Recent News
Provost’s Burgh Band invite
East Renfrewshire Council’s Provost Alex Mackie is inviting music lovers to join him at a special Barrhead Burgh Band centenary concert at Carlibar Primary School on Friday 12 December.
The concert starts at 7.30 pm and runs until 8.15 pm giving the audience a chance to listen to the award-winning brass band’s best tunes. Entry is free but donations to the Provost’s Fund for good causes are welcome.
Provost Alex Mackie said: “The Barrhead Burgh Band is rightly well-known for its superb brand of brass and I hope that as many people as possible will come along to hear the sound that’s made the band a force to be reckoned with on the brass circuit for 100 years.”
Band members will enjoy a civic reception with Provost Mackie immediately before the concert to mark the centenary officially.
VAT savings passed on
Swimmers will save five pence per swim and Action Zone gym members will see their monthly membership direct debit drop by 80 pence as council chiefs pass on the national cut in VAT rates.
See the full range of VAT cuts for sports and leisure at Barrhead Sports Centre.
Sports and leisure bosses are pointing out that some charges are already VAT exempt such as swimming lessons, theatre hires, fitness and sports classes, library fines and learning courses.
They’ve also decided not to make cuts in some VAT-bearing library services where the cut would amount to pence and where the cost of notification would be more than the cut, so that no savings would in effect be passed on to service users.
And as Eastwood Theatre’s programme is booked up for around six months with prices for tickets fixed in advance with promoters and performers, it won’t be possible to make immediate changes, but the VAT cut will be included in future arrangements.
Community service convener Councillor Mary Montague said: “Staff have worked hard over the last few days to ensure that, as far as possible, the VAT benefit is passed on to our customers. It’s now cheaper to go for a swim, book a badminton court, or join our Action Zones gyms, and we’ve also adopted a sensible approach where savings are tiny and where implementing them could cost both us and customers money. I hope that people will make good use of the cheaper prices
.”Councillor summoned to the castle
Councillor Alistair Carmichael found himself summoned to appear in front of armed forces top brass at Edinburgh Castle last week and to report to Admiral Peter Wilkinson, deputy chief of defence staff.
But he needn’t have worried, for, Alastair, who represents Busby, Clarkston and Eaglesham, was there to pick up an award on behalf of Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board were he’s vice-convener.
Councillor Carmichael said: “I represent East Renfrewshire Council on the joint board which looks after valuation and the electoral roll for East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde councils. The board was given the award by the Ministry of Defence for its record in allowing staff time off to serve with the armed forces. I was delighted to attend and to pick up the award from the admiral.”
Councillor Alan Lafferty, deputy leader of East Renfrewshire Council said: “This is a good example of the fact that our councillors represent East Renfrewshire on a variety of boards and bodies outwith the council. They do valuable work in ensuring that East Renfrewshire’s voice is heard and receiving this award was one of the more pleasant duties undertaken in what is an exacting schedule and heavy workload both within and outwith the council for councillors.”
Council supports qualifications shake-up
Councillors are backing Scottish Government plans to replace the current system of national qualifications with a revamped system.
East Renfrewshire Council’s education committee says in its response to the on-going national consultation that the system should be streamlined and unified to remove confusion about standard grade and intermediate qualifications. It backs the higher and advanced higher exams as being fit for purpose.
East Renfrewshire has itself abandoned standard grades and moved to intermediates which, it says, offer a superior route to higher. Pupils consulted in East Renfrewshire as part of the process of forming the council’s response, upheld this view as well as backing the use of NABS- National Assessment Bank Materials- as part of the assessment process.
The council says that a literacy award at the end of third year would be helpful with grading of assessments on courses to encourage pupils to work harder rather than a simple pass or fail system. And the response favours a 24 month study period for higher to avoid the current two-term dash in fifth year.
East Renfrewshire also backs the most able pupils bypassing lower level qualifications and going straight to higher, but also, calls for a safety net in fourth year. And although the committee welcomed the fact that there is a timeline laid down, there are doubts that it is realistic.
East Renfrewshire’s education convener Councillor Alan Lafferty said: “We welcome the concept of modernising and clarifying the range of national qualifications and we followed the principle in our response that change should not disadvantage East Renfrewshire pupil whom we consulted along with teachers and parents as part of the process. There are clearly many good proposals but no mater what is decided there is a great need for clarity so that the new system can be readily understood by learners, parents and employers when it is finalised.”
Campus cop’s crossings crackdown
Selfish school run drivers taking their children to Woodfarm High School, Robslee and Our Lady of the Missions Primary Schools in Thornliebank, are being warned that they may be prosecuted if they don’t give way to pedestrians on two zebra crossing near the schools.
Constable Mike Greville, Woodfarm High School’s campus cop, fears that children and parents using the crossings in Robslee Road and Orchard Park Avenue may be run down by parents too anxious to get their own children to school by car on time.
Constable Mike Greville said: “There have been several near misses caused by drivers refusing to stop for walking children and parents using the crossings and I am afraid that someone will be injured. I will now be cracking down on drivers who don’t stop and remind them that the offence of failing to give way to a pedestrian on a crossing carries a fixed penalty fine of £60 and three penalty points. The traffic round the three schools is heavy so I am advising drivers to drive slowly and carefully in the area. I will also be reminding pupils at all three schools to use the crossings safely.”
Councillor Alan Lafferty, East Renfrewshire Council’s education convener, said: “I fully back Constable Greville. Parents must comply with the law when driving near pedestrian crossings. They can also help relieve pressure on roads round these three busy schools by parking away from the schools and walking the rest of the way with their children. ‘Park and Stride’, as we call it, lessens congestion, cuts road rage in parents and helps boost health by walking that last half mile or so to school.”
