Ixworth Church of England VC Primary SchoolNewsletter Number 2Dear Parents/Carers,

Thank you for the warm welcome we have received since the start of term. We are getting to recognise faces and matching children to parents but please bear with us while we try to get up to speed putting names to faces; there are quite a few to recall! It was great to see some of you at our Parent Briefing on Monday when we shared the key priorities for improvement. Thank you for working with you to support the school moving forwards. A copy of the presentation can be found on the school website.

TwitterThis week, we have noticed many positive things happening in and around the school, as parents we both appreciate that you don’t also get to see or hear about these. I am sure many of you have asked your children ”What did you do at school today? “to hear the reply “Nothing!”. Well obviously this isn’t the case so from next week we will start tweeting to give you an insight into a day at Ixworth Primary. We hope you will follow us @ixprimary and please tweet us too!

School Improvement NewsThis week we have had visits from external consultants to support us in two of our key areas. Clare Lamb (a National Leader of Education) has been in working with Mr Shepherd on our Special Educational Needs priorities. She was pleased with the procedures that have been put in place. Clare will continue to visit school regularly to support Mr Shepherd in monitoring the impact of the changes. Bev Clark from the Local Authority is supporting the school with safeguarding.Mr McArthur has been out of school training with the other Maths Leads from the Thurston Partnership Schools bringing best practice back into school. Dawn Carman-Jones and Mrs Clark have carried out learning walks across the whole school. This is a way of monitoring the quality of teaching and learning. Please remember to keep your eye out for Memory Joggers with key dates and reminders. Important changes to Secondary Education TransportMany of you maybe aware of the proposed changes to the Suffolk Schools’ Transport Agreements from 2019. Currently children’s transport to school is funded by Suffolk but from 2019 the transport will only be free when the child is attending their nearest catchment school. This affects many of the families attending Ixworth Primary. Helen Wilson Principal at Thurston Community College has written a letter regarding this which is attached below and invites you to attend the planned meeting.

Best wishes,Andrew Berry and Louise Clark13 13 September 2017

Dear Parent/Carer,

Home to School Transport: Letter 2

You may have heard in the press that the Cabinet of Suffolk County Council County voted unanimously at their meeting yesterday to proceed to a public consultation about their proposed changes to Home to School Transport for Suffolk children.

Two changes which may directly affect your family are:

1. Free travel for 11-16 year olds would no longer be provided, where a student is not attending their nearest school.

2. Subsidised travel for 16-18 year olds would no longer be provided.

If, after the consultation, the decision was made to adopt the proposal, it would be implemented for all students across Suffolk with effect from September 2019.

I attended the meeting and was hugely disappointed with the decision. However, it was clear from listening to the 90 minute debate that Councillors acknowledge that this is not a straightforward issue. I would like to sincerely thank those of you who contacted your Councillor in advance of the meeting. Six of the seven Councillors who lead each of the divisions within our catchment area were present or had statements read out during the meeting. It was abundantly clear that they had each been inundated by correspondence from Thurston Community College parents/carers and they communicated your concerns to the Cabinet with genuine conviction.

The public consultation will begin on 2 October and end on 22 December 2017. During the consultation period we will continue to make our views known and hopefully develop alternative solutions to address the overspend in the County Council’s Transport budget. The outcome of the consultation will be reported back to Cabinet to determine on 20 March 2018.

Although there is no process for formally expressing views until the consultation opens on 2 October, I would like to hold a meeting for parents/carers to discuss the way forward and to organise a robust and thorough response.

The date for the first meeting will be Wednesday 20 September, starting at 7:00pm at Thurston Community College. If you would be willing to share some responsibility for the work of this group, please contact me in advance of the meeting so we can discuss possible ways in which to best use the meeting time.

Once again, I would like to thank you for your tremendous support. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this proposed change in policy is ill thought through and discriminatory and, if implemented, it will undoubtedly have a disproportionate effect on children living in rural parts of Suffolk who will no longer have the option of free travel to their catchment school.

I have today met with Council Officers and will be doing my utmost to work with them to devise some alternative solutions to save money from the Home to School Transport budget. At the meeting they provided me with their definitive list of villages in the Thurston Community College catchment area whose nearest school is not Thurston Community College. I have amended my original list accordingly (see attached document).

I would like to reassure you that Thurston Community College will continue to argue vigorously that these transport policy proposals should not be implemented.

Yours faithfully,

Helen WilsonPrincipal

Suffolk County Council’s List of Villages in the Thurston Community College Catchment Area whose Nearest School is not Thurston Community College

Ixworth Free School

Stowmarket High School

Stowupland High School

King Edward

VI School

Sybil Andrews Academy

Thetford Academy

Badwell Ash Brettenham Elmswell (80%)[20% TCC]

Culford East Barton Barnham

Badwell Green Gedding (40%)[60% TCC]

Ingham Great Barton (80%)[20% TCC]

Euston

Bardwell Rattlesden Little Livermere

Rushbrooke (50%)[50% TCC]

Fakenham Magna (30%)[70% Ixworth Free School]

Barningham Woolpit (30%)[70% TCC]

Timworth

Coney Weston

Fakenham Magna (70%)[30% Thetford Academy]

Great Ashfield

Great Livermere

Great Queach

Hepworth

Honington

Hopton

Hunston

Ixworth

Ixworth Thorpe

Knettishall

Langham

Livermere Heath

Long Thurlow

Market Weston

Pakenham (20%)[80% TCC]

Rushford

Rymer Point

Sapiston

Stanton

Stowlangtoft

Thelnetham

Troston

Walsham-le-Willows

Wattisfield

Changes from my original list:

1. Children living in Felsham will qualify for free transport to Thurston Community College.

2. Children living in in Barnham, Euston and part of Fakenham Magna (30%) will qualify for free transport to Thetford Academy rather than Ixworth Free School. I had (wrongly) assumed that the Suffolk Home to School Transport provision would not include free transport to schools in Norfolk.

