School is over for the summer and now is a good time to reflect on everything that has happened in the past year. Locally our schools and the council are working well together. We have some of the best education results in the country for our children, from Early Years, all the way through to 6th Form. But those good results mask the fact that there are some groups of children who do not do so well. As an education system in Wokingham Borough we are focused on narrowing that gap for those children, to help them also reach their full potential.
This fits in entirely with the spirit in which we are trying to run the council. You may have heard or read something about the council making a decision to be a Marmot borough. That is nothing to do with little furry animals. The Marmot in question is Sir Michael Marmot, and a Marmot borough is one which adopts the principles of the Institute of Health Equity. Those principles are about reducing health inequalities and in order to do that, you need to focus not just on health but on all the building blocks which affect people’s lives. Fundamental to that is giving all children the best possible start in life. All the work on becoming a Marmot borough has been done with the Institute of Health Equity over the past months, and their report is due to be published shortly.
Over the past year things have not got easier and we find ourselves in difficult financial circumstances. The council has had its funding drastically reduced. The government’s funding mechanisms are also not kind to our schools, with many of them on the minimum guaranteed funding, in other words, the lowest that school funding is allowed to go. Our nurseries are no better off. Many parents are grateful for the expansion of free childcare places funded by the government which came in last year – but unfortunately, the funding falls short of what is really needed to cover the cost.
And of course many families are feeling the financial squeeze. For many people the summer break is a time for fun and a holiday. For others it is a time they dread, trying to make affordable childcare arrangements, worrying about the cost of new school uniform and providing food for their children now that the government has changed the rules and withdrawn the funding that previously enabled the council to provide vouchers during the holidays.
The council is doing what it can to help. The first of our new Best Start in Life centres is open in Woodley. This is part of our new network of family hubs that are coming across the whole borough. Parents will be able to find help and advice on everything in one place, local to them. We are also running a HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) programme for children who are eligible for Free School Meals and attend schools in the borough. We are lucky to have a number of voluntary sector bodies who can help with school uniform.
We hope all our children have a happy summer break, and wish good luck to all our young people who are waiting anxiously for exam results.
By Cllr Prue Bray
