Youth Parliament debates school measures to help save the environment

PUPILS from schools across West Somerset have formed their own Youth Parliament to encourage the district council to be more involved in the activities of local youngsters.
The ‘Parliament’ met in the council chamber at the authority’s new offices in Williton and issues surrounding the environment proved to the main topics up for discussion.
The youngsters were welcomed by council chairman Councillor Eddie May before other councillors gave them a tour of the new offices to show them the building’s carbon-reducing and environmentally-friendly features.
The students made presentations to their fellow pupils and to councillors to explain what they were doing in their schools to help the environment, as well as their future plans.
Projects already running included the West Somerset Community College, Minehead, funding schoolchildren in Uganda to fence off an area of their school to grow tea.
The tea is then sent to DJ Miles and Co, in Minehead, which packages it for the college students to sell as Free Trade tea at the college.
Funds raised are returned to Uganda to enable the African students to build new facilities at their school.
Minehead Middle School had been clearing soft wood trees to improve a local habitat for wildlife, while Knights Templar School, in Watchet, had its own vegetable patch.
Danesfield School, Williton, had paper recycling bins, composting facilities, low energy light bulb,s and a school woodland, while Dunster First School recycled its paper and had made a number of bird feeders, helping it to receive an EcoSchool Bronze Award in 2008.
For the future, community college students were to investigate how they could recycle plastic bottles, while St Peter’s First School, Williton, was going to carry out a lunch box survey to find out how healthy the contents were, and then produce a leaflet to provide recycling and food ideas for lunch boxes.
Minehead Middle School was looking at improving its composting site, planting trees in the school grounds, and keeping chickens to help students to learn how to look after animals.
Knights Templar wanted to use rainwater to flush toilets, put up signs to ask students to turn off taps, and to increase the amount it recycled.
Dulverton Middle School was going to refurbish its pond and make it deeper to take fish, while Danesfield School wanted to achieve its EcoSchool Bronze Award, and Old Cleeve School was interested in holding a Fair Trade tasting event and encouraging pupils to use Fair Trade products.
Minehead First School was also organising a healthy eating day on April 1, with smoothies, dips, and soups, and promoting waste-free lunch boxes, while Dunster First School was delivering a campaign to encourage students to walk to school and their parents to car share on the school run.
Ecoschool status was high on the schools’ agenda.
Porlock First School already had its silver award, and other schools were working toward their silver and bronze awards.
They unanimously agreed that every school in West Somerset should aim to achieve a minimum of bronze award before the next ‘Parliament’ session.
Councillor May said: “The pupils were a real inspiration.
“The environmental future of the planet is in their hands and they are taking the matter seriously.
“They are very well-informed, and I think it is fair to say that we learned a lot from them on the day.
“Their knowledge and enthusiasm is very impressive, and they are a real credit to their schools.”

• Our photograph shows Councillor Eddie May with some of the youngsters who attended the Youth Parliament. Photo submitted.

School placed in 'special measures' for failing Ofsted inspection

SHOCKED parents and community leaders in Watchet were today coming to terms with news that the town’s Knights Templar First School (pictured) had been placed in ‘special measures’ after failing an Ofsted inspection.
Ofsted inspectors visited the school during November to sit in on classes and sample the learning experience.
But their resulting report in which they declared the school’s academic and teaching standards to be ‘inadequate’ has only just been made public.
Somerset County Council, which spends more than £4 million a year on public relations and other publicity activities, tried to gloss over the news with a press release which talked mainly of how an action plan had been put in place to address the Ofsted concerns.
News of Knights Templar’s poor performance was all the more unexpected because it received a ‘satisfactory’ rating when Ofsted last visited in 2004 together with praise for several significant strengths - although the inspectors pointed to a high proportion of pupils who found learning difficult and that standards were below the national average.
The ‘special measures’ status means Knights Templar will receive regular visits from Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools (HMI) and Ofsted’s school improvement division until it is considered to again be providing an acceptable standard of education.
During the monitoring visits, HMI evaluates the standards being achieved, the progress made by pupils, and the quality of education being provided.
It also assesses the progress made in addressing Ofsted’s key issues.
As well as its criticism of academic and teaching standards, Ofsted also said there were several positive aspects of Knights Templar’s performance.
It said pupil attendance had recently improved and was now considered ‘good’.
The behaviour of pupils had also improved from ‘satisfactory’ when the school was last inspected in 2004 to being ‘good’.
Ofsted also praised the good attention the school provided for pupils’ welfare, and importantly, the inspectors recognised that students felt safe and enjoyed school, and they praised the school’s strong Christian ethos.
The headmaster of the 215-pupil school, Keith Atkins, said: “We accept the findings of our recent Ofsted inspection and we are going to work very hard to address our areas for development.
“We are pleased that the caring ethos of our school was recognised, and the children’s spiritual development and behaviour were identified as good.
“As the new head teacher at Knights Templar, I am pleased that our recent improvement and progress has been recognised.
“We will continue to work together as a team to ensure that we keep developing the school.
“I would like to add my thanks to all the parents who have shown their support of the school during difficult times, and I would like to promise them that we will continue to strive to give their children the best possible start in life.”
Key points of the action plan agreed by the school governors and the county education authority included:

• Building on the recognised improvements the new headmaster had made in the short time he had been in post
• School leaders and staff taking significant steps to address the issues raised by the inspection
• Continuing a strong commitment to addressing the issues effectively and swiftly
• Encouraging a positive ethos within the school
• Governors and staff working closely with the education authority to address key issues

The county’s head of schools and achievement, Judith Richardson, said: “I am convinced that the school and the council have put in place appropriate measures to bring about a swift improvement in the school.”
Council education portfolio holder Councillor Gloria Cawood, who is currently overseeing closure plans for a number of small schools in Somerset, said: “We will be working closely with Knights Templar First School to ensure it moves swiftly out of special measures and improves on the areas identified by Ofsted as needing improvement.”

Teenagers complete firefighting training course with honours

A GROUP of West Somerset pupils will pass out as honorary firefighters next month after completing a Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service training scheme.
The youngsters, who attend 24/7@PeritonMead School, in Minehead, have been attending the brigade’s Firebreak scheme on one day a week throughout the current school term.
The course was run at Martock Fire Station, near Yeovil, and also attended by pupils from Buckler’s Mead School, Yeovil, who will also pass out.
A passing out parade will be held at the fire station on December 3, when the teenagers will be inspected by Assistant Chief Fire Officer Neil Gibbins.
The passing out – equivalent to a graduation day – allows the youths to demonstrate some of the skills they have learned and be presented with certificates in front of family and friends and local dignitaries, who on this occasion will include the Mayor of Yeovil.
Firebreak is aimed at youngsters who ‘do not quite find everything they need in the classroom’.
The students are issued with uniforms and fire kit and, as with real firefighters, only the highest standards are acceptable.
Although set in a fire service environment, the course provides a varied range of activities designed to promote and improve confidence, teamwork, citizenship, and self-esteem.
The Firebreak trainees have learned to use pumps, hoses, and ladders, and - most importantly - they have worked together to help each other through the challenging course.
The course is suited to young people who have been identified as having an aptitude for practical ‘hands-on’ educational activities and work.
Students have to be carefully selected because the training is physically and mentally demanding.
They follow a code of conduct based on the high standards of self-discipline expected within the fire service.

• Our photo shows a group of youngsters training with hoses on an earlier Firebreak scheme. Photo submitted.