Council to honour pay deal
Around 3,000 East Renfrewshire Council staff are likely to enjoy a boost to their Christmas pay packets after the council decided to pay the national pay award of three per cent, from April 2008, with a further 2.5 per cent from April 2009 as part of a two year, national pay deal.
The council is trying to meet tight deadlines to pay the arrears in time for Christmas .
Deputy chief executive Caroline Innes said: “We have joined other councils in implementing the award. The money belongs to staff and will help boost the economy, and, with around half our staff living in East Renfrewshire, local shops and businesses will benefit as well. Our payroll staff are pulling out all the stops to try to met the Christmas deadline.”
Record results from first all-through East Ren pupils
The first pupils to go right through the East Renfrewshire school system since the council took over its 24 primary and seven secondary schools from the former Strathclyde Regional Council in 1996, have chalked up record exam results.
And the figures released today by the council’s education management information service to the education committee also show that the same schools are performing higher under East Renfrewshire than they were in 1996.
Education chiefs say that East Renfrewshire’s unique blend of tracking pupil performance, while encouraging and celebrating achievement and attainment, is working and putting the council well ahead of its comparator areas.
These areas, identified by HMIe as having a similar social make-up to East Renfrewshire, are East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, Stirling, Aberdeenshire and Midlothian. East Renfrewshire outperforms them all and has continuously widened the gap between its performance and theirs since 1996.
In 1996 14 per cent of pupils at East Renfrewshire schools gained five or more highers in fifth year against a national average of six per cent and nine per cent for the comparator areas. The 2008 figure for East Renfrewshire is 27 per cent against a national figure of 10 per cent and 14 per cent for the comparators.
And 13 per cent of East Renfrewshire’s sixth year pupils gained at least one certificate of sixth year studies pass, the then equivalent of today’s advanced higher, in 1996. Today’s figure is 24 per cent, whereas the national average has risen by just two percentage points from 10 to 12, and the comparator from 12 to 17 per cent.
East Renfrewshire’s education convener, Councillor Alan Lafferty said: “These figures are proof positive that our strategy to drive up performance by collecting and using data scientifically works to the advantage of pupils and schools. They also show that we have made a difference since 1996 with year-on-year improvement and they refute the claim, once and for all, that even if East Renfrewshire had done nothing different from the old Strathclyde Regional Council, or from other councils today, given the perceived nature of our catchment areas, then performance would still have gone up.
“Measurement against our comparator areas shows that we have pushed up performance to a greater degree and that is what has made our schools so attractive to parents. The results are a great tribute to our pupils, staff and parents, but there is no doubt that what the education department has done to support that commitment, hard work and support, is uniquely effective.”
But schools chief John Wilson is warning that the council is not content to rest on its laurels. He said: “We are very pleased that this first pupil cohort to go through our system has done so well. Now we are pressing forward with further and continuous improvement to ensure that performance continues to rise and with it, the gap between our figures and national and comparator area results.”
The council has also unveiled a blueprint to recognise and celebrate attainment and achievement by pupils more widely. It includes introducing sports personalities of the year awards, an East Renfrewshire certificate of achievement for the end of third year and a convener’s award for outstanding achievement in learning and in the wider community, as well as publicising success and good practice through the local and national media.
Affordable homes on sale in East Renfrewshire
Affordable housing is available to buy in Barrhead thanks to a partnership between Cube Housing Association and the Scottish Government.
And an agreement with the council means that East Renfrewshire residents or people with a local connection get the first chance to buy.
The semi-detached two and three-bedroom houses are available through a shared equity scheme. This means people can buy a home for 60 to 80 per cent of the sale price, with the Housing Association retaining the remaining equity until owners increase their share to 100 per cent, or sell the house.
The houses, at Lomond View, Auchenback, are available to buy at £72,000 for a 60 per cent equity share of a £120,00 two-bedroom house and £81,000 for a £135,000 three-bedroom house.
All homes include an efficient gas central heating system and double glazing, a fitted dining kitchen, separate downstairs WC and family bathroom.
The scheme is part of a government initiative to help first time buyers or those on low incomes to buy their own home. The actual equity share available to a buyer is based on what they could afford.
The council’s housing convener, Councillor Danny Devlin said: “East Renfrewshire has the highest house prices in Scotland and there’s a real danger of people being priced out of the market which has a knock-on effect for our local communities.
“Making local housing more affordable for local people can only benefit East Renfrewshire in the short and long term.”
For more information about the properties get in touch with Link Homes on 0845 155 0019 or email lift@linkhaltd.co.uk.
Special needs family swimming
Parents with children who have special needs are being invited to a free swimming session at Eastwood Park Leisure Pool in Giffnock and in Barrhead sports centre.
Both sessions are sponsored by Eastwood Rotary which means families can enjoy a free swim in the popular pools.
Eastwood Park leisure pool holds a session on the last Sunday of each month. The next session is this Sunday from 1pm until 2.40pm.
At Barrhead sports centre the free swimming sessions are on the second Monday of each month from 3.30pm – 5pm.
Family fortunes
A special East Renfrewshire edition of ‘family fortunes’ is being staged to mark World Aids Day.
On Monday 1 December at Barrhead library from 2.30pm until 4.00pm visitors can take part in a fun and informative way of learning more about preventing the spread of HIV and Aids.
As well as being a fun event, there’s a serious message behind it and that’s to reduce fear around HIV and Aids and to help end the prejudice.
The event is free and open to anyone aged over 16.
Call Moira Burns on 0141 577 8436 for more details on the event and to book your place.