted and has moved from being in the bottom 5% to the top third of schools in the country in just two years. This year the school is being asked to make £150,000 of cuts - How is this possible?

BREAKING NEWS! The Department for Education have advised that NO application was made by the Council for disposal of school land. The School Assets Team has informed us that they have now written asking for an application to be made. The original planning brief was to upgrade the existing school but now the council has approved plans to demolish it entirely and build offices and shops on a large part of the land. These offices and shops will account for up to 75% of the additional m2 created (compared to 25% additional m2 for the school) and will generate revenue for the council. The Architects Appraisal Panel has strongly advised against this use of the space. The Victorian Society objected, as did Resident Associations and other campaigners spearheaded by Julian Lloyd Webber to have Marlborough listed, but the Council ignored them and granted planning permission anyway. English Heritage, in their report, say that they received representations against listing Marlborough from both the local authority and the planning developers. Julian Lloyd Webber said: "This is dreadful news. It will be a crying shame if this beautiful and historic building is demolished because the listing came too late. Once it's gone it's gone. It is a truly desperate situation and indeed a murky one as far as I'm concerned. When you have a company as big as John Lewis involved who already have a phenomenal amount of power in that area, my suspicions are raised. It shouldn't be about big business which prices everybody but the Russian Oligarchs out of South Kensington. "The plans for the new school are completely out of character for the area. The existing Marlborough school building is beautiful and totally in keeping with the area. And what about the children? For four years, which is one child's whole primary school life, they will have to go to an interim school on the clearings site. This is far from ideal. It is a murky business." James Hughes from the Victorian Society said: "In terms of an official response, I would express our deep disappointment at the outcome of the Committee discussion. The building is handsome, impressive and expresses the pride inherent in a structure that was intended to serve a public good. It has functioned adequately for over 130 years, and could very well continue to do so. The decision is short-sighted and one that in time will be regretted. It is a building which should be used and cherished and this part of London will be architecturally poorer and less interesting for its loss." IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT JOHN LEWIS HAS ALREADY CASHED OUT OF THE CLEARINGS DEVELOPMENT, THIS HAS ALLEGEDLY BEEN BOUGHT BY MIKE ASHLEY. FOR PRESS & BLOG ARTICLES, PLEASE CLICK ON LINKS BELOW: http://www.kcwtoday.co.uk/2015/06/17/local-residents-and-parents-fight-to-save-marlborough-primary-school-building/ http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/petition-halt-demolition-victorian-school-9294290 http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/local-news/victorian-school-demolished-after-john-6333737 http://fromthehornetsnest.blogspot.co.uk/ https://savemarlborough.wordpress.com/

In a society with freedom of or from religion, it is unfair and abhorrent to force religious views onto children and young people-- especially in schools that ostensibly welcome those from every walk of life.

The accommodation charges levied by UK universities on students today are astronomical and out of balance with those charged by the private sector on tenants. Most universities charge thousands of pounds for a single room smaller than the average kitchen. In many cases a student’s accommodation charges exceed their maintenance loan and this is on top of the £9000 a year tuition fees. The price charged for student accommodation is putting an intolerable burden of worry and debt on the student and their families who have, in effect, already paid for the accommodation through their taxes. This is leading to many students being forced to remain at home and attend the local university or not attend university at all, to theirs, and the nations, detriment.

For over forty years thousands of dedicated trade union members have benefited from the educational opportunities provided to them by the Trade Union Studies Unit at Stoke on Trent College. Not only have the courses students have undertaken benefited them personally they have also benefited countless thousands of their colleagues in hundreds of workplaces across North Staffordshire, regardless of whether they are trade union members or not. The training has led to safer workplaces. Where well trained health and safety reps are present accident rates & fatalities at work are considerably lower than in workplaces with no health and safety trade union rep. What could be more important than protecting your health and safety at work? It's not something to take for granted and it requires dedicated well trained volunteers, like trade union reps to make sure that it happens in your workplace! Industrial relations are better & disputes avoided where you again have well trained, confident trade union reps in place able to work directly with employers. This saves millions of pounds every year to our economy by avoiding unnecessary conflict. This couldn't be achieved without reps having access to quality training. As things stand we face the very real prospect of losing a vital local cog not only in adult education but also one that directly benefits the economy of North Staffordshire and plays an indirect part in helping to deliver safer workplaces for us all. Without the Trade Union studies Unit at Stoke College it will be far more difficult for reps, who have your best interest in the workplace at heart, to access training. Reps will have to travel much further afield to gain the skills & knowledge they need which will be a significant barrier to their learning which not only lets them down but also lets their colleagues down. Colleagues no doubt like you. With the imminent closure of the Trade Union Studies Unit at Derby College the area along the A50 corridor from Stoke to Derby and beyond will also have no dedicated facility for the training of trade union reps. Rather than closing the unit at Stoke the college should be actively seeking to secure it's long term future and embracing the opportunity to fill the void which will be left when the unit at Derby closes. Please don't allow the management of Stoke on Trent College to shut what is such a valuable education resource. Without it your life and livelihood could be put at risk.

