Kingsway Villagers

I thought I would update all readers about the remaining places available at the school for this academic year. After a flurry of new admissions, the following number of places are available:

Reception - FULL
Year 1: 9
Year 2: 9
Year 3: FULL
Year 4: FULL
Year 5: 11
Year 6: 10

In summary, of the 120 places available for this year, only 39 remain. I know that some residents are waiting until the school opens its doors in January for Y1 to 6 but it may be too late by this point. Please do enrol in your local school and help build our community.

If you require a place at the school, then call 01452 425077 and speak directly to the Headteacher, Mrs Needham. If you want a place in a year group that is already full, then please do contact us and we can try to help you.

Mrs Needham

This post was submitted by Paula Needham.

I just thought I’d put a post up detailing what I know about the meeting on Friday.

The location is still assumed to be the Community Centre, but Cllr Bryan Claridge is still chasing it.
Any issues and/or venue changes will be posted as soon as they are known.

The actual meeting will be chaired by the Parish Council to ensure it is properly done and has oversight!

The agenda will (roughly) be:

• Welcome and introductions
• Overview of the Association and what is required of the meeting.
• Job descriptions to be filled.
• Election of officers.
• Any other business.
• Date of next meeting.

Apologies for things not being more definite. As soon we have any more information it will be passed on.

To say a bit more about the roles:

We will need to elect at least a Chair-Person and a Secretary.
The Chair will be responsible for running meetings and representing the organisation.
The Secretary will be responsible for ensuring that people know what they are supposed to be doing and for keeping minutes of the meetings.

These are very rough and will not be the only roles, but are the minimum of what we will need to allow a mandate to be developed and push the organisation on. I would like to see a Social Secretary too, and any other role which may be useful.

However, people do need to volunteer for these roles and be willing to do them, otherwise nothing will happen except wasting everybody’s time, so please think carefully about whether you can contribute!

This post was submitted by Baz_k.

I have visited the blog for the first time today and it’s interesting the issues that residents have about the Village.

I moved to Kingsway 4 months ago and have cringed at the amount of near accidents I have seen on the bend which leads up to the new Kingsway School.

I thought the majority of people would use their common sense when parking, but obviously not!

Does it have to wait until a child is hurt for people to stop doing it?

I do understand people’s comments about visitor parking but - to be honest - when it comes to residents cars, you should make sure that the house you buy has adequate parking for your needs.

Kingsway Village was not designed for off-street parking and this was very clear to me when looking for a suitable property.

This post was submitted by cac.

I am rather upset at seeing certain dogs not on leads in Kingsway. There are 2 in particular which have caught my eye:
1 is a black Rotweiller that I’ve seen quite a few times now. On one occassion my partner said “it looks old and harmless”, until he saw our dog (on a lead)… he never moved so quick! Went from looking old to looking as agile (and scary) as anything! This worries me as I have a smallish dog, a young child and live where other families let their children play outside.
The second is a Staffordshire Terrier. No lead again (and if you read the ‘papers today, a “Staffy” ripped out part of a 7-year-old’s throat)!

I feel it is the owners responsibility to keep their dog on a lead and the local Community Police Patrol’s responsibility to intervene if they see it happening. So far - every time I’ve been about to mention it - they’ve gone by the time I’ve got out of the house (apart from the incident with the Rotweiller… which was shocking)!

I read the previous post on this subject (Kingsway Canine Concerns) and noted the comment posted by Clive which said:

“I found this information about the law regarding this subject:

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
UK legislation introduced in response to various incidents of serious injury / death due to attacks by aggressive / uncontrolled dogs, (particularly on children).
These incidents received heavy media coverage, causing much public concern and - ultimately - resulted in this legislation.
Four breeds in particular were targeted by the Act: Pit Bull Terriers (Note: ‘Pit Bull’ is not a breed but refers to several different breeds), Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa.
The legislation makes it illegal to own any of these dogs without specific exemption from a court, and the dogs must be neutered, muzzled and kept on a lead in public. They must also be registered and insured and receive microchip implants.
With regard to where to report them, I looked around and it seems like it’s the responsibilty of the Police, but you could also contact the National UK Canine Helpline on 0844 856 3303 to ask for advice / guidance.”

I hope someone who reads this can make the owners aware, or any other dogs seen not to be not on their leads… I would hate to come back here to report that something terrible has happened to my little one (or anybody’s)!

This post was submitted by MissC.

Kingsway Village Residents Association

A brand new village offers a great opportunity for
us all to influence how the community develops.

A Residents Association could help by:

• Liaising with Parish and City Councils on our behalf
• Coordinating Village-based social events
• Giving us a voice within the (larger) community
• Coordinating groups like Neighbourhood Watch
• Liaising with the Police and similar services

Thus…

• Improving the quality of life for all Kingsway residents
• Making Kingsway a more desirable place to live
• Increasing the value of local property

A Meeting will be held at 7pm on Fri’ 27th June
(at the new Kingsway Comunity Centre)
… to launch the Association and
… to elect people for key positions (volunteers are welcome).

