Inspectors praised the school – but have some concerns that standards may be declining. The report acknowledges efforts to improve pupils’ behaviour. It says:
“Behaviour is now improving in some classes. Leaders have planned training for all staff to ensure that behaviour continues to improve.
“An attendance team ensures that all pupils are supported and rewarded to attend school. Attendance is improving as a result of this.”
Leaders recognise that they need to improve the teaching of early reading and the way mathematics is taught at the school. They have also started to review the curriculum for subjects other than English and mathematics
The report praises leaders, who have recently begun to promote the new Whitecote values to inspire, nurture and challenge. There is also praise for pupils’ development and safeguarding.
Who wants a free hot drink? On Sunday 15th December FC West Leeds play our final home game of 2019, writes Cal Cullen.
We would like to invite people down to our home pitch at Rodley Cricket Club to help with our Christmas food bank drive with a promise of a free hot drink for anyone who donates to the cause.
We will then take the food up to a local food bank in time for Christmas!
We know that money is tight, particularly around this time of year, but if you can help that would be amazing, and you can in turn help people have a better Christmas.
Thank you, and if we don’t see you, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Bramley schoolgirl Faith Martin has set up Faith’s Crafts to raise funds and to awareness of Congenital Heart Disease for the Tiny Tickers charity, writes Josie Armitage.
Faith is eight years old and attends Bramley St Peter’s school. She started to make bookmarks and keyrings in January to sell to raise money for Tiny Tickers, a charity for children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) as her best friend Oliver suffers from this condition.
She set up a Facebook Group in February to start to sell her crafts and raise awareness of CHD.
Faith said:
“I wanted to help babies and children like Oliver as I don’t like the idea of them being ill. It’s important to help other people.”
Fiona Green, Faith’s mum has been carrying out research into CHD. She said:
“Over 1,000 babies go home from hospital in the UK with an undiagnosed heart condition. It’s one of the biggest child killers as often the condition is undiagnosed.
“Tiny Tickers was the only charity who wanted to work with us to raise awareness of CHD as well as raise money to support their work. T
“hey provide information, leaflets, t-shirts and balloons for Faith to display on her stalls at Christmas and Summer Fairs to help them to help the charity and raise awareness.”
Tiny Tickers is a charitable organisation that aims to improve the early detection, diagnosis and care of babies with CHD through a combination of improving standards, providing specialised training and increasing education and information.
They train sonographers to detect CHD at the 20-week scan to help reduce the number of new-borns going home with undiagnosed conditions. They also support families while babies are undergoing surgery. You can find out more about the charity here/
Oliver has had four
open heart surgeries and is currently on the transplant list. His mum likes the fact that awareness of CHD
is getting out there through the work Fiona and Faith are doing.
Faith has a heart of gold and is always thinking of others and how she can help them.
Both Faith’s mum and dad support her as much as they can to do her craft making and fund raising efforts while remembering that Faith is a young girl and can only do so much as she has health conditions herself.
Faith raised £115 over the summer to pass to Tiny Tickers and has recently raised £200 through selling her crafts at Christmas Fairs and running a Christmas raffle with prizes donated by local businesses and people.
Faith has featured in Tiny Tickers weekend fundraising spotlight several times.
Faith runs a monthly raffle to raise money for Tiny Tickers and sells her crafts through her Facebook page.
Take a look and buy some items to support Tiny Tickers – keyrings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and bookmarks.
Faith and Fiona will be fundraising for some equipment in the New Year including a banner, a trolley to transport her goods from the car to the venues and a new tablecloth to help with their fundraising.
They recently had a stall at the Bramley Christmas Lights switch on and one of the radio mascots kindly gave them a gazebo which they can use both for Winter and Summer Fairs.
If anyone can or knows of anyone who can help with any of the items, please contact Faith via the Faith’s Crafts Facebook group.
Fiona added:
“Thank you from both myself and Faith. Without all of you we wouldn’t be able to help Tiny Tickers like we do.”
