New Year's Message

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."

It is these words of Yeats that perhaps, for me, sum up the year.

I would like to wish everyone who lives in Greetwell, Grange-de-Lings, Nettleham and Riseholme – the people that I represent on West Lindsey District Council – my best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year.

West Lindsey District Council sadly lost three of its members in 2013.  The Elswitha Report demonstrated how close the authority came to being in very hot water. Nevertheless, swift action by competent officers averted disaster. As a new member of the council I am determined to ensure that lessons are learned and mistakes are not repeated.

In the Nettleham Ward we have had a mixed year. There was bad news for local library users. Good news for Greetwell as new leadership on the parish council brought fresh efforts to bring the community together. And disgruntlement in Riseholme as the University of Lincoln served notice on Bishop Burton College that they would not be renewing the lease creating an uncertain future.

I have had a busy year, my appointment as the Conservative Group's Chief Whip means I have been busy keeping seats filled on committees and on occasion attending committees on which I am not a regular member as a substitute. This is helping me understand more fully how this district council functions.

I was also very proud to be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee. I think that Accountant, Cllr. Mrs. Sue Rawlins and I, with my background in political theory make an excellent and complimentary team heading up this committee. It has been a hard year. The Authority's rating for governance was rated red by our internal auditor and this means we must improve. These things take time, especially as they require cultural change in the attitudes of people. I hope to see some immediate progress on the balance of power between councillors and officers redressed early in the coming year.

One of the highlights of the year was Nettleham's victory, once again, in the Lincolnshire Best Kept Village competition. As a member of Nettleham Parish Council, who enter the village in the competition, and take great pride in ensuring that Nettleham overall is maintained to a high standard, I am pleased that our community's hard-work was recognised.

In May I was very pleased that Conservative County Councillor for the Nettleham & Saxilby Division Cllr. Mrs. Jackie Brockway, was successfully re-elected. In tough conditions Jackie managed to both increase her majority in percentage and numerical terms, which is an impressive achievement.

I have been able throughout the year to support a number of local projects through my Councillor Initiative Fund. I have supplied monies for equipment and repairs for Nettleham Cricket Club, photographic equipment for the children of Nettleham Infants School, funding to support the new Greetwell Get-togethers which are helping to make Greetwell more of a community and assisted in the purchase of a HD projector unit for the clubhouse at Lindum Rugby Club on Lodge Lane.

In April is was really please to join Jackie and a team of local volunteers from Greetwell with a 'Spring Clean' littler pick in North Greetwell along the A158.

I am genuinely distressed that the vacated Linelands site in Nettleham remains boarded up - I pass it almost everyday when walking into the village centre. I had expected to hear that progress was being made in finding a private developer to redevelop the site into a new elderly 'extra care' home. I plan to continue to make representations to the County Council demanding that action is taken to bring the site back into use.

I know that 2014 will have more challenges ahead and action will be needed to solve the issues we face. Nevertheless I feel a renewed sense of optimism is beginning to percolate through our nation and soon, I hope, everyone will begin to feel the benefit.

For each and all I offer my sincere wish for health, prosperity and happiness.

Giles McNeill
Working hard for the Nettleham Ward

Apple for the Teacher

Headteacher Mrs. Nicola Driffield and
Governor Mr. Giles McNeill  with a
MacBook Air and iPad

Teachers and pupils at Nettleham Infants School will be getting to grips with modern technology when the new term begins in September. Classroom teachers and students are being issued with the popular iPad tablet computers, made by Apple.

Teachers will benefit from the iPads ability to help them manage their classrooms more efficiently. Whilst providing a powerful new tool to achieve the outstanding outcomes that every parent wants for their child. Nettleham Infants School’s 4 – 6 year olds will be using the devices in the classroom too. The children will be able to choose and find resources that they need, and share their learning with classmates.

Teachers already working with iPads have noticed how the pupils retain much more information since the devices started to appear in classrooms. Motivation and behaviour are also enhanced.

Giles McNeill, Chairman of the School Governor's Finance, Land and Buildings & Health and Safety Committee, took delivery of the first set of devices today; he said: 

"It is important that we give the children in our school the best possible start we can. Tablet computers are the latest technology and our children will grow up in a world where these devices will continue to be evermore commonplace.

"I believe that this change is positive and very exciting, with a set of iPads in the classroom the teacher becomes a facilitator of learning. Other forms of technology – like the interactive whiteboards, great as they are – leave the technology still in the hands of the teacher and the children as onlookers. The iPad will change that dynamic within the classroom."

In the first instance the iPads will be used by the older children at the school, but consideration is being given to whether similar devices should be roll-out to the reception classes.

Nettleham Infants School Will Become An Academy

The Governing Body of Nettleham Infants School resolved last night to make an application to the Secretary of State for Education to attain Academy status, giving the school greater operational independence.

Despite a small number of comments received questioning the move, during the consultation, Governors resolved unanimously to become an Academy.

Nettleham Parish Council had raised concern that the size of the school was not viable to go alone, recommending consideration of an umbrella, hard federation academy model. This was rejected by Governors owing to the lack of obvious candidates to join in such a model. The School, however, does expect to work with other schools in a soft collaborative approach.

Giles McNeill, a Local Education Authority Governor at the school said:

"This is an excellent  move, it promises a brighter future for parents, staff but most importantly the children at the School. 