3. In cases where some children living in a village will be eligible for free transport to one (nearest) school, whilst others will qualify for free travel to a different (nearest) school, Council Officers have confirmed the relative percentages of the village entitled to free transport to each school. September 2017

Dear Parent13 September 2017Dear Parent/Carer,Home to School Transport: Letter 2You may have heard in the press that the Cabinet of Suffolk County Council County voted unanimously at their meeting yesterday to proceed to a public consultation about their proposed changes to Home to School Transport for Suffolk children.Two changes which may directly affect your family are:1. Free travel for 11-16 year olds would no longer be provided, where a student is not attending their nearest school.2. Subsidised travel for 16-18 year olds would no longer be provided.

If, after the consultation, the decision was made to adopt the proposal, it would be implemented for all students across Suffolk with effect from September 2019.I attended the meeting and was hugely disappointed with the decision. However, it was clear from listening to the 90 minute debate that Councillors acknowledge that this is not a straightforward issue. I would like to sincerely thank those of you who contacted your Councillor in advance of the meeting. Six of the seven Councillors wholead each of the divisions within our catchment area were present or had statements read out during the meeting. It was abundantly clear that they had each been inundated by correspondence from Thurston Community College parents/carers and they communicated your concerns to the Cabinet with genuine conviction.The public consultation will begin on 2 October and end on 22 December 2017. During the consultation period we will continue to make our views known and hopefully develop alternative solutions to address the overspend in the County Council’s Transport budget. The outcome of the consultation will be reported back to Cabinet to determine on 20 March 2018.Although there is no process for formally expressing views until the consultation openson 2 October, I would like to hold a meeting for parents/carers to discuss the way forward and to organise a robust and thorough response. The date for the first meeting will be Wednesday 20 September, starting at 7:00pm at Thurston Community College. If you would be willing to share some responsibility for the work of this group, please contact me in advance of the meeting so we can discuss possible ways in which to best use the meeting time.Once again, I would like to thank you for your tremendous support. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this proposed change in policy is ill thought through and discriminatory and, if implemented, it will undoubtedly have a disproportionate effect on children living in rural parts of Suffolk who will no longer have the option of free travel to their catchment school.I have today met with Council Officers and will be doing my utmost to work with them to devise some alternative solutions to save money from the Home to School Transportbudget. At the meeting they provided me with their definitive list of villages in the Thurston Community College catchment area whose nearest school is not Thurston

Community College. I have amended my original list accordingly (see attached document).I would like to reassure you that Thurston Community College will continue to argue vigorously that these transport policy proposals should not be implemented. Yours faithfully,Helen WilsonPrincipal

/Carer,Home to School Transport: Letter 2You may have heard in the press that the Cabinet of Suffolk County Council County voted unanimously at their meeting yesterday to proceed to a public consultation about their proposed changes to Home to School Transport for Suffolk children.Two changes which may directly affect your family are:1. Free travel for 11-16 year olds would no longer be provided, where a student is not attending their nearest school.2. Subsidised travel for 16-18 year olds would no longer be provided.If, after the consultation, the decision was made to adopt the proposal, it would be implemented for all students across Suffolk with effect from September 2019.I attended the meeting and was hugely disappointed with the decision. However, it was clear from listening to the 90 minute debate that Councillors acknowledge that this is not a straightforward issue. I would like to sincerely thank those of you who contacted your Councillor in advance of the meeting. Six of the seven Councillors wholead each of the divisions within our catchment area were present or had statements read out during the meeting. It was abundantly clear that they had each been inundated by correspondence from Thurston Community College parents/carers and they communicated your concerns to the Cabinet with genuine conviction.The public consultation will begin on 2 October and end on 22 December 2017. During the consultation period we will continue to make our views known and hopefully develop alternative solutions to address the overspend in the County Council’s Transport budget. The outcome of the consultation will be reported back to Cabinet to determine on 20 March 2018.Although there is no process for formally expressing views until the consultation openson 2 October, I would like to hold a meeting for parents/carers to discuss the way forward and to organise a robust and thorough response. The date for the first meeting will be Wednesday 20 September, starting at 7:00pm at Thurston Community College. If you would be willing to share some responsibility for the work of this group, please contact me in advance of the meeting so we can discuss possible ways in which to best use the meeting time.Once again, I would like to thank you for your tremendous support. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this proposed change in policy is ill thought through and discriminatory and, if implemented, it will undoubtedly have a disproportionate effect on children living in rural parts of Suffolk who will no longer have the option of free travel to their catchment school.I have today met with Council Officers and will be doing my utmost to work with them to devise some alternative solutions to save money from the Home to School Transportbudget. At the meeting they provided me with their definitive list of villages in the Thurston Community College catchment area whose nearest school is

not Thurston

Community College. I have amended my original list accordingly (see attached document).I would like to reassure you that Thurston Community College will continue to argue vigorously that these transport policy proposals should not be implemented. Yours faithfully,Helen WilsonPrincipal