Just spent an interesting morning chatting to Rob White about the campaign to prevent Maiden Erlegh from changing the catchment area for Maiden Erlegh.
While we were talking I received an email which confirmed that Wokingham have finally published the consultation.
It can be found here
Please read it as soon as poss and comment to Wokingham by the 31st October.
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Maiden Erlegh Update
I have just sent this email to all those who responded to the Maiden Erlegh petition. Incase I have missed your email. I publish it here for your information
Maiden Erlegh Catchment Area Update 1
Dear Neighbour
The campaign to force Wokingham Borough Council not to change the catchment area of Maiden Erlegh school is starting to gain momentum.
Over the weekend about 90% of all the houses in the area have been leafleted, with the balance being completed by Wednesday.Over the weekend I worked with Labour colleagues to knock on approximately 60% of all the doors in the area to ask residents to sign the petition. You will be pleased to hear that the majority of the people we spoke to wanted to sign the petition.
In an interview on BBC Berkshire a Wokingham Officer commented that the proposal was not a "done deal" so it is very important that we bring as much pressure to bear as possible. I am pleased that the local councillors have joined us in the fight and I look forward to them bringing Reading Borough Council on board.
What is Planned
I have been talking to officers in Wokingham and Reading. Wokingham’s plan seems to be as follows:
1. Reading children to be excluded from Maiden Erlegh from Sept.2012
2. There will be protection for siblings allowing them to follow their brother or sister to Maiden Erlegh
3. The exclusion will affect all children, including those that attend Earley St Peters
4. They propose Bulmershe as the Secondary School for all East Reading children
5. Their consultation will take place in Sept-Nov and the final decision being made in April 2011
Consultation
This should be available on the Wokingham website from Tuesday or Wednesday. It will be found at http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/council/consultations/current-consultations/ please read it as soon as possible.
Consultation Meetings
It appears that Wokingham are planning to have 2 consultation meetings ; one on the 29th Sept and another on the 6th Oct. The location has yet to be agreed.
Writing Letters
We need as many people as possible to write to Wokingham Borough Council with their objections. Letters should be written to:Schools Admissions Consultation, Wokingham Education Dept. Education & Cultural Services, Wokingham District Council, PO Box 156, Shute End, Wokingham RG40 1WN Tel: 0118 974 6000 Fax: 0118 974 6103
I would be grateful if you could copy me on your letter so that we can judge the level of letter writing.
Petition
Please forward this mail to your neighbours so that they can sign the petition if they haven’t been able to do this yet.
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38683.html
Volunteers
Thank you to all those who have volunteered so far if you would like to help and deliver leaflets etc, please come back to me.
Thank You
Thank you for your support so far, we will only win if as many people as possible make their feelings known and please feel free to forward this mail on to your neighbours and friends.
Best Regards
Richard McKenzie
Maiden Erlegh Catchment Area Update 1
Dear Neighbour
The campaign to force Wokingham Borough Council not to change the catchment area of Maiden Erlegh school is starting to gain momentum.
Over the weekend about 90% of all the houses in the area have been leafleted, with the balance being completed by Wednesday.Over the weekend I worked with Labour colleagues to knock on approximately 60% of all the doors in the area to ask residents to sign the petition. You will be pleased to hear that the majority of the people we spoke to wanted to sign the petition.
In an interview on BBC Berkshire a Wokingham Officer commented that the proposal was not a "done deal" so it is very important that we bring as much pressure to bear as possible. I am pleased that the local councillors have joined us in the fight and I look forward to them bringing Reading Borough Council on board.
What is Planned
I have been talking to officers in Wokingham and Reading. Wokingham’s plan seems to be as follows:
1. Reading children to be excluded from Maiden Erlegh from Sept.2012
2. There will be protection for siblings allowing them to follow their brother or sister to Maiden Erlegh
3. The exclusion will affect all children, including those that attend Earley St Peters
4. They propose Bulmershe as the Secondary School for all East Reading children
5. Their consultation will take place in Sept-Nov and the final decision being made in April 2011
Consultation
This should be available on the Wokingham website from Tuesday or Wednesday. It will be found at http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/council/consultations/current-consultations/ please read it as soon as possible.
Consultation Meetings
It appears that Wokingham are planning to have 2 consultation meetings ; one on the 29th Sept and another on the 6th Oct. The location has yet to be agreed.
