Pupils preview schools' grand designs

Pupils got a unique preview into what the future of Tameside's schools may look like.

Members of the Tameside Student Voice Group - a group of 40 pupils representing young people from secondary schools across the borough - met the bidders for the £164m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme at a consultation event held at Dukinfield Town Hall.

Short-listed contractors, including Environments for Learning, Inspired Spaces and Community Partnerships for Tameside, discussed with pupils their designs and ideas on how they hope to transform the borough's secondary schools. They gauged the young people's opinions on specific aspects of their plans, such as proposed new facilities, ICT and communications.

The event will help the bidders draw up their submissions and will also contribute to the schools' and students' own BSF-based projects.

Seven secondary schools are to be built and two further schools refurbished as part of the first phase of the borough's BSF programme.

Three potential contractors have been short-listed to submit their initial bids, due in on October 12 2007, for project. The winning bid is due to be in announced in May 2008.

Tameside Council's executive member for lifelong learning, Cllr Ged Cooney, said: "It is important to us to ensure young people are involved - and have their say - in every stage of the BSF programme.

"This was a brilliant opportunity for pupils to help shape the designs and ideas which will make up the bids for the BSF contract as well as give them an insight in to what their schools may look like in the future."

Musical youth

Hundreds of children from local primary schools are discovering hidden musical talents.

Tameside Music Service piloted a project in nine local schools to teach children how to play musical instruments in whole class situations. The instruments concerned include guitars, recorders, brass and strings.

Parents and families were invited to see the budding new musicians in action at two concerts held in the grand setting of Hyde Town Hall.

Tameside Council music service manager Godfrey Calcutt: "This project has been a resounding success and is now being rolled out to many more primary schools."

Online school admissions

Tameside parents who have children moving up from primary to secondary school can use the internet to apply for a school place.

The online scheme means that all mums, dads and carers need to apply for a secondary school place is a valid email address.

The service can be accessed by following the links on Tameside Council's website at www.tameside.gov.uk/schools/admissions/applyonline between September 10 and the closing date for applications on October 19 this year.

At the beginning of the autumn term, each year six pupil will receive a "Moving On 2008" booklet and application form from their primary school.

It's hoped that parents will respond enthusiastically to the online school application initiative, which was launched in 2006. It is a more efficient and environmentally friendly process due to less paper being used. Many parents made applications online last year and were very happy with the ease of the process.

The online application process will not replace the usual, written forms - parents can still use the standard forms if they choose.

For further information regarding the online process, ring Paula Barnett on 0161 342 3208.

Splendid Time

The rainy weather didn't dampen people's enthusiasm for attending Tameside's top summer attractions this year.

Thousands of people descended on Hyde Park for its Splendid Weekend. The two day music festival saw Manchester Camerata on stage on the Saturday night for a ‘Proms in the Park' classical music extravaganza. The theme this year was ‘Movie Magic' and the programme included excerpts from some of the greatest film scores ever written including Star Wars, Harry Potter, James Bond, Ben Hur. The evening finished with the traditional last night of the proms flag-waving classics, including Rule Britannia and Pomp and Circumstance.

Local singing sensation Jon Christos made a special guest appearance at the event along with mezzo-soprano Juliette Pochin. Both stars took to the stage at the end of the night to lead the audience through their own rendition of the great Proms classic ‘Jerusalem', before a firework finale set to Goodwin's 633 Squadron.

On Sunday, international soul-singing sensations "The Commitments" were the draw of the day. The Dublin-based group entertained the audience with their fast-tempo tracks and slick routines. Local band "The Cassettes" also performed at the event for the first time. Manchester's own Green Hot Clover performed some Irish favourites and international bands Al Assala and Association al Maossilia de la Musique Gharnati gave the event a taste of world music.

The event was organised by the council's arts and events team and supported by Hyde District Assembly.

Splashing time in Stalybridge

The annual Stalybridge Splash street festival attracted plenty of visitors this year despite the rain.

Armentieres Square in the town centre was transformed with a programme of live music and street theatre.

There was also a traditional farmers' market with hand crafted goods and alternative food with everything from black puddings to sugar roasted nuts.

Black Knight rides again

The Black Knight rode into Ashton, marking the opening of this year's pageant. He was greeted by the Mayor, Cllr Michael Smith and the chair of Ashton District Assembly, Cllr Bill Harrison. Hundreds of people lined the town centre streets, to watch the parade of floats.

Cllr Bill Harrison said: "I'd like to thank all those groups and businesses that have taken time to enter the parade and to invest the effort in decorating their floats. It was wonderful to see the town centre buzzing with activity and so many people enjoying themselves."

The procession was followed by a street festival which took place at various sites around Ashton market ground.

White Bridge set to close to traffic

Work is starting on a £1.6 million project by Network Rail to ensure King Street Bridge on the A627 in Dukinfield, known locally as The White Bridge, meets current standards for roads passing over railway lines.