"We have had to move on this now, we wanted to move at the time of our choosing, not when we are forced to by the local authority or central government."

A further concern raised by parents was the impact upon pupils feeding into Nettleham C.E. Junior School. However, it was felt that the change to Academy status would have limited impact as the two schools are very different already.

School Governors to Decide on Academy Conversion for Nettleham Infants School

This evening the Governing Body of Nettleham Infant School will meet to decide if converting to Academy Status is the right decision for the school.

Academy status means that a school becomes free of local authority control, receiving funding from the Department for Education. An Academy is a limited company with charitables states, an independent school, underpinned by statute, publically funded and operating outside of the local authority.

As a Foundation School, Nettleham Infant School seems well placed to take advantage and benefit from conversion to Academy Status. There have been a number of objections during the consultation period, most notably from Nettleham Parish Council, these, it is understood, have been few in number and some have even been resolved upon further explanation.

The Governor's at the School have given a clear undertaking that the terms and condidtions of employment would remain the same, that the term times would remain unchanged, and that they currently see no reason to re-brand the school's identity.

The local authority, Lincolnshire County Council, is eager to see all schools in the county convert to Academy status and recommended conversion at the start of the academic year, last September. Cllr. Mrs.  Patricia Bradwell, Conservative (Billinghay and Metheringham Division), speaking at the time, said:

"The council has children’s interests at the heart of this. Any decision about becoming an academy rests with the governing bodies but we want to provide some clear guidance to schools who may be unsure of what to do."

Over four hundred schools in England have become academies since September 2010 with the majority being secondary schools.

Nettleham Parish Councillor Giles McNeill, who is a Governor at the School, thinks it is important for the School to be at the forefront of changes in education. He said:

"The Governor's felt we would reap the benefits by moving quickly on this. We made our initial decision to consult independently of the local authority, we do not envisage being part of the CfBT grouping arrangements. 

"Becoming an academy will potentially give us more financial freedom to look at what we need and meet the needs of our pupils. It gives us the freedom to be in complete control of the future direction of the school so that if we, or parents or staff want changes, we can make them."

Decision Day: Nettleham Infants School Governors to Discuss Academy Status

The Governor's of Nettleham Infants' School, on All Saints Lane, will today consider if they should pursue moving to Academy Status.

An academy is a school that is directly funded by central government (specifically, the Department for Education) and independent of control by local government in England. An academy may receive additional support from personal or corporate sponsors, either financially or in kind. They must meet the National Curriculum core subject requirements and are subject to inspection by Ofsted.

Academies are established in a way that is intended to be 'creative' and 'innovative' in order to give them the freedoms considered necessary to deal with the long-term issues they are intended to solve. 

In terms of their governance, academies are established as companies limited by guarantee with a governing body that acts as a Trust. The governors also act as the Trust's Board of Directors (they are legally, but not financially, accountable for the operation of the academy). The Trust serves as the legal entity which the school is part of, and the governing body oversees the running of the school (although the day to day management of the school is, as in most schools, conducted by the principal and their senior management team, who are appointed by the sponsor).

Should the governing body decide to pursue Academy status then a consultation will begin with parents and the wider, local community to canvass their views. This will finish on Saturday, 21st April 2012.

UPDATE
The consultation will now take place between Tuesday, 17th April and conclude on Friday, 25th May.

Top Marks for Local School Playgrounds



Above: Nettleham Infants School
pupils play in the palyground

The Lincolshire Echo is today reporting that around the county school playgrounds are getting a facelift in a bid to encourage children to do more outdoor exercise. Approximately eoghty primary schools took part in a pilot project funded by Lincolnshire County Council where different activity zones were marked out in paint on playgrounds.

The markings are similar to the traditional painted spirals, hopscotch and other shapes that older generations fondly remember being on school yards, with the addition of number and alphabet grids to help with maths and language skills.


One school that took part in the pilot was Nettleham Infants School. Headteacher Mrs. Nicola Driffill said to the paper:

"After we had the activity markings installed, we were trained on how to use them from the local authority as part of the installation.

"That was really useful because all staff got trained on it.

"But then we took it further because we got training from the outdoor learning scheme about how to use it in other ways and not just for PE

"The old markings were very closed in what you could do. These are much more open-ended, you can use them for lots of different things.

"It makes it much more worthwhile for the kids to think that they can actually make up their own ideas as well. They enjoy that a lot."

The scheme will be rolled out across Lincolnshire as a result of the successful pilot. The drive to make young people more active is in line with new Government guidelines that say 5 to 18-year-olds should get a minimum of one hour of exercise a day.

It is hoped the changes to playground activities will help more children reach this target.

Cllr. Mrs. Patricia Bradwell said: "

The scheme has been recognised nationally for the contribution it makes in reducing childhood obesity through physical activity.

"It's not about forcing children into competitive sport that they don't want to do, but helping them enjoy fun activities with friends and classmates.

"If it encourages more young people to exercise, then it's got to be a good thing."

NHS Lincolnshire has been involved with the scheme and it is hoped there will be long-term health improvements across the county. Mr. John McIvor, Chief Executive of NHS Lincolnshire, said:

"Increasing activities is just one of the ways we are working with partners to reduce obesity levels and improve health."