Writing Letters
We need as many people as possible to write to Wokingham Borough Council with their objections. Letters should be written to:Schools Admissions Consultation, Wokingham Education Dept. Education & Cultural Services, Wokingham District Council, PO Box 156, Shute End, Wokingham RG40 1WN Tel: 0118 974 6000 Fax: 0118 974 6103
I would be grateful if you could copy me on your letter so that we can judge the level of letter writing.
Petition
Please forward this mail to your neighbours so that they can sign the petition if they haven’t been able to do this yet.
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38683.html
Volunteers
Thank you to all those who have volunteered so far if you would like to help and deliver leaflets etc, please come back to me.
Thank You
Thank you for your support so far, we will only win if as many people as possible make their feelings known and please feel free to forward this mail on to your neighbours and friends.
Best Regards
Richard McKenzie
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Maiden Erlegh Petition - The Star Campaigner
The Maiden Erlegh campaign is starting to get in to its stride now, I, with 2 other Park Ward residents, was interviewed on BBC Berkshire and 107FM also interviewed me this week.
We are getting round the area with a leaflet which explains the situation and asks residents to sign the petition against the change of catchment boundaries. If you haven't had a moment to sign yet the link is here.
Many Labour Party members have been out knocking on residents' doors asking the neighbourhood to get behind this campaign and I am pleased to say we are getting very very good support.
The star campaigner is my daughter, Isabelle, who on Friday leafleted a huge area, in fact if you have had a leaflet it is probably her who delivered it. She did about 10 roads without complaining. She did so well that I took her to the pictures as a reward.
Andrew Peach and I discussed the issue on his show on Friday on BBC Berkshire and you can listen to his show here I am on at about 3.32, if you listen all the way through you will also hear the views of 2 residents and a spokesman from Wokingham. She is on at 1.07.
The Wokingham Spokeswoman, gives me the impression that the Borough has made up their mind, however, significantly she does say that the decision is not set in stone and we as residents and parents of children living in the APS area need to get together to make her change her mind.
So the campaign continues, the consultation is going to be issued on Monday and we all need to read it, understand the full implications of what is being considered and ight hard to make Wokingham change its mind.
We are getting round the area with a leaflet which explains the situation and asks residents to sign the petition against the change of catchment boundaries. If you haven't had a moment to sign yet the link is here.
Many Labour Party members have been out knocking on residents' doors asking the neighbourhood to get behind this campaign and I am pleased to say we are getting very very good support.
The star campaigner is my daughter, Isabelle, who on Friday leafleted a huge area, in fact if you have had a leaflet it is probably her who delivered it. She did about 10 roads without complaining. She did so well that I took her to the pictures as a reward.
Andrew Peach and I discussed the issue on his show on Friday on BBC Berkshire and you can listen to his show here I am on at about 3.32, if you listen all the way through you will also hear the views of 2 residents and a spokesman from Wokingham. She is on at 1.07.
The Wokingham Spokeswoman, gives me the impression that the Borough has made up their mind, however, significantly she does say that the decision is not set in stone and we as residents and parents of children living in the APS area need to get together to make her change her mind.
So the campaign continues, the consultation is going to be issued on Monday and we all need to read it, understand the full implications of what is being considered and ight hard to make Wokingham change its mind.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Hands Off The Maiden Erlegh Catchment Area
Wokingham Borough Council has really gone and done it now, it has decided to change the catchment area for Maiden Erlegh School to exclude children attending Alfred Sutton Primary School from September 2012.
Under this proposal all children who are currently in Year 5 and below would be excluded and have to attend another secondary school, despite the fact that Maiden Erlegh has been the traditional secondary school attended by Alfred Sutton Primary School for more than 20 years.
Wokingham have decided to open a consultation on the 6th September and hold a public meeting at the end of September or the beginning of October. They will put their full proposals up on their website http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/ on the 6th. It is vital that parents, grandparents and residents living in Park make their voice heard. Wokingham has made a number of attempts over the last 10 years to exclude Alfred Sutton Parents from Maiden Erlegh and a concerted campaign has always made them back down.
What can you do.
1. Sign our petition. We have put up an e-petition on line which you can access by clicking here
2. Write to the Wokingham Education Dept. Education & Cultural Services, Wokingham District Council, PO Box 156, Shute End, Wokingham RG40 1WN Tel: 0118 974 6000 Fax: 0118 974 6103. Write expressing your concern and demanding that Alfred Sutton School children remain within the catchment area.
I have contacted Wokingham already to ask them to reconsider and will be writing to them shortly. We have got good coverage to the story and I hope that we can get a good head of steam in the campaign and get them to change their minds.
Please support us and support Park's children by signing our petition and writing to Wokingham. When we have more information I will post it here.
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