All main party leaders should acknowledge the reasons for, and make urgent plans to adequately address, the current crisis in the teaching profession so that teachers are allowed more time and freedom to teach our future generations, rather than spending endless hours on pointless paperwork, worry and illness. I have been a primary school teacher for 13 years but now work as a supply teacher only, having left contracted teaching some five years ago due to stress and illness. The education of young people today is being jeopardised by the unmanageable workload now placed on teachers, much of which consists of pointless paper exercises that seem to serve little or no purpose. There is also a genuine fear of the inspection process which stifles the creativity needed for the best teaching and learning to take place. How can a teacher give of their best and inspire young people when they have no life outside of schoolwork? They have nothing new to bring to the classroom and no energy to excite young minds. It is no wonder that so many newly trained teachers leave the profession so soon, nor that so many retire early. Teachers should be allowed autonomy, without having to constantly provide proof of their expertise. Under such circumstances, recruitment and retention of very good teachers should improve dramatically. Surely, the following article in the Independent would have been signed by far more than 1200 teachers, had the opportunity been available. I know that I would have signed it: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/teaching-profession-headed-for-crisis-as-numbers-continue-to-drop-and-working-lives-become-unbearable-10203085.html Sign this petition if you are a teacher and you agree with the contents of the article in the Independent.

Totton College has announced it is stopping A'Levels as of this September, obviously this affects both current students and new intake meaning locals will need to find new courses at either Brockenhurst, Tauntons or similar. This will of course involve an expensive bus fare and also affects staff who face redundancy and questions the future of the college as a whole.

Nurseries who have children with additional needs can apply for funding to provide that child with additional support such as a one-to-one. Funding was applied for in advance of the term so the setting secured finances to employ staff as required. However from the summer term 2015 the panel will not be held until much later in the term, this term it will be June. This puts not only a financial burden on the nursery to provide the support necessary but there is a financial risk as it is not guaranteed that funding will be granted or they might not receive the level of funding applied for. Therefore nurseries might decide they can no longer offer places to children with additional needs. My 4 year old son has Downs Syndrome and has one-to-one Support as he is not verbal and communicates with sign. He also has no concept of danger and will run if he senses freedom so to have that allocated adult to supervise him is essential. However his nursery is a charity and doesn't really have the spare funds or profit to employ staff for most of a term and the financial risk of having children with additional needs must be a factor for their future. We have friends who have children with additional needs who had issues with the level of support their child has as the nursery have not been able to secure the full level of funding. If nurseries feel unable to offer places to children with additional needs then they miss out on valuable experiences and friendships with their peers and preparation for transition into school. Children in the nursery miss out on the joy of interacting with diverse abilities and experiences. Parents of children with additional needs miss out on important down time to recharge and get things done. The only benefit is keeping money in the council coffers for a few months. At what cost I ask! Please take the time to sign so all children can access nursery in Norfolk.

Both my sons went to Castle Nursery School a few years ago and I can't tell you how amazing this nursery is, they gave my boys the very best start to their school lives and Ofsted rate them as 'outstanding' too. Our children deserve the best as they only get one chance. Every parent should have the choice to send their children to and outstanding provider if they wish. But not only this Castle Nursery is also in the Arboretum Ward which is the most disadvantaged area in Derby and currently does not have enough childcare places for the children living in the ward. Derby City Council should be making residents aware that they can access this oustanding nursery not taking it away just because families don't know about the nursery or don't know they are entitled to 15hrs free childcare. Please help me make Derby City Council accountable for their decisions and make it known that we are not going to let them take away yet another invaluable provision just because they have mismanaged their budget. Thank you

Assessing value for money in sixth-form education, a recent report published found that academies are able to spend an average of £1,598 more per sixth-form student than sixth-form colleges. The report gives two explanations for this. The government provides funding to academies to meet their VAT, insurance and capital costs in full. Sixth-form colleges, on the other hand, must redirect funding away from frontline education to meet these costs: the average sixth-form colleges pays £335,000 per year in VAT alone.

Making sign language part of every child's experience will help to reduce the exclusion of deaf and speech impaired children and adults, but the benefits will be to all children e.g. on brain development, vocabulary, empathy and expressiveness and to society generally e.g. more inclusion, increased understanding between deaf and hearing communities and individuals.