NVN mums to interview Wandsworth Councillor Kathy Tracey Post Reply

[Annabel (admin)]

Dear NappyValleyNet mums,

NappyValleyNet has been invited to interview Wandsworth Councillor Tracey.

Councillor Kathy Tracey is a Cabinet member (Education and children's services) and would like to answer those questions that collectively we feel need answering.

Her remit: education and children's services - please don't ask about refuse collection but primary schools, secondary schools, One O Clock Clubs etc are all very much on the agenda.

How will this work??

Simply post your questions on this thread (please resist the opportunity to answer each other's questions!) and she will reply to them all at once in approx 10 days time.

This NVN interview will also be published in Families Brightside Magazine and of course on NappyValleyNet.

Over to you!

[livegreen]

Are there any plans to open a new primary school between the commons to compliment Belleville and Honeywell.
Alternatively are there any plans to expand these primaries?

[2x2]

Between the commons is known to have the biggest children concentration in Wandsworth, so why are you closing TWO One O’clock centres closest to all these children?
Also, York road centre would have more unprivileged children in the area as it is surrounded by large council estates and not Bollinbrook centre that is surrounded by £1 million+ houses?

[brihoney]

There is concern that with the very sad closure of the one o'clock club in king George's park that you will look to rent not just the hut and outdoor area to nursery provider, but also the under 5's playground. Please can you clarify plans for this area?

Did you consider making the one o'clock clubs subsidised but charging a small fee to attend, like £2 or £3, to enable them to continue in more areas?

[secondtimer]

I realise we are living in a time of cuts, but given the new Bollingbroke secondary school, and the likelihood that less families will move away from the area going forward and, are there any plans to improve/increase playground facilities for older children between the commons?

At present we have a number of excellent playgrounds for the under fives but facilities are woefully lacking for those who are older (I realise most playgrounds say under eight but this is simply not the case - they are too easy) I'm also aware that Battersea park adventure playground has been redeveloped but this is too far for older primary school children to travel alone.

A ropes course and zip wire or other 'natural' wood playground would be a good fit on wandsworth common. (Similar to Horniman triangle gardens for example or Queens Park NW London)

Like many other parents I would rather pay more council tax for better facilities than keep facing these cuts and getting told what a 'wonderful' council we have for keeping council tax low.

[twice_as_nice]

The reason for closing the One O'clock Centres was specifically given as not a cost cutting measure but because of these places that need to be made available for underprivileged 2 year olds.

Are all the One O'lcock Clubs going to be used for this purpose?

If not, why is the decision to close still going ahead? Can and will the council reverse this decision?

[Caroline1972]

What plans are there to provide more school places for Southfields children? Wimbledon Park, already a 3 class school, saw its non sibling catchment area shrink to 236m this year and Sheringdale has a waiting list extending to more than 60 children and only plans to add 1 extra class.

[Ashleyrose-66]

The Council are to close 6 one o'clock centres but have maintained these closures are not due to cuts, but due to the Government enforcing new legislation meaning you must provide over 800 places for under-privileged children.

However, the Government will be supplying additional funding to facilitate these places, so why are Wandsworth Council still planning to close 6 extremely important clubs?

Also, with a large number of buildings standing empty daily in Wandsworth, why are these options not being explored before a decision was made to close existing centres?

What is happening to the revenue being generated by the old Alvering Library now being leased by Wandsworth Prep?

[clapset]

Does your CEO really earn 245k a year and when are you sacking him?

[Wandsworth Council]

Thank you for your questions. I will put these to Councillor Tracey and post responses in due course.

[clapset]

I thought that the councillor was being interviewed.

Why has someone from the council that spends their time blogging - come on to the internet to say they will ask the councillor questions? Sounds like there is no interview...

If that's the case - the person called "Wandsworth Council" posting on this site can you ask the councillor the following questions:

1. Why do I have a job at the council playing on the internet when you are cutting services in the borough like the One O'Clock Clubs?

2. Would you accept my resignation or would you like it in writing?

3. And would you put my salary to better use like funding services for the residents of the borough?

Too much?

[Wandsworth Council]

Regarding the situation with one o'clock clubs and free nursery places - this update was posted on the council's website yesterday

http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/artic ... ery_places

Council to spend £1m on new nursery places

Councillors will be asked next week to endorse proposals to invest more than £1m in providing better nursery facilities for disadvantaged children in the borough.

At the same time they will also be given an update on the work that's been carried out so far in ensuring that stay and play services continue to be offered at the borough’s one o’clock centres.

The aim is for these buildings to offer nursery places in the mornings, but offer drop-in stay and play sessions for parents and children under five at other times of the day.

The council has been set an ambitious Government target of providing 1,800 free nursery places for two-years-olds from lower income families by September 2014.

Many of these places can be delivered in existing nurseries and other Ofsted approved buildings, but in order to deliver so many additional new places the town hall is using other council-owned premises, including five one o’clock centres.

Now £1m is set to be spent on bringing these and other council buildings earmarked as nurseries up to standard.

This includes a £370,000 spend on a new children’s centre in King George’s Park which will offer a full range of services for younger children every day of the week, including drop-in stay and play.

At the Bolingbroke, Windmill, Coronation Gardens, Triangle and York Gardens one o’clock centres, these would be used to provide free nursery places in the mornings and play and stay services in the afternoons - and potentially also at weekends for the first time.

Modest charges may be incurred by parents accessing stay and play services at some of the centres, but those at King George’s Park and York Gardens will remain free of charge, as will the drop-in stay and play services at the borough’s 14 other council-run children’s centres. They are also likely to remain open throughout the school holidays.

Meanwhile the one o’clock centre at Battersea Park is to be transformed into a child and family friendly café with an outdoor play area for toddlers, to complement the recent refurbishment and modernisation of the adjacent children’s playground.

Children’s services spokesman Cllr Kathy Tracey said: “We are investing £1m in making sure these new nursery places are provided in really good quality settings. It is important that the two-year-olds who will be benefiting from this massive expansion in early years education can enjoy the very best facilities and equipment.

“Creating an extra 1,800 places in little over 18 months has been a major challenge and has meant we have had to explore changes to the way some council buildings operate, especially the one o’clock centres.

“However, I’m delighted to say that we are well on course to not only meet our nursery places target but to have also ensured that the flexibility is in place so that the very popular drop-in stay and play services can continue to be offered at one o’clock centres.

“We are working closely with nursery providers and voluntary groups to ensure that for a small fee, parents can still access these sessions at a range of times throughout the working day and, in some cases, make them available on Saturdays too for the very first time.

“The expansion in nursery and childcare places means many more two-years-olds will be able to attend a nursery setting for 15 hours a week, which will benefit their educational and social development.

“The aim is to identify vulnerable children very early in their lives and target services to give them the best possible support before they start school. It also aims to support parents who need help to get back into employment.

“This expansion in early years education is part of a £5m investment in the education and development of this generation of children.”

A total of 894 extra nursery places will be available from September this year with another 894 to be provided in September 2014. These are aimed at families whose children qualify for free school meals.

Councillors will discuss the nursery investment proposals at the education and children’s services overview and scrutiny committee on June 20.

[clapset]

Does that mean there is no interview ?

So in summary - keep paying for child care and pay for the one o'clock club

Unless that is if you are disadvantaged? What does that mean?