Today is the last day of the summer examinations.  August will bring the results when 1000s of young people across Leeds will know how they have got on.  But already many young people in Leeds are disappointed because Labour has let them down. 

Labour’s introduction of tuition and top up fees was a betrayal of our future – not to mention another broken election promise. 

Thousands of young people have been put off going to university. Many thousands more find themselves saddled with huge debts that will take years to pay off.That’s no way to start off in life. 

Amazingly, the Conservatives agree with Labour on this issue. They won’t deliver any change for young people and students. 

Only the Liberal Democrats want to abolish Labour’s tuition and top up fees. They believe that a good education should be available to every young person - regardless of how well off they are. 

Liberal Democrats also want to make sure that young people are treated fairly. It’s just wrong that young people do not get the same pay as older people for the same work. Join us in the fight for fair opportunities. 

The Breeze International Youth Festival (BIYF), run by Leeds City Council’s Arts & Regeneration Unit, offers an exciting array of events, performances, masterclasses and activities to get young people interested in and involved in the arts this June.

To find out what’s happening at the festival, visit their website at:  http://www.breezeleeds.org/BIYF

Download a festival brochure from:  http://www.breezeleeds.org/pg/6/About_the_festival

The festival begins on Monday 22 June with the BIYF radio project ‘Roundhay Radio’ broadcasting over the airways 12-8pm every day until Saturday 28 June on 87.7fm or online at www.breezeleeds.org/BIYF

From 26 - 29 June, BIYF also opens up Leeds city centre for the spectacular BIYF Celebration Weekend.  As well as fun for young people aged 13 - 19, there will be a whole host of events and performances on offer for the whole family.  The Carriageworks, Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds City Museum, Hyde Park Picture House, the BBC, Northern Ballet Theatre, Yorkshire Dance, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Mediafish and First Floor at the West Yorkshire Playhouse are just some of the organisations involved this year.

You may know some young people aged 13 - 19 who would like to try out a free masterclass with an expert arts practitioner.  To see what’s on offer, download the Festival Masterclasses brochure from here:  http://www.breezeleeds.org/pg/6/About_the_festival  To book a place, call (0113) 247 8305.

Finally they will be welcoming international guests from around the world on Monday 29 June. The young people are paired with local high schools, giving them the chance to work with Leeds young people on a range of activities and also learn about eachother’s lives, education and culture.

If you would like any other information about the festival, please call the BIYF Team on (0113) 247 8305 or visit the website.

If you would like to attend one of their ticketed events, please contact Ann Wishart on 0113 2478049 by Wednesday 24 June to reserve your seats.

David Laws MP. Front Bench Spokesperson for Children, Schools & Families speaking at Spring Conference.

 Families will get 20 hours of free childcare a week for children from 18 months to five years old under Liberal Democrat plans to help mums and dads. The plans were backed by members at their recent Spring Conference.

Under the current Labour government, childcare costs can often be so high that many parents are worse off it they go out to work.

“With the recession hitting families  hard, families often need two earners to keep their heads above water,” said local cllr. Richard Harker.

“Our plans to give 20 hours of free childcare a week will help families to help themselves and make sure people are better off in work than on benefits.”

The Lib Dem plans also include the right for new mums and dads to share 19 months leave to help raise a new baby.

 LIBERAL Democrats at their recent Spring Conference backed plans to improve schools. The plans include cutting infant class sizes to 15 and spending £2.5bn of additional funding to close the gap between children from rich and poor families. 

“Schools and children in Moortown & Meanwood will benefit from these plans,” said local cllr. Richard Harker. “They will ensure that all young people have a good start in life.”

Councillor Richard Harker, executive board member for education at Leeds City Council, said: “The importance of regular school attendance cannot be underestimated. It is vital for the academic and social development of a child and missing just a few days can lead to a drop of an entire GCSE grade.

“There are some fantastic prizes available which will act as a real incentive for thousands of pupils to achieve 100 per cent attendance throughout March.”  

Children and young people in Leeds who manage 100 per cent attendance at school throughout March will be in with a chance to win some brilliant prizes.  Education Leeds’ annual ‘Give it 100 per cent’ competition is one of a number of initiatives taking place across the city to remind children and families that every school day matters. Prizes provided this year by local businesses in Leeds include VIP tickets to the Leeds City Council organised Party in the Park, iPods, tickets for cricket matches at Headingley, tickets for Leeds Rhinos home games and trips to London.

