Malkin

The council has been so slow in updating their IT systems (for years and years) for working from home that now a lot of people need to get on at once, the system can't handle it and they have had to issue a directive saying that only a certain number of workers can access the system remotely. i.e. those with critical roles. So a whole bunch of services are going to be unable to function or severely impacted in the meantime, so if you have any outstanding council matters. You may have to wait. Unbelievable really that they haven't managed to develop a VPN or some other technology to allow more people to be able to continue their roles. Of course this isn't the employees fault, there are people sat at home with workloads that they want to progress but the infrastructure won't let them.

Ofsted said last year: "Governors and leaders have worked with dedication, overcoming many challenges, to implement their ambition to create a small, academically focused sixth-form provision for the north of Sheffield and the surrounding area. The strategic plan clearly articulates their ambition for the academy. However, governors and leaders are aware that the academy must provide a sustainable curriculum, and they continue to review effectively the best way to ensure its long-term future." - Must provide a sustainable curriculum, to me, suggests that the model they were running was not sustainable. I've read the alumni site and yes it's all fine and purposeful but whatever education the academy provides, must be sustainable. The current model must not be. Have the alumni got any suggestions as to how have a sustainable model whilst keeping to the ideals that they want?

Funding is lagged though so the numbers argument is not irrelevant. 182 in 2016/17, that's what the Academy will be receiving money against and I can't tell you at what level that funding will be, might not be full time, might have penalties for retention. Don't know. I'm sure it's more complicated than the head just wanting to get rid of good & popular teachers and opening the doors to more students. I suspect the complication is capital funding.

Ofsted have already had a look at Chapeltown Academy and rated it as 'requires improvement' and from the outcomes I can sort of see why, overall they are taking in students with above average outcomes at GCSE and converting them to average outcomes, taking into account their starting point. Now I have absolutely no affiliation with Chapeltown Academy, but what I surmise is going on here is thus: Free schools, when set up are given a wad of public cash to secure things like premises, etc etc and to set them on their way, obviously the point of them is to provide services in areas that are lacking the type of provision that they aim to offer, this isn't always the case, but this is the aim. Anyway, eventually free schools use the pot of start-up money and then they have to survive like every other school by using the government per-pupil funding and making sure the books balance, they cannot run at deficit or they risk being taken over or being forced to close. So obviously the money has got tighter and this comes down to supply and demand, CA has less than 200 students enrolled, so their pot of money is finite, the teachers on average earn just short of 30K and they have support staff to pay as well. When you add this up they probably need over 200, to maybe 250 students to be a position to fund what they currently have. The headteacher is ultimately responsible for ensuring things run to budget, so will be forced to cut cloth accordingly. Perhaps others on the SLT could see this situation coming and didn't want to be the ones making the tough decisions. As taxpayers, I'm sure we want good schools and appropriate provision but can we justify large expense teaching a few academic subjects to small class sizes, it's great for the students but ultimately not cost effective. The vocational qualifications alluded to, obviously would attract different types of students looking for a different route into the world of work or further education/training. I would suggest this is a response to needing more students enrolled rather than an ideological shift.

The track behind the unitarian chapel?

Think it's now a chinese takeaway called Hei Moon.

Some still open on Cowley Lane, Chapeltown, opposite Falding Street. Not strictly Sheffield but there are some closed ones opposite the Co-op in Swallownest, now a flooring shop or something like that.

GCSEs have been reformed so many of those subjects are ceasing to exist as a qualification, or they have been consumed by a broader qualifcation: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/get-the-facts-gcse-and-a-level-reform/get-the-facts-gcse-reform Now whilst, some of those courses could have continued, schools have to balance what they offer, against what specialists they have available to teach it. Furthermore, the government are pushing more and more students down academic routes, where if the school does not have every student taking three qualifications from the following areas: Sciences, Humanties, MFL then they get penalised in the headline performance measures. This obviously marginalises subject areas such as DT, Creative Arts, PE, etc. The only thing I can say is that government policy is always cyclical and these things will come back, but not now, for the students currently choosing options. Specialist Schools are no longer a thing either, the notion was disbanded in 2010, although some schools still carry and advertise the banner.

any help? http://www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk/documents/archaeology/south-elmsall.pdf

http://www.timeintimeout.co.uk/ We get this through our door every month

Hello - You can use this website http://www.watchsted.com/ to see the current Ofsted Inspection judgements for all schools in the local authority. Simply change the menu where it says "Latest 100" to show Local Authority and choose Sheffield.

New Pope of Parson Cross?

What I'd do is tell my partner and silently hope that she would raise the incident with strangers on an internet messageboard.

I'm 35 this autumn. When can I sign up the the over 35s?

Certainly "Gifted and Talented" pupils are in focus at the moment by both the Department for Education and Ofsted. The "Gifted and Talented" tag now though has gone, these children are now referred to as the "most able" or "more able". http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/inclusionandlearnersupport/a00205083/academically-more-able-pupils http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/most-able-students-are-they-doing-well-they-should-our-non-selective-secondary-schools The Ofsted school inspection handbook (January 2014) states that it is 'important to test the school’s response to individual needs by observing how well it helps all pupils to make progress and fulfil their potential' and that it may be relevant to pay particular attention to the achievement of ' the highest attainers'. Although I am not certain that is a policy requirement for primary schools to have a specific person nominated specifically for gifted andf talented it is their responsibility to meet the educational needs of all their pupils, and teachers should set tasks that take account of the varying abilities of children. Most schools will have a designated person though, if not specifically for this, for the learning of specific groups of students of which this might be one. Best thing to do is ask.