Schools/colleges

A MOTHER has blasted Hillingdon Council for failing to secure her diabetic teenager a school place in more than six months.

Teresa Spender, of Pinner Road, Northwood, says she is at her 'wits end' after eight schools across the borough denied admission to her 13-year-old son, Charlie.

Ms Spender, together with Charlie and younger daughter Lillie-Marie, six, returned to Northwood last November after moving to Southend, Essex, for three years.

The single mum says that, due to Charlie having Type 1 diabetes - which requires regular insulin injections - his previous school attendance was just 69 per cent.

TWO pupils from a Northwood school have etched their names in the history books after presenting the first ever youth budget to the Treasury.

Michael Shneerson and Laurence Xu, both students at Merchant Taylors' School, pitted themselves against 248 teenagers in the Chance to be a Chancellor competition.

The annual contest gives young people the opportunity to express their views about the country's finances.

A SCHOOL in Croxley Green is the first in Three Rivers to achieve academy status.

Rickmansworth School, in Scots Hill, officially became an academy on Friday (1), meaning the school is now free from local authority control but will remain state-funded and may receive additional support from private sponsors.

The school is one of four schools in Hertfordshire to convert last week. It must now manage its own budget and purchase services which otherwise would have been paid for via Hertfordshire County Council (HCC), the local education authority.

A MOTHER-of-two from Mill End says she will be left 'severely out of pocket' in the wake of school transport spending cuts.

The Gazette reported last week how hundreds of parents will be forced to tighten their belts after Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) approved plans to slash free travel for pupils.

From September 2012, free transport will only be offered to those who are statutorily entitled, disabled or eligible for free meals. The service will also be limited to the nearest qualifying school.

Georgina Bowman-Smyth, of Middleton Road, says the decision will leave her struggling to make ends meet.

SCORES of pupils at a Northwood school have been sent revealing photographs of their former art teacher.

Boys at Merchant Taylors' School, in Sandy Lodge, were emailed pictures reported to be semi-nude of Joanne Salley (pictured), who taught at the school for one year until last summer.

The images of Ms Salley, who now teaches at Harrow School, were taken by a colleague, professional photographer and part-time photography teacher at the school, Fiona Corthine.

TEENAGERS in Northwood were given a unique first hand insight into political life at Westminster.

Year 11 - 13 pupils at St Helen's School, in Eastbury Road, welcomed Lord Woolf as part of the Peers in Schools programme, aimed at raising awareness of the House of Lords and encouraging young people to develop an interest in politics.

Students from Hillingdon and Northwood were invited to the House of Lords to present their fundraising efforts for children's charity, Wings of Hope, championed by Sir David Jason.

SIBA MATTI reports on the inspirational work and incredible sums of money generated by the kind-hearted pupils.

WHILE many teenagers are concerned with money-making schemes to line their own pockets, generous students from schools in Hillingdon and Northwood have focused their energies on a greater cause.

HUNDREDS of parents will be forced to tighten their belts after plans to slash school transport costs were approved.

Driven by the need to reduce its £25million annual transport bill, Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) carried out a three month consultation to assess the amount spent on children travelling to and from school.

Cabinet members have now agreed free home to school transport will only be offered to pupils with a statutory entitlement, from September 2012.

A DECISION to eliminate possible locations for a new secondary school in Three Rivers has been blasted by a parents' protest group.

A public consultation on five potential sites ended in January, with two in Mill End / Maple Cross receiving overwhelming support compared with three in Croxley Green.

As reported in the Gazette, Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) earmarked £82.5million to increase school places where pupil numbers have risen, to plug a projected deficit of 259 places by 2016.

At a Three Rivers District Council (TRDC) executive committee meeting on Monday (28), councillors declared Froghall Farm and adjoining land in Mill End / Maple Cross as their preferred option, with land north-east of Baldwins Lane, Croxley Green as a contingency site.

PARENTS fear school children's lives are being put at risk by drivers speeding on a 'dangerous' stretch of road in Northwood.

A recent crash in Batchworth Lane - where three accidents happened within three months last summer - has fuelled fears that someone could be killed by motorists breaking the 30mph speed limit.

The busy main road is just minutes away from Eastbury Farm Primary School, in Bishops Avenue, and is also used by school buses to pick up and drop off pupils.