There’s also a special Christmas Market later in the day from 3pm.
The market includes locally produced foods and Christmas gifts. Choirs and bands will be performing.
In Pudsey House, you’ll find Santa’s Grotto from 3pm to 5pm, with children’s craft activities to keep the little ones occupied.
The festive activities continue down Manor House Street and Lowtown, with the Christmas Lights Switch On, fireworks, fairground rides, and live entertainment.
Switch-on programme
3pm-3.25pm Phased Rotation 3.45-4.10 Revival 4.30-4.55 The Sean Harrington Band 5.20-5.45 King Ray’s Council
6pm switch on with special guests and fireworks
6.15 Headline act ‘The Dunwells’
There will be dance routines in front of the main stage from DAZL Dance and Annie’s Academy of Theatre Dance, DAZL will be performing at 3.25pm and 4.55pm. Annie’s Academy of Theatre Dance will be performing at 4.10pm.
Road closures
Lowtown will be closed from 11am this Sunday for the Christmas lights Switch On and reopens at 9pm.
Residents and business owners are being asked to help keep the road clear of vehicles at the start of the closure.
Bus services that normally run up/down Lowtown will be diverted along Kent Road, Valley Road and Robin Lane. The bus station and all car parks will be open as normal.
Plans for a new £13 million unit supporting young people with complex mental health issues at St Mary’s Hospital have been given the green light.
The number of beds for children and adolescents suffering from mental health problems in Leeds will more than double from eight to 18, with an additional four psychiatric intensive care unit beds.
Leeds City Council planning officers approved the revised proposals originally submitted in June, which includes the demolition of the existing buildings, construction of a new part single/ part two storey facility with parking, soft and hard landscaping.
The hospital already offers disability and mental health services.
Farnley Academy has moved from being an ‘outstanding’ school to one that ‘requires improvement’, according to independent Ofsted inspectors.
The school, which was classed as outstanding at its previous Ofsted report in December 2013, recently hit the headlines following a complaint to Ofsted from the Leeds Local Authority.
The authority expressed concerns about off-rolling pupils to alternative provision at The Stephen Longfellow Academy (TSLA) in Holbeck, a claim denied by the Gorse Academies Trust, which runs both schools.
According to the Government off-rolling is ‘the practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without a formal, permanent exclusion or by encouraging a parent to remove their child from the school roll, when the removal is primarily in the interests of the school rather than in the best interests of the pupil’.
The report says Farnley Academy provides a ‘good quality’ of education but added concerns about the number of isolations and moving pupils to alternative provision.
It stopped short of accusing the school of off-rolling, but raised concerns about the decision to move pupils onto the roll of alternative provision run by the trust.
The report said:
“Although leaders have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour, they do not ensure that pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are consistently good.
“A small number of pupils do not engage in their learning as positively as they should. There is more that could be done for some so that they are able to remain in the school.
“A small number of pupils are isolated from main lessons too often. Several parents have chosen to home educate their children.
“Other pupils are moved from The Farnley Academy onto the roll of the trust’s alternative provision. Leaders could not convincingly explain why it was in each pupil’s best interests to move to the roll of the alternative provision, particularly during Year 11.
“Governors and trustees keep a careful check on the school’s academic performance. They challenge leaders to improve some aspects of the school.
“However, the local governing body and trustees have not had sufficient oversight of the school’s use of alternative provision and the reasons why pupils leave the school’s roll. Governors do not check well enough on the school’s strategies to improve pupils’ behaviour. They have not effectively challenged leaders to reduce the number of pupils who are isolated from the classroom. “
Inspectors have told the school that it should ensure that alternative provision is only considered after all options to support pupils in mainstream education have been exhausted. It adds:
“Leaders should ensure that appropriate records are maintained which show that the decision to place a pupil in alternative provision, or to move the pupil to the roll of the alternative provision, is made only when this is in the best interests of the pupil. “
The report also recommends that school leaders should regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s behaviour systems, including through a review of the number of pupils who are repeatedly internally or externally excluded.
Farnley Academy’s response
In a letter to parents distributed to pupils this afternoon and available on the school website, Principal Chris Stokes said:
“It is important for me to make clear at this point that, during their three days of Inspection activity, Ofsted found no evidence of ‘off-rolling’ taking place within our academy.
“We know this because inspectors told us this in their verbal feedback to us, and because the new Ofsted framework makes clear that, ‘when an inspection finds evidence of off-rolling taking place inspectors should always address this in the inspection report’.
“We continue to be clear, as we were with Ofsted, that any child who transferred to TSLA did so because it supported and improved their individual life chances. We are very proud of the achievements that these students went on to secure as a result of the exceptional support they received at TSLA.