Preparatory work started in mid-August but the main work will be carried out from September onwards until a planned completion in December. This will necessitate the closure of the road over the bridge from Monday September 17 for approximately 12 weeks.

This work is part of a national programme to look at 10,000 road-over-rail bridges nationwide now that 40 and 44 tonnes lorries are permitted on Britain's roads under EU regulations. Any bridges that do not meet the latest criteria will either be strengthened or, if necessary, completely rebuilt.

If the work is not done now, it could mean a permanent weight restriction being imposed that will have an impact on buses, the emergency services and the public.
A diversionary route has been agreed along Astley Street and Globe Lane and will be signposted well in advance of the closure, although some delays are anticipated.
Arrangements are also being made for the necessary changes to bus services. A regular shuttle bus service is to be provided from the Bridge to Ashton operated by Stagecoach, with standard fares, through ticketing and maintaining the normal Megarider and other ticketing service facilities. Details are available from the GMPTE and at bus stations and en route.

Pedestrians will still be able to use the bridge throughout the work because a temporary footbridge will be built alongside the existing bridge.

Executive member for engineering Cllr Alan Whitehead said: "This work is part of an essential works programme being undertaken by Network Rail, so needs to be done. Although there will be no disruption to pedestrains, vehicles will have to use the diversion route while work is being carried out - I would like to thank everyone in advance for their patience."

Building a better future for Tameside

Improving the quality of life of people living and working in the borough by providing a clear vision and priorities is an ongoing challenge for the council and its partner organisations.

The council has a Community Strategy, which sets out this vision and in its latest version sets out six priorities that are important to residents - and these became priorities after listening and responding to residents' concerns.

The strategy sets out the priorities and gives examples of what will be done to achieve them. The priorities are to provide :

Supportive Communities
Prosperous Society
Learning Community
Attractive Borough
Safe Environment
Healthy Population

Cllr Roy Oldham, Chair of Tameside's Strategic Partnership, said: "In 2003 you told us that you wanted a safe, attractive borough, that was prosperous, healthy and supportive and that provided opportunities for learning for everyone. These were the priorities that you saw as most important.

"Working in partnership with many organisations and sharing our commitment to these priorities has resulted in better services and experiences for local people and the hard work carries on. "

These are two examples of working in partnership:

State of Independence... supporting communities

The Supporting People Programme funds housing related support to allow people to live independently. The Threshold Housing Project is one of a number of projects funded by the Programme that supports people in their own homes, helping them to stay independent and avoid homelessness.

Staff offer advice and support with budgeting and claiming benefits, and also work closely with other agencies to make sure that each person gets the support that suits them.

Stuart, who is living independently thanks to the work of his Tenancy Support Worker, said: "If she wasn't here, I'd be stuck."

Supporting People also funds sheltered accommodation options for people who require a different kind of support, where residents are able to live in their own property whilst also benefiting from shared community facilities and a warden on site.

Winnie from Hyde, has lived in sheltered accommodation in Hyde for nearly 10 years. She said of her sheltered home: "It's a really nice place to live. You're still in your own home and you know there's somebody there to help if you need them."

Jobs on offer…creating a prosperous society

Partnership working is also helping people to help themselves. One Stalybridge resident who had been out of work for several years bringing up her children, got a job after attending a jobs fair in Hyde earlier this year.

Caroline from Denton got a job with a recruitment firm after speaking to a number of different employers. She said: "This job has made a real difference to my life, I get out and about now, I am not just stuck at home. I'd recommend these jobs fairs, go along, you have nothing to lose".

More than 24 employers from Ashton Park Garden Centre to MI5, all with vacancies, were involved in the Jobs Fair which was a joint initiative organised by the Tameside Employment Partnership which includes the Council, Job Centre Plus and Connexions.

The event, attended by more than 1,400 local people, is one of the ways working together is creating a more prosperous community, attracting new job opportunities to Tameside. The next Jobs Fair is planned for 29 January, 2008 between 12 and 4pm at Ashton Town Hall.

Working together with residents

Residents are playing a huge part in helping to fulfil the ambition to improve the borough. Dozens of local residents have really boosted the attractiveness of the borough by working together to create community gardens, winning the recent Green Pennant Awards. And children from St James' Primary in Ashton are among nine local primary schools who took part in the recent ‘Tameside in Bloom' competition.

"The pupils have been planting vegetables at Whiteacres Nursery on Romney Street and it's projects like these have many lessons for children and the whole family. We hope they will take the healthy eating message home." said project head Cllr Dave Sweeton.

What are our priorities for the future?

Early this year the council asked 2000 Tameside residents if these six priorities were still important and more than 90 per cent agreed that they were.

Organisations including the council, the police, the primary care trust as well as local housing associations are committed to working with residents towards these priorities.
If you want to find out more about how organisations in Tameside are working together and the priorities they share you can get your copy of the Community Strategy from our website: www.tameside-strategic-partnership.org.uk , or contact the Partnership Co-ordinator on 0161 342 8355.