The Village of Wark

Archive for July, 2010

You’ll remember that I mentioned the Ofsted report for Wark School a couple of weeks ago and I have now received a little additional information which I would like to pass on.  The report mentions a number of outstanding aspects of the school, including the contribution to the local, wider and global community, the care, guidance and support provided by the school, the promotion of equality and diversity, the exciting and rich curriculum, the enthusiasm and excellent attitude of our children, along with the excellent relationships with staff.  As you know Mrs Henry, the head teacher has now left the school to go to a new job.  In her last newsletter she said: “I would like to thank everyone for their support. I have really enjoyed my year at Wark C of E First School. The children are an absolute delight – so enthusiastic, polite, and keen to share their ideas. This is down to you as parents and families, the staff and the local community who all play a major part in the education of our children. The school is truly is the heart of the community. The staff and governors of Wark C of E First School are an extremely hard working, supportive and creative team and it has been a pleasure working with them all. Thank you for all your support and I wish the school and the children every happiness and continued success.”

Next week you’ll have an opportunity to attend a whole series of coffee mornings, starting with the Birtley Village Hall coffee morning on Thursday the 5^th of August. This is the second in a series, every first Thursday of the month.  The coffee morning at Birtley runs between 10.30 and midday.  Hard on its heels, the usual coffee in Wark Town Hall on Friday morning. Of course I know this is a regular occurrence, but it would be unfair not to give it a mention in this context.  Then on Saturday 7 August we have a coffee morning in the Community Room on Westacres, this time in aid of the MURC church in the village.  The coffee morning at Westacres starts at  10 o’clock. 

Finally, a short update on the saga that is the bridge.  You’ll have read the extensive article in the Courant a few weeks ago and our Councilor on Northumberland County Council, Edward Heslop, has asked me to tell you the latest. We are still awaiting the results of the recent survey – you’ll remember the yellow container at the end of the bridge a few weeks ago.  When the results of those investigations are available Edward will be looking at what we need to do to improve things. He anticipates that the Mid Tyne Communities Forum will host a public meeting towards the end of August.   It is then that we will decide the next steps.

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On Wednesday last week, Wark School hosted a visit from 12 Libyan academics. The group of university staff from across Libya met pupils and staff and talked to them about life in Libya. The head of the group, Prof. Hussein Ageli was very excited by the opportunity to see how a British school operate and how the children learn. Once again, the Wark school gave the visitors a wonderful reception.

In further news about the school, you might know that the school had its Ofsted inspection in late June and the report, which was published last week, made very good reading.  Once again the school achieved ‘good with outstanding features’ and I have been asked by the Governors to thank Mrs Henry and the staff for all their hard work. The result was all the more pleasing given the new, tougher, assessment framework. This is a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the academic year and to say goodbye to Mrs Henry who leaves the School at the end of this term. It is also a nice way for Mrs Lewis, who joins the school as Headteacher in September, to start her new role.    

I understand from talking to Ann Hutchinson, the Chair of the Parish Council, that the Parish is preparing to organise work to improve the road round the Green.  As many of you will know, the road is a long-standing issue: it is not an adopted road and most of it doesn’t have a known owner.  The plan is to scrape the top and then to lay a new layer of stone and roll it.  A newly-laid surface will definitely an improvement and with a bit of luck it will last for a good while.

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Wark Fete, last Saturday was another wonderful village affair and blessed this year with cracking weather. I know sometimes people wonder how they might spruce up the things on offer on the fete, but I think one of its strengths is the fact that it changes only slowly and that there is a slightly genteel feel to the whole thing. I understand that the total amount raised at the Fete this year was just over £1750, which is about £100 up on last year. This money goes to support St Michael’s church. As always the stalls vary a bit in how they do on the day: I heard the book stall did very well and that more money was taken on the teas, but that some of the other stalls were down a little bit. The bottle stall seems to have been a real success and Cyril Cooper produced a wishing well were you were encouraged to guess the number of coins in the well. This activity alone raised about £50 and the well was eventually won by Ann and Tot Hutchinson from The Haining. In a time that everyone is watching their spending the organisers can be very pleased with the results and huge thanks are due to all the people who helped make the Fete such a success once again.I understand the family Barbeque at Birtley last Sunday afternoon also went very well. The playing field provides a lovely safe location and as a result people can happily bring their small children. I understand there were people there ranging in age from toddlers to people in their eighties!

Also relating to St Michael’s Church, but the Broadsheets this time, there is an opportunity of someone to deliver some of the Broadsheets in the village. As some of you may, know Pauline Rawe and Stephen Fry moved to Hexham a few weeks ago and Pauline used to deliver about 20 of the Broadsheets along Hexham Road and the Stonehaugh Road. If you can spare about half an hour a month to deliver these Broadsheets and have a wander round the village at the same time, please contact Peter Samsom on (01434) 230605. Splitting the ‘round’ is also an option, so please contact Peter, even if you want to do a smaller number.

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