This is important because hearing impaired children deserve this. If children learn this it will give them the necessary life skills. Children will also learn how to communicate with children, who have disabilities.

We teach our children, both at home and at school, to act against things which are wrong and damaging. SATs are wrong and damaging. Our children are More Than A Score. Previous campaigns have resulted in the Government announcing that from 2020, children entering school will not complete Yr 2 SATs. We think it is time for Yr6 SATs to go as well! To download letters to send to North Tyneside Education Authority, your local MP and to your child's head, click below. There is also a letter to school governors to show support for your school and explaining why you need them to support this campaign. PLEASE DO SEND LETTERS! We need as many as possible to go! Remember you do NOT have to be a parent to have concerns - teachers/grandparents/concerned citizens - adapt and send letters too! https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/year-6-sats/ We are aware of the constantly growing discussion surrounding the many issues linked to SATs: • Mental health – of both students and staff due to unnecessary pressure. • A restricted curriculum which limits learning and wider knowledge and understanding, focussing disproportionately on Maths and English. • Outdoor break time and some practical lessons become lost due to extra English and Maths preparation. • Most secondary schools re-test in Yr7 due to the inaccurate and over-inflated nature of many KS2 results. • Secondary teachers tell us that many children now reach secondary school ill-equipped in terms of the necessary skills required. This is due to a lack of real embedded learning and age inappropriate subject content. • Secondary school student targets frequently are based upon KS2 SATs results and the expected progress made. They do not take into account the many other factors involved. All subject areas have targets based on results in English and Maths in Yr 6. This is ridiculous. • Schools’ Progress 8 targets are set based on frequently inflated SATs results due to cramming – as a result these targets are unrealistic and practically impossible to meet in many cases. • Ofsted, many teaching unions, heads, teachers and politicians have expressed deep concerns about the current system and have recommended a complete overhaul. This has been reinforced by Education Select Committees and numerous pieces of research and is reflected in the new proposed Ofsted framework. On the basis of the above, we ask: Are SATs the best thing for our children? Do SATs benefit our children in any way, or is this merely a data collection exercise on behalf of the government which can potentially damage our children's education in the future? If so, are we doing the right thing by making our children sit the SATs? We believe that SATs are NOT the best thing for our children OR the education system and feel strongly that we should be working together as parents and teachers ( from primary, middle and secondary schools) and with support from the local authority to forge an alternative. Particularly within our local authority, where middle schools are common, it seems a largely pointless exercise for students to be judged at the end of Yr6 when they still have two more years to complete in the same school; such a data target would not be beneficial to setting or provide any additional information to teachers who already know that child and their abilities well. It would benefit the child in no way. Our response to SATs is not in any way a reflection on our children’s schools, which we feel to be doing a fantastic job, and we fully support the headteachers and staff. This is a response to a broken and damaging system which we feel strongly is failing both the children and the staff who struggle within it. As a local authority, whose role it is to oversee and support our education system, we feel that you have an important part to play in recognising the inadequacies within the system and a responsibility to help address these whilst supporting the heads, teachers and children they affect. To fail to act against a broken system is to be complicit in the damage inflicted. SATs do NOT work and they need to GO. Please take action! Download letters now (below) to send to North Tyneside Education Authority and to your child's headteacher to share your concerns. Letters - https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/year-6-sats/ For more info, please contact us at [email protected] https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/year-6-sats/ https://www.morethanascore.org.uk/what-we-do/sats/ https://reclaimingschools.org/2018/03/18/protecting-children-from-primary-school-tests/?fbclid=IwAR07H8OuCMiIoh8Hxua-mH8Tt03AOj43jXQ-yUm-TK9-otGTduLy2Bw4Sas

It is grossly unfair of Bangor University to attack the pensions of their lowest paid staff, particularly as their scheme - BUPAS - is running at a surplus. University support staff are the lowest paid in their sector. They provide services such as cleaning, security, maintenance and catering - low paid work which is vital for the smooth running of Bangor University. Their academic colleagues took action to protect their pensions - and successfully fought off the attacks. All Bangor University staff deserve a fair pension which gives them dignity in retirement, not pension poverty.

'Stay & Play' is a free service open to all families and children local to Franciscan Children's Centre. It provides the opportunity for children to access indoor and outdoor space where they can engage in child lead play and develop, learn, play, sing, enjoy messy play and integrate into their community. It also provides a support network for parents where their children can play with their peers, meet other parents, talk to professionals and ask advice. Many parents feel isolated in London and 'Stay & Play' at Franciscan Children's Centre is a unique service which encourages families to come together, talk, ask questions in a relaxed, fun and non intrusive environment. I have accessed stay & play at Franciscan Road for both my children and watched them grow, learn and gain the confidence and independence to explore and understand their community. Many families who currently access this service do not have alternative options for their children to play locally. The parents who go to stay & play are from a diverse background and this is a non means tested service that allows children and families to play and have fun in a relaxing environment without feeling stigmatised. Many of the play groups within the area around Franciscan Road are already full and therefore difficult to access. There are a vast number of families in this area who need this service including single parents, parents with health problems, families who are struggling economically and cannot afford private play groups, families who have recently moved to the UK who do not speak English, parents who are seeking guidance and help in raising their children and parents simply seeking a fun and friendly environment for their children to play. The importance of this service cannot be underestimated, this kind of support is not available at other play groups or sing along sessions. By discontinuing stay & play at Franciscan Children's Centre, Wandsworth Council is withdrawing vital 'Early Years' support to huge number of parents and children who currently rely on this service. We urge the Council to continue providing stay and play as an integral part of the services at Franciscan Children's Centre.

When Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) - a private healthcare company making profits from the NHS - collapsed, staff were left without the wages they were owed. HES were the private company that made a fortune out of the NHS before collapsing in scandal over their failure to dispose of hazardous waste that is now piled high in warehouses across the UK. Now these failures are forcing former staff to foodbanks. The Scottish Government can end this by stepping in to make sure the staff get paid. Despite the company’s collapse, NHS boards have continued to pay HES Ltd despite wages being withheld from staff. Continuing to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to HES Ltd in December and January whilst workers were denied their wages makes a mockery of the NHS. We are only asking for what we are rightfully owed. We need the Cabinet Secretary to end this injustice.

Since the Federation of the two schools in 2015, Ilfracombe Infants has seen a steady decline in standards resulting in an Ofsted which has gone from Outstanding to requires improvement across every category. As an incredibly large Infants School with a wide diversity of pupils we have suffered from having to share a Headteacher with another school which is a 40 minute drive away. We also do not believe that the current management ethos matches the needs of our pupils and we would like to see a return to community based learning values which are nurturing, creative and fun.

Many dog owners are unable to let their dogs off lead, a good example is my Labrador who is not yet great at recall. An enclosed space would allow for more exercise without the worry of them running off, eating things they shouldn't, getting injured/lost, as well as not bothering other park users such as fishermen or people who may have dog phobias. We have some great open spaces in the local area but few that provide this. The picture above shows two possible sites, though only suggestions!

Merseyside Police have been ravaged by Government austerity. However, Newton-le-Willows deserves it’s fair share of the remaining resource. However, the Borough of St. Helens now has the fewest opening hours for enquiry desks across Merseyside. Southport Police Station: 93 hours Bootle Police Station: 84 hours a week. (Despite being so close to Liverpool City Centre) Sefton therefore has a total of 177 open hours. Bootle still has a magistrates court. Wallasey Police Station: 20 hours Birkenhead Police Station: 93 hours The Wirral total: 113 hours per week open. The Wirral still has a magistrates court. St Anne St: 93 hours Admiral Street: 84 hours Walton Lane: 84 hours Liverpool Total: 261 hours per week open. Liverpool still has a magistrates and crown court. Huyton Police Station: 93 hours Kirkby Police Station: 16 hours Speke Police Station: 16 hours Knowsley therefore has a total 125 hours a week in total. St Helens Police Station: 93 hours per week Newton-le-Willows Police Station: 7 hours per week Our borough therefore has 100 hours per week in total. Therefore, our borough has the fewest open hours out of all of Merseyside. We have 77 fewer open hours than Sefton. And 13 less than Knowsley, which has a smaller population than our borough over 3 Police Stations. St Helens North has been unfairly treated.

Chris Grayling isn’t fit to do his job, he has awarded a £14m contract to Seaborne Freight, a company with no ferries and no cash, without due diligence. He has overstepped the mark and stopped Thanet District Councils democratic budget setting meeting. He needs to go!

Sir Christopher Chope has repeatedly blocked legislation intended to protect the lives and rights of young women. Today, he killed legislation intended to protect young women at risk of female genital mutilation. He does not represent British society and should not be entitled to influence British politics.

This practice endangers the safety of firefighters and the public of Derbyshire alike. It puts an immense amount of moral pressure on firefighters and junior officers to act in an unsafe manner using unsafe practices that will put our members and the public at risk. We have had decades of experience and training for riding with at least four crew members and it is incomprehensible to believe that these methods that have been instilled for years can just be switched off overnight. Firefighters will act, and forcing our members to take these risks is unacceptable. The actual effect is minimal. There has only been approx. 60 calls per year that this could impact. That is barely 2 per RDS unit a year! It will not improve the retention or recruitment of on call firefighters due to the fundamental issues still going unchanged. Those being the low remuneration, migration opportunities and the failure to recruit in sufficient numbers with effective means. The project was supposed to improve reward, retention and motivation for on call firefighters, it will none of these. The Fire Brigades Union has consistently made its case throughout the project meetings to managers, but to date without any realisation. This project is led by a simple notion that because other services do it, we should. This is a weak planning method and does not put Derbyshire at the forefront of firefighter safety. Like the introduction of small appliances, Derbyshire made bold and solid decisions to remove them and The Fire Brigades Union applauds our service for this. In a different set of circumstances, there could have been a firefighter fatality, or serious injury. The introduction of riding with three crew members is no different!

Following storm damage in 2014, Network Rail are currently working on a resilience programme to upgrade the London to Penzance railway between Exeter and Newton Abbot. In 2018 they hosted public forums and presented plans to build a new line 30 -40 metres out to sea at Holcombe - a scheme which would have annihilated the beach. In November last year they then announced that revised plans were now being considered. Subsequent Freedom of Information requests for details have been denied, "in the public interest". In February 2019, Network Rail advised that their current proposal between Parson's Tunnel and Teignmouth is, "to deliver a new railway alignment involving a new sea wall beyond the footprint of the existing." Holcombe Beach, with it's open sea aspect framed by the towering red Devon cliffs, is possibly the most visually outstanding part of any journey on the iconic train route, and has been a cherished destination for both local's and visitors for many generations. Whilst it is agreed that the railway must be maintained and updated, we enjoin that this must not be to the detriment of a special and unique location. Network Rail must use their best endeavours to ensure that any development they undertake specifically maintains or enhances the visual and environmental merits of Holcombe Beach. Appropriate independent cost benefit analysis should be included in order that the opportunity cost of particular actions can be evaluated.