New Westfield school kitchen opens

Pupils at Westfield Primary School in York will taste the first meals from their brand new kitchen and dining room this week following an £650,000 refit.

The school kitchen and dining room have undergone an ambitious refurbishment, turning a tired and dysfunctional space into an efficient facility where staff can prepare nutritious lunches for the x pupils.

Cllr Andrew Waller, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for the Environment, City of York Council, said: “This has been a major refurbishment scheme for the school and so pleased that the staff, students and community will now get the opportunity to reap the rewards of all the hard work as a One Planet York project.”

The kitchen and dining refurbishment at Westfield Primary school was to completely change two very large connected spaces that were bowing under the weight of their inefficiency.  The only way to solve the problems was to take a holistic One Planet approach and transform all aspects of these areas from the roofs down.

The result is one where we can say that energy efficiency has been truly optimised:

Westfield school

The leaking roofs over the dining room and kitchen have been entirely recovered;

Insulation has been installed between the roof spaces;

Suspended ceilings now provide warmth along with acoustic cushioning;

Tired single glazing has been replaced by new double glazed windows;

LED lighting has been installed throughout which will make a huge difference to the reduction of electrical output;

The kitchen has been completely re designed, reducing clutter and making the kitchen operation slicker;

New energy efficient kitchen equipment has been installed, reducing cooking times and streamlining food production whilst maintaining the already high standard of nutrition;

A new servery now makes queuing for meals a faster operation whilst allowing the pupils to see the food as it is being served;

School staff now have the space to guide pupils in and out of the queue to new dining tables;

This project has made Westfield Primary’s kitchen and dining areas enviably sustainable for many years to come

Westfield school modernisation contract let

Westfield school

The York Council has awarded a contract to F.Parkinson to refurbish the kitchen and dining room, replace roof coverings and replace single glazed windows at Westfield primary school

The contract is valued at  £576,675.
The Council says that the decision was based on cost (60%) and quality (40%).
The tender exercise was carried out in conjunction with Commercial Procurement Consultation category. The opportunity was issued out via YorTender York Councils web portal. This scheme was approved at Cabinet Executive on 15/03/18.

£1.5 million cut from York children’s centres as eleven set to close

Westfield axed, Hob Moor retained

The Childrens Centre at Hob Moor school is being retained

The Childrens Centre at Hob Moor school is being retained

The Council is planning to replace most of its children’s centres with mobile support staff following a survey of residents views. The results of the survey – which attracted 981 responses, can be viewed here

A report to a Council committee meeting next week gives more details of the plans

The report says, “These new Local Area Teams would bring together a range of existing services to form a new set of preventative arrangements for families from pregnancy through to adult hood. By working in a more coordinated way with partners and communities, the new arrangements will deliver more effective and efficient ways of whole family and community based working”.

The teams will be based at the three retained children’s centres which will be located at:

  • Hob Moor
  • Clifton &
  • Tang Hall

However, the report does not detail what will happen to the space freed up by the closure of the other centres

The Council faces a dilemma as the government may choose to “claw back” £4.4 million of the grant which was used to establish the centres in the first place.

The Council has also announced that it will close the Castlegate young people’s drop in centre and move it to  Sycamore House on Clarence Street

Westfield school receives national recognition for work with ‘disadvantaged’ pupils

Three primary schools in York have received a letter from a Government Minister recognising their work with ‘disadvantaged’ pupils.

Westfield school

Westfield school

Clifton Green Primary, Poppleton Road Primary and Westfield Primary schools all received a congratulatory letter from David Laws, Minister for Schools, following the excellent results of their disadvantaged pupils.

To receive a letter of congratulations, schools had to show:

  • consistent high attainment of their disadvantaged pupils between 2012 and 2014 in reading, writing and maths;
  • that high proportions of their disadvantaged pupils are making the expected progress in reading, writing and maths;
  • consistently high or improving attainment for other pupils;
  • that they got a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ rating in their latest Ofsted inspection.

Schools in York are working with the council, and a wider range of partners, to close the attainment gap between the results of disadvantaged pupils and their peers.

Tracey Ralph, Headteacher at Westfield Primary School, said: “The letter was specifically about Key Stage 2 test results, but we are successful with pupils sustained improvements in standards and it is lovely for the staff to receive recognition for all their hard work, along with our parents, community and governors who have helped our children achieve this. ”
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Askham Lane residents petition for pedestrian crossing

Residents are looking forward to welcoming back the lollipop lady to the crossing point on Askham Lane shortly.

To help her—and make crossing safer throughout the whole of the day—parents have asked Andrew Waller to push for the installation of a pedestrian crossing..

petition form - click

petition form – click

Copies of the petition can be obtained by ringing Andrew on York 337757 or by downloading from here http://tinyurl.com/Askham

The campaign is also aimed at improving  parking discipline  where pedestrians are being put at risk. 

The petition reads

For many years the community has benefitted from a school crossing patrol on Askham Lane but since Christmas the council has not been able to provide this, and residents are concerned that there is  risk to pedestrians (young and old) on what is a very busy road.

We the undersigned request that a pedestrian crossing is established at the crossing point on Askham Lane to Westfield School. This is to assist with the safe crossing by residents, especially school children, on this busy road.

 

Hob Moor and Westfield Primary schools create banners for Tour de France

To help celebrate the Tour de France Grand Départ, over 100 banners are being designed and produced by primary schools in York in time to display at York Racecourse on Sunday 6 July.

Tour de France banner

The school project, organised by the council’s sport and active leisure team, has a theme of ‘Tour de France: What path will you take?’ and will see 110 white canvas banners decorated by school children.

The banners will be returned to the school that made them after the event as a memento of the day. The schools taking part are Badger Hill Primary School, Carr Infant School, Dringhouses Primary School, Elvington CE Primary School, Fishergate Primary School, Headlands Primary School, Heworth Primary School, Hob Moor Community Primary School, Huntington Primary School, Knavesmire Primary School, New Earswick Primary School, Osbaldwick Primary School, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Roman Catholic Primary, Ralph Butterfield Primary School, Robert Wilkinson Primary School, Rufforth Primary School, St Aelred’s Roman Catholic Primary School, St Lawrence’s Church of England Primary School, Tang Hall Primary School, Westfield Primary Community School, Wigginton Primary School and Woodthorpe Primary School.

The Sport Activation Zone at York Racecourse Spectator Hub is open to everyone who has a ticket. They will be able to find out more about cycling, sport and health opportunities in the city. Visitors will be able to try different sports, pick up healthy living information and enter free, fun activity challenges.