A West Leeds property linked to drugs-related anti-social behaviour have been ‘closed’ by Leeds City Council.
This follows action taken by the Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team (LASBT) and West Yorkshire Police at Leeds Magistrates Court this month, which resulted in a three-month closure order being granted for 15 Kelsall Avenue, between Burley and Hyde Park.
The decision to seek a closure order followed a range of work which has been undertaken to target the organised supply of drugs at the property, and other related forms of anti-social behaviour.
In total, the police have executed three drug warrants at the property, which resulted on each occasion, with illegal controlled substances found.
As part of the closure order, no one other than agreed individuals will be allowed to access the property, during the three-month period.
Inspector Andy Loftus, who heads the Leeds North West Neighbourhood Policing Team, said:
“This address was being used solely for the purposes of drug dealing, which has been significantly detrimental to the quality of life of people in the area.
“While we have repeatedly taken action to execute search warrants, resulting in significant seizures of drugs and cash and the arrests of those involved, we recognised the need for a longer term solution.
“The granting of this closure order should provide some much needed relief to those residents who have had to live with the anti-social behaviour associated with this property.”
Any residents suffering from anti-social behaviour can get in touch with LASBT in the following ways: To report in the daytime call 0113 222 4402 or out of hours on 0113 376 0337 (between 6pm and 3.30am).
Due to extremely high gusts of wind leading to a “marquee mishap” Kirkstall Valley Development Trust have had to cancel this year’s Kirkstall Christmas Market, writes Ramona Green.
There will now be a market with an art and craft style theme being held at Unit 11, Kirkstall Bridge Shopping Park (next to Pure Gym).
This will now be held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th December, 10am until 4pm.
Due to these strong winds, one of the main marquees blew away and fell onto yet another marquee last Saturday, (December 7). This not only made them unusable, but organisers were worried there are strong winds and gusts predicted for this coming weekend.
KVDT did not want to put the public at risk and so decided to cancel and hold a craft market at Unit 11 instead.
They still promise a “fun time to be had by all.” A
dele Rae, Community Director for KVDT, has been busy with the help of several volunteers, turning Unit 11 into a “Winter Wonderland” fit for any Christmas Market.
The entrance fee is on a pay-as-you-feel basis.
If anyone has any questions regarding this decision to cancel, or anything else to do with KVDT and the Kirkstall Christmas Market, please contact Adele Rae on 07900 986570.
Paul Abraham, sponsor for Bramley Buffaloes, gave a talk on the history of Bramley Rugby League Club at the Saturday Gentlemen’s Club, writes Josie Armitage.
Paul spoke for over 30 minutes on the long history of Bramley Rugby League club to an audience of 30 men from the Bramley Elderly Action group at the Saturday Gentlemen’s Club. He was accompanied by other sponsors from Bramley Buffaloes.
Talk: Paul Abrahams
His talk covered the following key points:
Bramley Rugby League club was formed in the
Conservative Club above Listers Butchers shop in 1879 by the Rev Cope
The decision to leave Rugby Union and join the
Northern Rugby Union (later became Rugby League) in 1896
The first ever transfer fee when James Lomas
left Bramley for Salford for £100 in 1901
How Bramley were an important part in setting
Rugby League up in France
The winning of their first ever trophy in 94
years when they won the BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy in 1973
The formation of the Bramley Buffaloes
Other historical snippets on the struggles to
survive through its long history.
Saturday Club members enjoying the talk at Bramley Lawn
Paul concluded his talk with the stirring message that:
Despite having to quit playing this year the future is looking very positive
for the club. Bramley Buffaloes WILL BE BACK in 2020!
The group, based at Bramley Lawn, were treated to a fish and chip lunch as well as the sports talk. One audience member said:
“Well what can I say. What a cracking day that was. Fish & chip lunch followed by our lovely guests from the Bramley Buffaloes. All in a day at Saturday’s Gentlemen’s club. Happy days.”
A former industrial warehouse in Burley could be transformed into an indoor crazy golf facility, if plans are approved by Leeds City Council.