“Anyone who spends time at The Farnley Academy knows it is a brilliant school which has, for many years achieved amazing things for its pupils and its community.
“It may therefore be difficult for you, as it was for us at first, to fully understand how the above judgements were reached. As you will see within the report, Ofsted are highly complementary about the work that takes place with the students who are on our main school site.
“They comment how our school is “…calm and well-organised”, how students “…behave well and are keen to succeed” and how “pupils feel safe and are confident staff will support them and help with any concerns”.
“In addition, Ofsted are clear that our work to educate and develop young people is of the very highest level. Ofsted commented that “Pupils personal development is promoted exceptionally well”, that “Pupils have plenty of opportunities to express their own opinions” and that “Leaders are ambitious for pupils.
“They do not shy away from expecting pupils to achieve as much as possible”. This assessment is of course backed up by our continuously improving academic performance which this year saw us achieve our best-ever GCSE results, placing our academy in the top 5% of schools in the country.
“Ofsted were less complimentary, however, about our work with the most challenging small minority of students who were in some cases significantly disrupting the learning of others in the academy, and we accept their assessment.
“Our work with these students, whilst thorough and driven by the highest level of integrity, was not well documented. Ofsted were therefore not able to review the support that had been put in place and see why the decision was made to move some of these students into alternative provision.
“This is a failing on our part and for this we apologise.
“I would seek to reassure all of our community that whilst the outcome of the Ofsted Inspection was not what any of us had hoped it would be, day in, day out, your child continues to receive the very highest level of education and guidance at The Farnley Academy.
“This is a view not only held by me as Principal but also by our staff and students. During our Inspection, hundreds of our students were spoken to by Ofsted Inspectors and their overwhelming view was that they “…feel safe and well cared for…”, that “…bullying is rare” and that overall The Farnley Academy “… is a great place to be.” We are immensely proud of our students for the way that they conducted themselves throughout our Inspection.
“The outcome of the Inspection will lead to no visible change to the school and the way that it functions. In the background, however, we will be continuing our work to ensure that all students, including those who are hardest to reach, achieve the best possible outcomes.
“We now have approximately 30 months until our next Inspection. Rest assured that during this time we will leave no stone unturned in our determination to have The Farnley Academy returned to its Outstanding status; a status which is of such great importance to our pupils, our families and our wider community.”
Rest of the report
Ofsted graded Farnley Academy in the following areas:
Good Behaviour and attitudes – Requires improvement
Personal development – Outstanding
Leadership and management – Requires improvement
Overall – Requires improvement
Pupils said they felt safe and well cared-for in the school.
“Pupils enjoy attending The Farnley Academy. The school is a calm and wellorganised place to learn. Many pupils work hard. They behave well and are keen to succeed. “
The report adds that most pupils achieve well:
“Leaders are ambitious for pupils. They do not shy away from expecting pupils to achieve as much as possible. Leaders have thought about what pupils should learn, when it would be best for them to learn it and why. Most pupils achieve well. Clear plans for all subjects outline what pupils should be taught and when. Teaching supports pupils to build up their knowledge. ”
UPDATE: Gorse Academies Trust has issued the following statement:
“Anyone who spends time at The Farnley Academy knows that it is also a brilliant school which has, for many years, achieved amazing things for its pupils and this community.
“Today’s Ofsted report highlights numerous positive aspects of the school, including that pupils’ personal development is ‘outstanding’, that the quality of education is ‘good’ and that pupils feel safe and well-cared for in school. We are very proud of these findings and many more.
“We also recognise that Ofsted says we have not been sufficiently conscientious to ensure that our record-keeping and administration processes around how we support some of our most challenging pupils have been of the standard both we and Ofsted expect.
“We got this wrong and we apologise.
“We make a firm and clear commitment to ensuring that this area of our work is improved so that it matches the clear areas of excellence rightly identified by Ofsted in its report.
“We are clear that we always act in the best interests of pupils, and many of the pupils who transferred from Farnley joined The Stephen Longfellow Academy, which is today commended by Ofsted.”
Pudsey Parish Church. Image courtesy Pudsey Parish Church
Residents who live in the constituency of Pudsey have a chance to ask questions of the candidates standing in the upcoming general election next week, writes Keely Bannister.
All five candidates who are standing in the election have been invited to the hustings which will be held at Pudsey Parish Church on Tuesday 3rd December.
Refreshments will be available from 7pm with a 7.30pm start and an expected finish of 9,30pm.
The format will see each candidate give a short opening and closing statement with five main questions to be answered and debated sandwiched in between.
