News

School pupils will be supporting local farmers at a special event celebrating Farmhouse Breakfast Week’s tenth birthday on Wednesday (28th January).

The Whitfield and Aspen School breakfast club will learn how to milk a cow with the help of ‘Daisy’ an artificial milking cow, brought by Rosemary Plommer – a local farmer and former Governor of the school – before enjoying a great Kentish breakfast including tasty produce from local farmers.

School children and their parents have been encouraged to come along and enjoy free eggs, cheese, ham, sausages, milk, toast, jams and honey from local producers including Goodchild Bakery, Whitfield Farmers Market, Joan Miller in West Langdon and Jon Goss in Whitfield.

Farmhouse Breakfast Week is an annual campaign that emphasises the importance of eating a healthy breakfast every day, organised by the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA). The South East Food Group Partnership is supporting the campaign by funding breakfast events at schools across the South East all week, promoting local producers.

Said Henriette Reinders, Director of the South East Food Group Partnership: “Think Breakfast is the theme of this year's celebration to encourage everyone to wake up to breakfast as part of a healthy balanced diet and active lifestyle.

“We will also be educating children about where their food comes from and promoting our wonderful local producers

The following day (29th January) Whitfield Farmers’ Market will be also be offering a special low cost Farmhouse Breakfast to market customers.

To find out more about Farmhouse Breakfast Week visit: www.farmhousebreakfast.com

Denis Kehoe, 88, died following a short illness in October 2008. He taught for 35 years and was a headteacher in Dover where he will be remembered at a celebration held at St. Martin's School in River, on January 21.

His son Rory said he was always keen to hear about former pupils.

He spent his early childhood in the Southsea, attending St Thomas' Catholic School, and moved to Dover to join military school.

From there he went into the army and served from 1935 to 1948 with the Royal Engineers.

In 1950 he took up teaching and married Jeanne Bonney for 53 years until her death in 2003.

He became a headteacher in 1960 and for the next 25 years ran schools in Dorset, Ludlow and finally Dover, where he retired in 1985.

Mr Kehoe leaves behind two sons Rory and Shaun.

 

Pupils from secondary schools in the Dover district will get the chance to debate in the Council Chamber, quiz Councillors, and make bids for funding for special projects for their schools, as part of a day of activities at Dover District Council on Friday (17 October).

The day is being organised by the Council’s Democratic Support team as part of Local Democracy Week and is the eighth in a series of popular annual events organised by the team.

It will include a ‘Question Time’ style debate, where students will be able to put questions to Cabinet Members, and a fun session where pupils will have the chance to quiz Councillors and award them marks. In the afternoon, students will be given the opportunity to bid for money to fund a special project for their school, with prizes of £600, £300 and £100 to be won, as voted for by the students on the day.

Pupils from Archers Court Maths and Computing College, Astor College for the Arts, Castle Community College, Dover Grammar School for Girls, Dover Grammar School for Boys, St Edmund’s Catholic School, and Walmer Science College will be attending.

Cllr Mrs Julie Rook, DDC Cabinet Member for Community, Citizenship, Youth and Sport, said: “Local Democracy Week is a great chance to help and encourage young people to get involved in democracy, and it is always great to see young people taking such a lively and active interest in the decision-making process.�


 

Park Farm Primary school and the Folkestone Academy have announced they could be merging.

Academy chiefs and governors from nearby Park Farm Primary have already been in negotiations about the merger which would cater for pupils from 4 to 18-years-old.

Chairman of governors at the Folkestone Academy, Roger De Haan welcomed the proposals which will affect up to 1,500 pupils if the plans go ahead.

A letter outlining the proposals was sent to parents this week.

A public consultation will be arranged within the next few months although any merger would not be finalised until September 2009.

Questions have already been asked how the proposed 'All Age Academy', which will have its own built in primary feeder school, will be able to educate secondary school pupils from Hawkinge.

This year, many Hawkinge primary school pupils going onto secondary education found that places at the Academy were oversubscribed and many were allocated places miles from their homes.

Before the new Academy was built, schoolchildren from Hawkinge would normally continue their education at the former Channel School.

However, it was expected that when the village had grown to a size which has subsequently been reached, Hawkinge would have its own Church of England secondary school sited on land near to the former officers' quarters.

This was shelved when the decision to flatten the failing Channel School and build the Academy was agreed. It was thought that pupils from the village would be educated at the new Academy.

Unfortunately, the Folkestone Academy has proved to be very popular and is over subscribed, meaning there are now more pupils wishing to attend the school from the immediate vicinity. This has left those from Hawkinge being allocated Brockhill Park School in Saltwood or the Astor College for the Arts in Dover.

The new feeder school could now mean Hawkinge pupils will have even less chance of attending the Folkestone Academy.