The plans, submitted by Chris Morton of Ghetto Golf, include associated bar and food and drink uses and an external terrace at first floor at Falcon House on Weaver Street.
A design statement submitted with the application says there will be a beach bar called Birdie’s. It says:
“The building has been selected for its large open floor space and internal height that allows for an additional mezzanine to be introduced within the golf course area.”
A promotional statement adds:
“The concept combines crazy golf, theatre, cocktails and DJs in an art infused environment that showcases the very best of street art and their writers.”
Ghetto Golf has similar establishments in Liverpool. Birmingham and Newcastle.
Bramley Park will prove all the world’s a stage when it hosts unique pop-up performances of Shakespeare’s classics next summer.
Leeds theatre company Front Room Productions will give some of The Bard’s most beloved scenes a contemporary twist during the free, open air shows in Middleton Park, Reginald Park in Chapeltown, Bramley Park and Roundhay Park.
The performances have been made possible thanks to funding from Leeds Inspired, who provide grants for hundreds of grass roots arts projects making a difference in communities across Leeds.
Venue: Bramley Park
Leeds-based Front Room’s producer Alice Barber said the hour-long performances, featuring live music, would be an opportunity to make Shakespeare more fun and accessible in an unconventional setting.
She said:
“We describe it as Shakespeare’s best bits and we do it in a way that’s fun, a bit more modern, but still has at its core all of those same incredible stories and characters that have become such a wonderful part of our heritage .
“The themes of Shakespeare’s plays are timeless, but they can also be difficult to get your head round. By putting these performances on in a local park and bringing them a bit more into the 21st century, alongside some familiar pop hits that fit the context of the scene, we can give people a new way to enjoy these fantastic works of literature in a much less formal environment.”
Front Room’s performances will include excerpts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, with audiences also getting the chance to pick a random scene out of a hat for the cast to perform on the spot.
Part of Leeds City Council, Leeds Inspired manages two grant schemes and have been supporting arts events and projects in Leeds since 2012.
Based at Leeds Town Hall, the team have funded more than 500 projects across the city and worked with a range of audiences, artists and communities.
Visitors to Abbey House Museum in Kirkstall will get the chance to follow in the footsteps of characters from A Christmas Carol as they step back in time and visit the city’s very own Victorian Christmas past.
The museum’s beautiful streets and their authentic shops have been decked out with traditional decorations as the historic attraction hosts a series of family-friendly events over the holidays.
Visitors on Wednesday, December 11 will also get the chance to handle a series of artefacts from the Leeds Museums and Galleries collection which have been part of Christmases in the city stretching back over a century.
Abbey House Museum. Photo: Welcome to Yorkshire
Among the objects from the collection will be an impressive Victorian Christmas pudding mould that was once used to craft the perfect pud.
It was during the reign of Queen Victoria that the cannonball of flour, fruits, suet, sugar and spices, was first dubbed a Christmas pudding in cook Eliza Acton’s bestselling 1845 book Modern Cookery for Private Families.
Also at the museum will be a Christmas club savers card from Henry Thorne’s, a Leeds-born confectionery company which grew from a humble mustard and chicory shop in the 1830s to producing mroe than two million pieces of confectionery a day in the 1960s- including the famous Thorne’s Super Crème Toffee.
Visitors will also get the chance to see how Christmas cards have changed over the decades, and to look at traditional decorations including 1930s Christmas lights and a set of Woolworth Christmas baubles.
Nicola Pullan, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ assistant curator of social history, said:
“The idea of Christmas in the Victorian era conjures up so many powerful images of traditional streets and colourful decorations and it’s great that we’re able to bring those images to life for visitors over the festive season.
“Giving them a chance to handle objects from the past also helps to build a genuine, tangible connection to the people and places of that time and to experience a little piece of what Christmas has been like for people in Leeds through the ages.”
Christmas events take place at Abbey House all through the holidays including the chance to visit Father Christmas, listen to carols and dress up.