Selected on the day, questions will come from residents and cover a range of subjects with candidates are not made aware of them before the hustings.
Pudsey constituency is made up of the council wards of Calverley & Farsley, Guiseley & Rawdon, Horsforth and Pudsey.
If you live in the Pudsey constituency and have a question you’d like the candidates to answer, e-mail it to office@pudseyparish.org.uk and attend the hustings to see if it was selected.
Santa and his sleigh will be present (thanks to his helpers at the Calverley Rotary Club) and children will be able to have their photo taken with the jolly man free of charge from 6pm at the park gates.
Other highlights of the fun packed evening will include a jazz band, hog roast and a children’s fairground.
Voters in Leeds West will be able to put their questions to General Election candidates at a special community-led hustings event in Bramley next week.
There was a good crowd at Leeds West hustings in 2017. Photo: Fran Graham
Candidates from all parties have been invited to the hustings in Bramley Community Centre on 5 December 2019 (doors 7.30pm for 8pm start).
Organisers are inviting people to email, tweet or facebook their questions for the candidates in advance and to come and meet the prospective MPs face to face, hear about their vision for the area, and to let the candidates know what is important to local people.
This is the third Bramley Hustings event. It is organised by five local residents: Sarah Hutchinson, Mark Law, Fran Graham, Alastair Hutchinson and Diane Law.
A general election hustings will tackle a variety of issues in Bramley. Photo: West Leeds Dispatch
Organisers are particularly encouraging people who may not usually vote – and younger voters – to come along or to send their questions in advance. Answers will be fed back through social media and email, and the event will be shared live through Twitter and Facebook.
Children are very welcome to attend with parents, and the organisers are inviting local children to share their questions via parents so that those unable to vote can ask about the future the candidates will be asking younger people to inherit.
To get in touch and send your questions in advance for the hustings:
Kirkstall Valley Development Trust is asking everyone in the city who supports the idea of a community-run farm to chip in to their crowdfunder campaign.
The 16-acre, council owned farm in Kirkstall, north of Cardigan Fields, has been farmed since the 1950s by a tenant farmer who died in 2017.
As reported by WLD last month, Leeds City Council has agreed to lease the 16-acre Burley Mills Farm (now known as Kirkstall Valley Farm) and allotments to the community for a minimum of five years from next April at an affordable rent.
The Council have now offered the lease to the Trust, who want to supply fresh veg to the local community through a vegetable box scheme, as well as making the farm a social and educational focus for the area.
The volunteers need around £20,000 for a tractor, equipment, green manure seed, toilets, polytunnels, a collection hut and social area and making the site secure.
One of the leading lights behind the campaign is local resident Roger Plumtree. He told WLD last month:
“We see a huge opportunity with the location of the farm. There are very few community farms across the country which are so close to the city centre and we’re hugely excited to be bringing real-world sustainable agriculture to the community.
“We want to bring agricultural land back into use, enhance wildlife on the site by preserving the boundaries and make it a community asset.”
KVDT director Chris Hill said:
“We are gathering buyers and volunteers and want to appoint a grower in early 2021, ready to move us to full production.”
The fundraising campaign is open until mid-January.
A Kirkstall councillor says targeted online advertising could be having an adverse impact on young people’s mental health, writes Local Democracy Reporter Richard Beecham.
It was suggested by Coun John Illingworth (Lab, Kirkstall) that “advertising and clickbait” was designed to make people “unhappy and dissatisfied” and called on the council to do more to challenge online media companies who carried the adverts.
The comments came during a discussion of Leeds City Council’s children’s scrutiny board on plans to help children and young people suffering from mental health problems.
Coun Illingworth said:
“This started me thinking about how the media are unhelpful in this regard. The advertising and clickbait is designed to make people unhappy and dissatisfied with their lot.
“It is quite effective – I’ve seen it work on people I know. They are pushed into mental health problems simply because of peer pressure and social pressure. Social media is very effective. It worries me how much pressure there is on vulnerable individuals to push them over the edge.
“I think we should be speaking to media content providers to ask for an audit about the effects on young people because sometimes it can be the start of a slippery slide that can lead to trouble.”
Commissioner for Children and Maternity Services at NHS Leeds CCG said:
“Social media is very complex, and I think that when you talk to young people, you get a balanced view of both the strength of what digital technology provides for them as a resource, but also as a risk.
“It is often a risk to those who are already vulnerable, and there is no simple response apart from educating.
“It’s difficult. It’s about how we educate parents and children in risks and benefits.
“Parents and adults often feel a little bit uncertain around social media. They are not so familiar.”
