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HAVE A BALL: Parents step in to organise end of year dance for Oakbank
Parents host pub prom
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EXCLUSIVE By LAURA SCARDARELLA lscardarella@wokingham. today
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YOU SHALL go the the ball. Forget the fairy godmother, parent power has saved a Shinfield secondary school’s prom.
Oakbank school was originally due to host its Year 11 prom on Wednesday, July 14, at Trunkwell House Hotel. Due to covid, the staff at Oakbank decided to cancel the event without offering an alternative date to the students. Now, some parents have taken matters into their own hands and decided to lead the prom themselves. Helen Snell, Emma Clapham and Maria Dyball secured The Black Boy pub as their chosen venue to host the celebration. Taking place on Wednesday, September 1, students will be able to dance the night away. Mrs Snell said she wanted to organise the prom because the students had missed out on so much over the past 18 months. She said: “This will be the last time they’re all together before college and they have already had a lot cancelled because of covid, so we wanted to put this together
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ORGANISERS: Maria Dyball, Emma Clapham and Helen Radford have planned a prom for Oakbank School pupils at The Black Boy, after the school cancelled its end of year event Picture: Steve Smyth so they can have fun and enjoy being together before they all leave school. “We’ve had so many parents offer their help already, with one dad doing the music, someone else sorting out the balloons, and lots are donating things to help piece the party together.” A red carpet will be rolled out for photogrpahs. Although almost half of the pupils have already agreed to attend, Mrs Snell is hoping to reach out to more of the students so the whole
year can be included. She added: “The school isn’t able to advertise this for us but we really want to make sure that every child in the year knows about it and comes along.” All parents at the prom are DBS checked with a first aid trainer present on the night. James Newman-Webb, general manager at The Black Boy, said: “We are more than happy to help our community with this special prom and are so happy that children are now able to celebrate
Ofsted praises council HIGH PRAISE was given to Wokingham Borough Council’s children services after a recent Ofsted visit. Carried out remotely, inspectors looked at social workers’ practices and outcomes for children. It looked at a range of information, including case audits, records and holding case discussions with social workers. Ofsted said it saw a vast improvement since the last inspection two years ago, with “considerable advances in the quality of social work practice and outcomes for children.” Recognition was given for the compass team, a specialist service launched in June last year for children on the edge of care, to help keep families together. Inspectors said the service reacted quickly to pandemic
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challenges, with staff able to adapt to remote working. The inspector praised the relationship social workers had built with
parents and children. Cllr Graham Howe, executive member for children’s services, said he is “delighted” with the outcome of the Ofsted visit.
the end of their very difficult school year. “We are very much looking forward to seeing all the children enjoying themselves and hope they enjoy a well deserved celebration at The Black Boy.” Entry is via ticket only, and is only for the school’s Year 11 students. Tickets cost £15 and include food and drink. n Any Year 11 Oakbank students who wish to attend are asked to email oakprom21@hotmail.com
He said: “I am proud of the team for delivering such a good service to safeguard the children of the borough and demonstrating such a vast improvement since the previous visit two years ago,
especially during a global pandemic, is a huge achievement.” He said safety and wellbeing of children is a key priority for the council. n For more details, visit wokingham.gov. uk
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