We’d love to see you there
(The more who turn up, the more representative the Association will be).

To get more information and/or join the discussions,
visit The Kingsway Blog(!) or call Barry on 722699

The venue for the meeting is subject to change because we are still awaiting confirmation that it will be available in time. An alternative is available, so we will confirm (and give directions) on here, nearer the time.

We are - as said - hoping that a good number of residents will attend to show support for the Association, to elect people for those key positions, and - indeed - to volunteer for those positions.

You can read more about the subject and see previous discussions in our Residents Association Category.

4 solar-powered lights were stolen from a garden in Thatcham Avenue between the hours of 10:00pm yesterday and 6:30am this morning.

The light-fingered intruders made off with the goods stolen from the front garden of the property, leaving behind the 2 situated closest to the house.

Kingsway residents should take heed, these things often come in spats, so be on the lookout for suspicious activity and people wandering around in the early hours, or you could be next!

Anybody with information regarding the theft can contact the local community police team on 0845 090 1234 quoting incident number #338 - 12/06/’08.

There still remains some confusion over how to get a place at the Kingsway School and I thought it wise to summarise everything here. It remains the most accurate and effective guide to what steps to follow!

If your child is starting school and is requiring a place in our reception classes in whatever year (2008, 2009, 2010 etc):
Admissions are controlled by the Admission Team at Shire Hall (01452 425407). Please contact them directly for advice. There is a section of Gloucestershire County Council’s website devoted to admissions and this explains everything you need to know - here.

If you want to ‘get in the system’ and ensure that you are known by myself and the school, it is also worth completing a registration form and we will hold it on file until the right time. This means you do not get forgotten and are alerted to all procedures in advance. I should emphasise that this is not an application to the school and does not guarantee you a place.

There are 30 places in our reception class until 2012, then we increase to 60 places. HOWEVER, if applications for places exceeds 30, then we can open up the second classroom earlier than this. As far as we are concerened every Kingsway reception child will get a place at their local school.

If your child is in Y1 to Y6 then it is me, as Headteacher, who allocates admissions to the school. The procedure is as follows:

If you want a place at the school then you need to complete an application form. On receipt of this application form, I can allocate you a place if I have room. It is that simple!
Again, it is our purpose to ensure that all children in the Kingsway area will get a place at the local school.
We currently have 15 places in each of these year groups (Y1 has 15, Y2 has 15 etc) but can increase this as need demands.
Application forms are available from
Kingsway Primary School,
c/o Shire Hall,
Westgate Street,
Gloucester,
GL2 2TP
or tel: 01452 425077
or email: paula.needham@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Finally, here is the update on our opening date:

Pupils in our Reception class 2008 will be taught as Kingsway Primary school but in a temporary classroom on the grounds of Beech Green Primary School. They will be in practical terms a school in a school. As soon as the school is ready, these pupils will move over to the school building. We have been told this week that this will be possibly the middle of December but it may be sooner. This decision belongs to QUVL.

As there are only two classrooms at Beech Green, we cannot admit any other year groups until the school is handed over. This decison again belongs to QUVL but we will be moving as soon as the building is ready for occupancy. Pupils in Y1 to Y6 will therefore be invited to move from their current schools from about mid December onwards but certainly no later than Monday 5th January 2009. We believe that most parents will prefer to allow their children to complete the Christmas term at their current school and then join in the Christmas celebrations rather than join us for a fortnight. Hence the reason we feel our opening for Y1 to Y6 is more likely to be January.

Hope this all makes sense now.

Mrs Needham
Headteacher

This post was submitted by Paula Needham.

Hi All,

I’d just like to introduce myself as the Site Manager for the new Kingsway Primary School.
Some of you may already have met me, but I’ve just found your Kingsway blog so thought it would be a good idea to say hello and give you all an update on the progress of the School.

With three months to go until completion, the building is really starting to come together. Our dedicated & skilled construction team continues to strive to deliver an excellent and eye catching addition to the new Kingsway Village.

This month the internal scaffolding has been dropped, and the graceful curves of the naturally lit learning spaces have become apparent. Brilliantly red render has seared onto the external walls, whilst eco-friendly design additions, such as the naturally ventilating ‘wind catchers’ and solar heat panels have been installed. The sports pitch and playgrounds have begun to take shape, with landscaping commencing to create habitat and planting areas.

As we move through the summer, we’re confident that we’ll present a building that will not only serve as a first class school, but will add a real ‘wow’ factor to the local community.

Additionally I’ve also set up a Facebook group, ‘Constructing the New Kingsway Primary School, Quedgeley’, where I’ll be posting progress pictures and updates for everybody who is keen to see how the new school is shaping up.

To close, I’d just like to say that I would welcome any comments on the building so far. Speller-Metcalfe are committed to being considerate constructors; if we can do anything to help, be it organising a site visit for the Kingsway Village Residents Group, or by doing something to make the lives of residents affected by the hustle and bustle of the building work easier, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Best Regards

Adrian Speller
Site Manager
On behalf of
Speller-Metcalfe Ltd.

This post was submitted by adrian.speller.