Coun Illingworth: “I was wondering whether we should have a more direct response with providers. It is their responsibility – we should say ‘have you considered the effect of this advertising on young people who do not have much money and not much self confidence. Do you really want them to spend £250 on a dress?’.”
Committee chair Coun Alan Lamb (Con, Wetherby) added:
“It would be quite a significant coincidence that there has been a significant rise in social, emotional and mental health problems that probably corresponds to the increase in social media technology. Is there anything that shows a direct link between the two?”
He was told that work was going on to equip people working with young people to be able to deal with issues around online and mental health.
Members had been discussing the council’s “Future in Mind: Leeds Strategy and Local Transformation Plan (2015-2020)”, which claimed to “improve the social emotional, mental health and wellbeing of children and young people aged 0-25.”
Ofsted concerns: Cobden Primary in Farnley. Photo: Google
Cobden Primary School in Farnley is still a ‘good’ school – but Ofsted inspectors have expressed concerns that standards may be declining.
Inspectors visited the the school, in Cobden Road, earlier this month and found pupils very positive about the school, which offers a safe and personal environment.
The report says pupils develop an appreciation of human creativity, achievement and spirituality. They enjoy activities such as visits from theatre groups and learning about artists and composers. The report says:
“They are well behaved around school and have positive attitudes to learning, especially in key stage 2. Almost all pupils are motivated to succeed. They try their hardest in their work. “
There’s also praise about safeguarding, attendance and that leaders have improved some parts of the curriculum.
Staff are well-trained in how to teach mathematics and important areas of the mathematics curriculum are planned well and taught in an order that helps pupils understand. But the report adds:
“Over time, pupils’ early reading and mathematical knowledge and skills have been weak. Pupils are still making a slow start in their learning.
“They have not got time to catch up by the end of Year 6. Although pupils’ achievement in mathematics is improving, many older pupils cannot quickly recall times tables and number facts. Younger children are not grasping important mathematical concepts or learning and remembering key facts.”
The report adds;
“Many pupils do not achieve well across the curriculum. Published data for the end of each key stage shows that a large proportion do not meet the government’s expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
“Leaders must ensure that pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics quickly improve. “
The report says that the school’s approach to the teaching of phonics is slowly becoming stronger, but further work must be done to ensure that younger children’s phonics knowledge and language skills give them the foundations for all learning.
There also needs to be a greater urgency in teaching and higher expectations of what children and pupils know by the end of each term.
The report adds:
“Some pupils are starting to develop a love of reading. Further work is needed to raise the profile of reading in school and allow all pupils time to read. Reading areas and class libraries are not well used. Leaders need to ensure pupils read regularly in school so that they can read fluently and with understanding.
“The curriculum is becoming more coherently planned and sequenced in history and geography. Leaders must ensure that further work is completed so that this is the case for all subjects, especially in the creative arts and technology subjects.”
Barbara Taylor Bradford was recently presented with The Leeds Award, which recognises those who have made an enormous contribution to the city. She's pictured with former Leeds Lord Mayor Eileen Taylor. Photo: 2019.
Celebrated Armley-born novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford has received one of the Leeds’s highest civic honours.
The Leeds Award formally recognises those who have made an enormous contribution to the city, with their names proudly displayed on the wall in the antechamber of Leeds Civic Hall.
Barbara was presented with her award by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Eileen Taylor, as part of a special event in London at her publishing house, HarperCollins Publishers.
Born in Leeds in 1933, Barbara attended nursery school in Upper Armley along with Alan Bennett. She began work as a typist on the Yorkshire Evening Post and quickly progressed to a reporter.
Barbara is now a multi-million-copy bestselling author and wrote one of the biggest selling novels of the 20th century, A Woman of Substance. This year marks the book’s 40th anniversary.
A Yorkshire woman through and through, Barbara has woven Leeds into many of her novels, including A Woman of Substance, and often champions her home city on an international stage.
Collectively, Barbara’s books have sold more than 92 million copies worldwide in more than 90 countries and 40 languages, with ten of her books being made into television mini-series and television movies.
Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE said:
“I was surprised but truly thrilled when I was informed that I would receive the Leeds Award and that my name would be written on the wall of fame in the Civic Hall.
“What a wonderful honour. I have always loved Leeds and actually did start my working career on the Yorkshire Evening Post. I remember those days with great affection and Leeds will always have a special place in my heart.”
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Eileen Taylor, said:
“The Leeds Award was designed to honour those people that have made an enormous contribution and achieved so much in their respective fields, and there is no better recipient than Barbara, who has worked tirelessly to champion our city.”