Last year’s competition saw attendance in the city improve by one per cent compared to the same period in 2007 - a total of around 20,000 extra school days with fewer unauthorised attendances.  

“School is the best possible place for a child to be during the day and we want all our children and young people to spend as much time as possible in our brilliant learning environments. “Every school day matters and we are working hard to improve attendance in all our schools so our children and young people can be happy, healthy, safe and successful.”  

Education Leeds’ attendance champions team is working in partnership with Radio Aire to run the competition and posters and entry postcards have been sent to all schools in the city.  All children and young people who manage 100 per cent attendance will be put into a prize draw to win the prizes with everyone takes part receiving a certificate.

The deadline for entries is Friday 1 May with winning entries to be drawn on Tuesday 12 May.

They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch but for thousands of children across Leeds there is – and many are not taking advantage of it.  

6,000 young people entitled to a free, healthy school meal everyday are not taking up the offer.  To help reduce the figure Education Leeds commissioned a two year study - which included 10 pilot studies in primary and secondary schools - to be carried out by Leeds Metropolitan University to investigate why families are not taking up their entitlement.  

The research highlighted several reasons including schools often being unaware of the stigma among students attached to free school meals. To combat this and to raise awareness with pupils and parents of their entitlement, Education Leeds has developed a toolkit for schools to help minimise discrimination, maximise awareness and make it easier to claim a free lunch.  

Councillor Richard Harker, executive board member for learning at Leeds City Council, said:

“For children and young people from lower income families, the free school meal can make a significant contribution to their overall health.

“It is important that children and young people who are eligible for free school meals are taking up the offer - which is why this information pack has been put together for our schools. I would urge families who think they may be eligible to check with their school or Leeds Benefit Services as soon as possible.”

The Leeds School Meals Strategy works hard to make sure every young person in the city has access to healthy and tasty food which they can eat in a happy and safe environment.

Leeds Liberal Democrats  believe that nutritious school meals are an important part of the school day and that it is vital that every child has access to them. More of our children should be eating a nutritious and tasty meal every day as this will help with their learning, concentration levels and overall health.

Parents, carers, school staff and pupils across Leeds are being asked how they think the school year should be structured in 2010/2011. The question has been raised due to Easter falling late in April 2011, prompting Education Leeds to devise three different timetables and organise a consultation on which is the preferred option amongst local people.  The first option is for schools to break up between Monday 11 April and Monday 25 April. However, due to the Easter bank holidays arising at the end of the school break, the first two weeks of the summer term will be four day weeks. The second option sees schools break up between Monday 18 April and Monday 2 May, with the Easter bank holidays in the middle of the two week break. The third option would be for schools to break up between Monday 4 April and Friday 15 April. The Easter bank holidays fall after the school break, resulting in three four day weeks. 

Councillor Richard Harker, executive board member for learning, said:

“Because of Easter falling late in April 2011, we have proposed three different school timetables which will be open for public consultation until the end of February.    “This is a unique situation and it is important that local parents, carers, staff and pupils have the opportunity to influence which of the three proposals are adopted. “Good school attendance is vital if we want to achieve great results for our young people. By involving parents and carers in the decision making process around the Easter holidays in 2011, we are making sure we implement the best possible option for all concerned.” 

Consultation forms, and copies of the three proposed timetables, are available at www.educationleeds.co.uk while paper forms are available from: Education Leeds, 10th Floor West, 110 Merrion Centre, Leeds, LS2 8DT. The public consultation runs until the end of February 2009.

“I would like visitors to this site to consider joining with Education Leeds and the Leeds Schools in supporting Martin House this Christmas.” 

Martin House, Yorkshire’s hospice for children and young people, was the second children’s hospice in the country and the first in the North of England and was officially opened by its Patron in September 1987. The appeal to build Martin House was launched in February 1984. Two years later enough funds were raised to commence building.  

The foundation stone was laid by HRH the Duchess of Kent in September 1986 and in August 1987 it welcomed its first children. The principal objective of Martin House is to provide specialist care and support, free of charge, to children and young people with a terminal illness and their families. Martin House provides a home from home environment, offering help in emergencies, symptom control, nursing and practical care, terminal care and bereavement support.  Martin House provides care for up to nine families in the main house and six young people in the teenage unit at any one time, and also offers care and support to the families in their own home. Martin House is the only hospice for children and young people in Yorkshire.