 

Dear Editor,

Good morning all concerned Westbrook parents,

I pray that you still feel deeply about keeping the Westbrook family together. It can be done if that is your wish.

My experience of listening to you is that many of you have made life choices to move to Folkestone and to have your children educated in Folkestone. You have expressed concerns about your children having to travel daily to Dover, Ashford or Canterbury. For that reason I have been in touch with KCC and the Southwark Diocese to request information about closed schools in close proximity to Folkestone. We have visited two prime sites that would make good locations for a new school to house the Westbrook family.

In my mind schools should have a single purpose and that is to provide a loving, caring and nurturing environment within which the best is brought out in the children. Their happiness leads to their academic flourishing. We have seen it happen.

Please trust me, we can make this happen if you feel strongly enough about it.

Sunday’s meeting at 4.00pm in Lyminge village hall for parents, teachers and governors of the closed Westbrook House is about making this happen.

Westbrook lives on in those parents and children who wish to remain part of it. Finding a new home for the family will not be difficult; there are appropriate sites out there. We have enough teachers on board to provide for your child’s entire educational requirements. We can purchase/retrieve equipment. It does not matter how small the school starts off at initially.

As a parent/teacher run organisation costing and budgets will be in your hands. School deposits can be used to secure the property.

The publicity must continue. We are attempting to set up a parent/teacher run school. It has been done before. Our publicity will work for us to ease our way. Sue Lefevre from KCC is a past parent of Westbrook and has promised to do all she can to help.

Have faith everyone. I will talk to Reverend Anthony today.

Please spread the word, set up phone trees, ask likeminded parents if they want to buy into this project. Your children’s happiness and academic success come first. We as teachers with your help have provided an excellent learning environment. Your children have been making excellent progress. We can provide more academic success than you are going to get anywhere else outside of Vernon Holme and St Edmunds in Canterbury or Ashford Friars. Westbrook ranks amongst that class of educators. Westbrook can provide for the Folkestone locality.

Sunday is our chance to make it happen. Please be there.

Rosie Lagrue

Parents of pupils at a Folkestone School are reeling after receiving letters by private courier telling them their children's school had closed.

The fee paying Westbrook House Preparatory School in Folkestone had around 100 pupils who now have no school to go to in September.

Information packs were sent with the letters to parents about the private Dover College, where places are being promised together with a free bus from Westbrook House to Dover.

The school was for children aged between 2 and 11, with the fees of nearly £3,000 a term for pupils, aged 10 and 11.

Former Saga chairman Roger De Haan was the chairman of governors.

A Folkestone Grammar school has sparked outrage among parents by letting one of its own pupils teach classes to help ease a staff shortage reports the Daily Mail.

According to the newspaper, a sixth-former has been running German lessons for first year pupils aged 11 and 12 for at least the past six weeks.

The controversial classes have been taking place at all-boys, The Harvey Grammar School in the town.

Headmaster Bill Wright insists it is an 'inventive and innovative' solution to the problem of not having enough staff and says the boy is always accompanied by another staff member writes the Mail

However parents claimed the teenager has been teaching unsupervised.

They say it is unacceptable that their children are being taught by another pupil.

32 schools from across the county took part in the Army Challenge 2008 in Folkestone on Friday (27 June).

The annual event at the Sir John Moore Barracks in Shorncliffe was overseen by 80 soldiers and attracted around 400 youngsters. It included target shooting and a combat sports race.

Top team on the day was the Castle Community College in Deal who scooped the top prize of Army sports equipment for the school.

Shepway's youngsters have been selected to join a new pilot scheme which ensures every child gets five hours of culture a week.

The initiative will include an expanded Creative Partnerships scheme, which allows children and young people in schools to work with creative professionals such as artists, writers and actors.

They will be attending performances, museum and galleries; getting hands-on experience in creative industries such as film-making, radio and TV both in and out of school.

There will be the chance to learn a musical instrument and play in front of an audience. Pupils can learn to appreciate authors, create their writing skills and become involved with new media and digital art.

Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: "All children have creative talents and we want to ensure that they have the opportunity to develop them. “Theatre, film, music, museums and other art forms can be life-changing for young people, broadening their horizons and raising self-confidence and aspirations.

"There will be practical challenges in delivering this ambitious goal of course, and these pilots will give us the chance to see what those challenges are. But this is a fantastic opportunity for schools to build on what they already do."

Ed Balls added: “All children and young people should have the chance to experience top quality culture - whether that is seeing a play or dance performance, learning a musical instrument or producing some creative writing.�

Ten areas of the country, Bolton, Tower Hamlets, Leeds, Tyneside, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Liverpool North Somerset and Shepway will all be part of the initial scheme.