Transport Interchange Takes Shape

As a daily public transport user, I am very pleased to see the new public transport interchange taking shape in Nelson.  This will mark a step change in the travel experience of both bus and rail passengers arriving in or leaving Nelson.  A move I particulary welcome is the return of a rail ticketing facility to Nelson, something we have not seen for some fifteen years.  This together with enhanced passenger facilities will mean that the Nelson’s bus and rail users will no longer be treated as second class citizens when it comes to departure and arrival facilities.  I would like to thank Lancashire County Council for helping bring about this important and essential project.

Town Council Working Group

On Thursday, 26 June, I attended the first meeting of the Nelson Town Council Working Group.  The purpose of the group is to determine the way in which the Town Council is stuctured and goes about its business.  A number of decisions were made, and these will be reported to the full council meeting on 2 July.  This will convene at 7pm in the council chamber at Nelson Town Hall.

Don’t Believe Everything You Read In The Papers

The Lancashire Telegraph recently published a very negative and very unfortunate front page story about the future of many of the high schools in East Lancashire.  The newspaper claimed that based on last years’ exam results, the government had threatened these establishments with closure if they didn’t up their game.

One of the schools named in the report was Marsden Heights Community College, as a governor of Marsden Heights, I am particularly concerned that the reputation of the college should be sullied in such a way.  Indeed, if one were to believe the protestations of the Lancashire Telegraph, just about every high school in its circulatory area would be under threat in one way or another.  Having spoken with our chair of governors, Rev Ed Saville and our head Mr Mike Tull, I can confirm that the college will not be closing.  If Marsden Heights Community College WAS threatened with closure, then the investment of £24.3 million in the new campus would not be taking place.  Indeed, it is expected that this years’ results will serve to illustrate the facts set out in the college’s OFSTED report that it is “Satisfactory and Improving.”

I would sincerely hope that local residents would not be swayed by this kind of negative reporting, and would instead recognise the hard work that is being put in day in day out by everyone involved with Marsden Heights to build on the success of the OFSTED report.  I would like to point out to prospective parents, that the college’s prospectus has been in very high demand, and that a second print run has now been ordered, proof if any were needed that the reality is very different from the Lancashire Telegraph’s reporting.

 

 

Marsden Heights Ground-Cutting Ceremony

Last Friday, June 13 was a momentous day for everyone involved with Marsden Heights Community College.  The time has finally come for work to commence on the site of the College’s new campus at Bent Head, and the event was marked with the cutting of ground.  As a governor, it was a very uplifting experience, and we had speeches from  County Cllr Vali Patel, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People for Lancashire County Council and our very own Headteacher, Mr. Mike Tull.  I find the prospect of the new campus exciting, because we will finally see the new £24 million state of the art facility our community’s young people so desperately need, and the College will have the perfect premises on which to to continue to build its academic achievements.   I, and everyone else involved with Marsden Heights are really looking forward to the new College being opened in 18 months time, to replace the ageing and crumbling old buildings currently in use and to provide a real beacon of hope for Pendle’s young people and the community as a whole. 

Budget Meeting at Marsden Heights Community College

As a member of the Governors’ Finance Committee at Marsden Heights Community College, I have tonight attended the meeting at which we have set the College’s budget for the next academic year.

I am finding my role as a Governor at Marsden Heights to be both very interesting and very rewarding.  I am also learning how a large educational establishment functions and plans its finances.  Tonight’s meeting was a real eye-opener, given the amount of detail presented and the size of the budget being allocated.  We are having to steward a very tight budget, and ensure the highest possible standard of education are maintained.  Once again, I must express a huge depth of gratitude to the professional way in which the College’s Management Team are running things.  It is far from an easy task working with split sites and maintaining two elderly sets of buildings.