Education

At Godolphin, We Don’t Believe in Open Days

We want parents to discover the real Godolphin. That is why we offer Snapshots instead.

Held on Friday mornings and limited to 10 families, this is your chance to truly experience the school. No formal presentations. No carefully-crafted exhibitions. No students coached to give model answers. Instead, watch real classes and discover our fantastic facilities. Speak with staff and ask students questions. You can also meet the Head. Our Snapshots are designed to help you discover if Godolphin is right for you.

Located in the heart of Salisbury, we have educated young women for almost 300 years. We teach girls from Prep to Sixth Form, providing a consistent and unified approach to education. Although historic in appearance, the school is welcoming and supportive.

Our mix of tradition and progress ensures students are prepared for life’s challenges, and are ready to leave their mark on the world. We deliver a holistic education, where self-worth is built on gaining academic knowledge, practical skills and critical thinking.

If you want a school that realises potential and nurtures individual talent, then Godolphin could be the perfect match.

Book your Snapshots place now at www.Godolphin.org.

Jackie’s County Corner for February

So what on earth is an LCWIP? The joint HCC/WCC consultation on the Winchester Movement Strategy, including consultation on HCC’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Pan (LCWIP) . The consultation is open until Friday 11th February. Please respond if you can. The LCWIP consultation is within the consultation. You may wish to respond to this even if you do not respond to the whole of the WMS. For a paper copy, please call 0300 555 1388 The link is www.hants.gov.uk/transport/transportschemes/ winchester-movement-strategy. There is also a consultation on Home to School transport. It should come to a ‘parent-mail’ near you!

Are you (or someone you know) struggling to pay for food, rent and fuel? The County has a fund to combat the effects of Covid-19 to help families, and now it includes help for adults of all ages. There are a variety of ways in which you can get help, and there are grants to help others too. Search ‘Connect4Communities’ on www.hants.gov. uk website for the details. If you need help and don’t know where to turn, call Winchester Citizens Advice on 0808 278 7861 or call the County on 0300 555 1384, or email connect4communities@hants. gov.uk

You will have heard a lot about child protection, and some terrible failures in care in other parts of the country. Please remember that you can report concerns about an adult or child: this will be quickly investigated by the Multi Agency Team, and then assessed if necessary by a social worker for ongoing work with that family. For children’s services call 0300 555 1388 (Out of hours : call 0300 555 1373). For an adult, 0300 555 1386, or the Police on 101, or in an emergency, call 999. At HCC, the Directors write an occasional blog on the website. I was particularly struck by the Children’s Services Director’s blog just before Christmas. When politics turns nasty, and we argue there’s not enough money to keep open our libraries, mend road pot holes, cut hedges etc, it is humbling to realise that every day HCC Social services and many other services are trying to protect even the youngest of us with a commitment that defines true ‘Public Service’. If you are involved in this: thank you. If you’d like to explore fostering a child, please go to www.hants.gov.uk/ socialcareandhealth/fostering

In March there is another scrutiny of the Gigabit broadband scheme’s Community Fibre Partnerships. BDUK responses (a branch of the DCMS) have been extremely slow and frustrating, and we fear that despite communities working so hard on this, they will be disappointed by the process and the result.

The Wellhouse Lane railway bridge is going to be closed to everyone for 14 weeks until the 15th April. Life will be complicated for many of us until this work (conducted by Cala) ends. But when it does, there will be traffic lights, with push buttons to stop traffic so pedestrians can use the marked paths under the bridge, cyclists too. At off peak times, the traffic lights will be red both sides until someone wants to go through- this will slow speeds into the village. A path will lead from the west side of the bridge to link to Kings Barton cycle path on the development.

Many people ask me how the refugee families are being welcomed here. HCC arranges accommodation, social events, school places, language, culture and driving lessons as well as upgrading skills to UK standards. Over 27 refugee families have been hosted to date by Hampshire, but you may have seen that some prefer to move on ‘out of County’ because they have family elsewhere in the UK. Well over 300 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children are also in the County Council’s care.

Cllr Jackie Porter Jackie.porter@hants.gov.uk 07973 696 085, ansaphone: 01962 791054 Website: www.jackieporter.co.uk