contact -
Gill McDonald - 01892 834577
Debbie Salt - 01959 533292Newsletter - April 2008
Coffee Mornings
Afasic’s 40th Birthday
Afasic Young Person’s Day
Unit and Designation Review
Bercow Review
Volunteers for TV interviews and to talk to newspaper reporters
SPAM
And Finally
Firstly, I would like to thank Bernadette for hosting the last coffee morning.
The next coffee morning will be from 10am to 12 midday on Tuesday 20th May 2008 at Sarah’s house in Southborough. The phone number for Sarah is 01892 518253. There will be no speaker.
Afasic’s 40th Birthday back to top
This year Afasic is 40!
Central Office are arranging various ‘events’ around the country and local groups have been asked to join in the fun!
Here in West Kent we are going to have a family party for Afasic on Sunday 6th July 2008 which will include a bouncy castle, magician and birthday tea. More details (and official invitation) in the next newsletter
Afasic Young Person’s Day back to top
The Afasic Young Person’s Day for 11-16 year olds will take place at Mascalls Youth and Community Centre in Paddock Wood on Saturday 10th May. If you have not received an invitation and your young person would like to attend please contact me asap for a registration form. We had a great time last year and the photos can be viewed -
www.west-kent-afasic.fsnet.co.uk/yp-day-2007-photos.htmWe are hoping for good weather again this year so we can take advantage of the peaceful location of Mascalls School’s large sports field.
Unit and Designation Review back to top
The Unit Review Consultation Documents ‘went to Cabinet’ on 6th February 2008 and the Cabinet Report can be read -
www.kent.gov.uk/committees/cabinet/6-february-2008/item-5-unit-review.pdfThe Recommendations are -
Cabinet Members are asked to:
(a) NOTE the progress of the Unit Review and AGREE the changes to the timetable detailed at paragraph 5. (my bold)
(b) NOTE the feedback and issues raised by stakeholders during the Phase Two consultation process detailed at Appendix 1.
(c) NOTE the potential capital implications of Phase Two proposals detailed at paragraph 3 and Appendix 2.This is despite Tunbridge Wells/Cranbrook & Paddock Wood/ Sevenoaks South parents voting against the proposals by 12 to 3 and in Tonbridge and Malling parents voting against the proposals by 23 to 4 and school staff by 36 to 7. These figures are not broken down by need type and of course points raised at the public meetings are not included in these statistics.
The Report is surprisingly short especially considering that it reiterates points made when Phase 1 ‘went to Cabinet’ in September 2007
The 2nd Stage Consultation for the Phase 2 proposals will be in May 2008. It is disappointing that only 50 parents (across all need types!) in the Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Paddock Wood clusters completed their response forms for the 1st Stage. If you feel strongly about the proposed changes I urge you to complete your response forms in May. We cannot lobby for more Language Unit places (or even keep the existing places) if parents cannot be bothered to create the demand.
Bercow Review of Speech, Language and Communication Provision - Interim Report has now been published.
The Executive Summary can be read –
www.afasic.org.uk/pdf/Bercow_Executive_Summary.pdfand the full Interim Report –
www.afasic.org.uk/pdf/Bercow_Interim_Report.pdfVolunteers for TV interviews and to talk to newspaper reporters back to top
Twice recently I have been contacted by the Afasic Helpline to ask if I knew anyone who would be willing to appear on TV or talk to a newspaper reporter. In both cases they wanted a very unusual slant to the story and we probably did not have anyone who met the criteria, but we do not have a contact list of parents who would like to talk to the press
Many people feel that they do not want to speak publicly. If you, however, are someone who feels that by ‘talking to the nation’ you would raise the awareness of speech and language disorders, lack of support etc. please contact me (or the Helpline on 0845 3 55 55 77 or email hlmgr@afasic.org.uk ) so that next time Afasic need someone to be interviewed they have someone waiting in the wings with their story.
Bernadette informs me that some of my emails to her ‘go into SPAM’ folder. We are trying to investigate this but there does not appear to be a pattern as to why this sometimes happens and sometimes it does not. We were wondering if this is happening to anybody else, if so please can you let me know.
Any articles for newsletter gratefully received
Any speaker gratefully accepted
Any new coffee morning hostesses (even more) gratefully received.
And don’t forget any email addresses even more gratefully received!
Gill McDonald
01892 834577
Gill-2008@west-kent-afasic.fsnet.co.uk