The object handling session takes place on Wednesday, December 11 from 2.45pm until 4.15pm.
Local youngsters have recently started playing on TV Harrison ground again after volunteers helped clear it. Photo: Lea Westerman
Paul Madeley, David Harvey, Paul Reaney, Stuart McCall, David Batty and Brian Deane – it’s an impressive footballing roll-call. But did you know they all played for the same team as children?, writes Local Democracy Reporter Richard Beecham.
Leeds City Boys was once one of the most fearsome junior teams in the country, while their home on the TV Harrison Fields in Wortley was considered their very own “Wembley”.
But campaigners are worried this historic football legacy could soon be a thing of the past.
Former Leeds United stars Noel Whelan and Brian Deane at the Oldfield Lane ground earlier this year. Photo: Lea Westerman
The ground has officially been closed since 2004 and, earlier this year, was included in Leeds City Council’s Site Allocations Plan (SAP) – which suggested 50 houses could be built on the site.
The majority of the site is held in trust by the Leeds Schools Sports Association (LSSA). The organisation claims that should a planned sale of the site go through, they would be able to reinvest the money in sporting facilities for schoolchildren in Leeds.
But campaigners, who want to bring the site back into use, say the fight is not over, and added that the site should be replaced with a similar-sized pitch, should it eventually be sold.
Campaigner Aaron Lambert, who played for Leeds City Boys himself as a child, said:
“Consultation with local residents was scarce, and the community has risen up.
“Since TVH’s inclusion in SAP becoming public knowledge in January 2019 we created a Facebook group, set up a petition and a community action group.”
He added the group raised funds to buy heavy duty gardening equipment to make the site playable themselves. He said:
“A field neglected and overgrown for 20 years has, by sheer will and graft, been made playable for our kids. And they have used it plenty. Games are called off regularly on all Leeds City Council pitches, where do the kids go for a game?
“Our MPs, councillors and figureheads need to take heed from their people and quickly. We are the soul of this city.
“Should the trustees sell TVH they must replace with a facility of at least the same value or size.
“As a Leeds community with morals and integrity we are amazed that those in charge of our city and wellbeing are actually serious about building on a much needed sports facility.
“Of all the places to build, really, a sports facility gifted to Leeds children?”
The TV Harrison field was used for sport following local headteacher Thomas Vernon Harrison helping to raise £1,200 back in 1931 to buy the land for the children to use.
Campaigners have cleared the site of years’ worth of undergrowth
Since then it had become home to Leeds City Boys, which featured the best young players from Leeds schools until the site was closed in 2004.
Peter McQuillen-Strong, head at Holy Family Primary School and secretary of Leeds Schools Sports Association (LSSA), said:
“The TV Harrison site (also know as Oldfield Lane) was a bastion of school football for many decades. Boys for generations played on it when representing the City Boys’ football teams or when playing in competition semi finals and finals. The large 11-a-side football pitch that was on this site was the city’s Wembley.
“Like the Old Wembley, the Oldfield Lane site became run down and could no longer provide a place fit for the modern generation.”
Mr McQuillen-Strong added that previous attempts to raise funds to fully develop the ground between 2002 and 2003 had failed, as only £4,800 was raised, despite having a target of £147,000.
Field of Dreams? TV Harrison ground off Oldfield Lane back in January 2019
The site was closed in 2004 due to repeated attacks from vandals. He said:
“Over the past 20 years the money spent on repairing damage to the Oldfield Lane site and the hiring of grounds has drained just about all the funds for both the LSFA (Leeds Schools Football Association) and the LSSA. This money has come from schools across the city and has meant that affiliation fees have had to increase, but the opportunities we can provide have not increased in the way we would wish.
“We have communicated closely with all schools in West Leeds and not a single school has a desire to use or need for the Oldfield Lane site.
“If we sell the site to Leeds City Council, 100 per cent of funds raised will go into providing Leeds girls, boys, and special educational needs children from five to 18 with access to modern high-class facilities which can be used all year round. It will help to develop their potential and create a life long love of many sports in the changing world.