The ‘5p appeal’ is being launched at St Mary’s Catholic Comprehensive School in Menston at 10am on Friday (5 December) by Sarah Walker, a teenager from Martin Hospice, and Leeds band, The Pigeon Detectives. The hospice is Education Leeds’ chosen charity and Martin House appeal boxes will be placed in schools across the city to collect 5p coins for the campaign.    

Chris Edwards, chief executive of Education Leeds, said: “We are delighted to be supporting Martin House, a charity which gives amazing support and care to children and young people with terminal illnesses and their families.

“Education Leeds’ ‘Little Thing… Big Difference’ campaign has already raised over £20,000 for the hospice and the launch of the 5p appeal will go a long way to help us reach our £50,000 target.”  

Stuart Andrew, fundraising manager at Martin House, said: “The 5p appeal is a fantastic way to help our hospice continue to care for local children and young people with life limiting conditions. People often complain that the 5p piece is small and fiddly so if we can get as many people as possible to collect and donate them to Martin House, we can make a real difference to our funds.

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who is helping us with the launch and hope that Education Leeds will not only be successful with the appeal within their organisation but are able to encourage people from all walks of life to join in.

” Martin House relies almost entirely on donations and fund-raising to raise around £4 million a year needed to provide care and support for children and their families. Fundraising events so far include auction, non-uniform days, office picnics, selling Christmas cards and cakes and a ‘mad hair’ day.  

Donations to the ‘Little Thing… Big Difference’ campaign can be made directly to an account at Barclays Bank, sort code 20-37-13, account number 10031852. For more information visit: http://www.martinhouse.org.uk/fundraising/Community/Education/Schools/charity_challenge.htm

Councillor Richard Harker, executive board member for education at Leeds City Council, said:  “The city council is pleased to provide this 21st  century learning environment which is providing our young people with skills, knowledge and experience for the best start to their adult lives. “Combined with the dedication of the teachers and support staff, pupils are already benefiting from these brilliant new facilities which will help them thrive and achieve great success in the future.”

The Prime Minister has officially opened Allerton High School 0n the 28.11.08. He described the school as ‘the most open, colourful and innovative school he’d seen for a number of years’. Gordon Brown MP was joined by Ed Balls MP, the Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families. He met young people and members of staff during the visit and saw first hand the benefits that BSF investment in schools is having on education in the city.

Allerton High, in Meanwood, was one of three new secondary schools opened in September as part of the £250m BSF project. The state-of-the-art building replaced cramped corridors, small classrooms and poor ICT resources with light, open spaces and anytime, anywhere ICT designed to be future-proof for many years.

Cllr Harker, also commented:  “The city council is committed to providing learning environments where every young person can be happy, healthy, safe and successful. Allerton High School is a unique learning environment and a testement to what the city council can achieve in partnership with others like Education Leeds.”

Features at the school include two purpose built drama studios, a covered external amphitheatre which can be used as a social space, a science terrace for external experiments and curriculum gardens. There are also faculty-based ‘breakout spaces’, two rooms fitted with sound and vision recording facilities, linked by an observatory, to enable sharing of good practice. Students with special education needs are also benefiting from a partnership with the North West Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre (SILC) and an on-site specialist autistic unit.

The school also has over 1,000 personal computer devices, including over 500 portables - laptops, ultra light laptops, Macbooks and special mini-books, a recording studio with an iMac suite, and PDAs, digital cameras, MP3 recorders, webcams, scanners and printers.

Parents whose children attend one of the areas new Building Schools for the Future schools now open in Leeds believe that the new teaching and learning environment, and 21st-century facilities including state-of-the-art ICT, is making a positive difference to their child’s education.

A survey of [over 200] parents in Leeds asked for their views on the range of facilities offered by their child’s school, the state of the buildings and grounds, and whether design features – such as improved toilet blocks, wider corridors and flexible classrooms, made a positive difference to their child’s education.

Parents with children at one of the new BSF schools were significantly more positive about the impact of these aspects on the quality of their child’s education.

Partnerships for Schools, the national organisation responsible for the delivery of the national Building Schools for the Future programme, said: this is the first time parents have been sampled for their views about new BSF schools to help understand what matters to them and what difference they think BSF is making to their child’s education. Even though it is still early days, it’s very encouraging to learn that parents believe BSF is having a positive effect on their children through the improved environment and enhanced resources that goes hand in hand with BSF investment.

This information from parents, combined with the view from students and from local communities, will helpeveryone to understand in greater detail the impact and outcomes of BSF and feed this back into later waves as the national programme gathers momentum with more local authorities joining BSF next year.”