“We have considered carefully who we would sell the site to. LCC have a desire to provide much-needed affordable housing to a deprived area of Leeds.
“We believe that by selling the site we can get rid of the burden of a derelict area that is not fit for purpose, using the funds raised to invest in providing sports facilities for the school children of Leeds.”
A Leeds Council spokesperson said:
“Through the city’s Site Allocation Plan (SAP), the council identified potential locations across the city for desperately needed council housing developments, which included in Wortley, the former Oldfield Lane sports pitch.
“The SAP was subject to extensive public consultation and a full public inquiry. Representations on this site were received from ward members, local residents and the majority owners of the site.
“Finding suitable land which could potentially be listed for inclusion is never easy, and we felt that the land at Oldfield Lane was appropriate, given it has not been in use for now 14 years and was previously identified for housing.
“We are aware of concerns which have been raised around the quality of playing provision in the area. We are extremely open and willing to work closely with local representatives and residents around what options are available to potentially enhance sporting facilities at other locations in and around the community. ”
Whelan and Deane interviewed by Look North earlier this year
In a section detailing the TV Harrison site, Leeds City Council’s site allocations plan stated:
“The development should provide new greenspace to extend the existing area of greenspace to the north and to create a green link across the site from this greenspace to Oldfield Lane, in accordance with West Leeds Gateway SPD.
“The existing sports facilities should be relocated in Leeds and / or local improvements to existing facilities in the locality of the site should be provided.”
Already sold: Armley Grange. Photo: Mark Stevenson
A consultation event will give West Leeds residents a say on plans to transform historic Armley Grange into a specialist school for children with a range of needs.
Grade II Listed Armley Grange has been bought by Horizon Care and Education for use as a specialist school for children aged seven to 19 years.
Horizon say there is significant need nationally for specialist provision for children with a range of needs, including those with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) difficulties, autism, ADHD and other conditions.
A Horizon spokesperson said:
“These children and young people struggle to access education in larger settings and require smaller more specialised schools to support them to reach their potential.”
Horizon aim to create a new access to the Armley Grange Drive site, reconfiguring the current 15 on-site car parking spaces, along with the creation of additional parking spaces.
They say trees will be protected, with additional specimens planted.
Ahead of a planning application being submitted to Leeds City Council, Horizon are hosting a public consultation event to invite the views of residents and help shape the plans for the refurbishment of the existing buildings.
A consultation event will discuss the future of Armley Grange. Photo: Mark Stevenson
“We are excited to have secured this very special site for our new school, which will be an inspirational setting to teach local children with special and individual needs.
“Horizon take the duty of protection of this key heritage asset for the future of Armley very seriously and we are working closely with the Local Conservation Officer in addressing their hopes for the building.
“Parking on site is to be doubled to provide sufficient on-site parking for staff, parents and visitors to avoid pressures on residents’ parking.
“We look forward to meeting with as many local residents on the 11th December as possible and will be happy to discuss our plans with them on the day.”
Horizon added that it is important that schools become valuable and respected community assets, supporting the education of local children and young people. The spokesperson added:
“In addition, we look to support local employment and our new school will create a range of full and part time jobs from qualified teachers and teaching assistants to administrators, gardeners, maintenance, cleaning, catering and other indirect jobs.”
Subject to the proposals being acceptable to Leeds City Council’s planning department and attaining approval from the Department for Education, Horizon hope to open in September 2020 with their first 25 students.
It is anticipated that after the Grange has undergone repair and refurbishment that it will support classrooms a further 25 students and open in Spring/Summer 2021
“The wildlife in this area was affected since the removal of all the mature trees in March 2018 with no notice to Leeds City Council planning or to the local community.
“There has been less bird life in this area and no presence of bats this year, unlike the recordings we made last year.”
The proposals include the raising of ground levels by the importation of inert waste and the construction of retaining walls
Two formal written objections have also been submitted to the plans, which can be viewed in full here.
