Last night was the termly meeting of St Margaret’s CoE Primary Governors. This is one of the two schools in the ward on which I serve as a Governor.

There were a number of important things to report:

– The school is doing really well. In terms of average point scores, it is the second most achieving primary school in the whole of Bury, a brilliant achievement for our part of Prestwich! As a result the school is very full and there have been some pressures as a result of appeals to school for places.

– A priority for the school has been the development of outdoors play facilities. It was great to learn about a number of things that are already in place or planned. These include an allotment, outdoor classroom and nature and environmental education and clubs.

– Obviously the school has close links with St Margaret’s Church of England and on Palm Sunday this year there will be a procession with a Donkey from the School on Heywood Road down to the Church on Bury Old Road. All welcome to join the procession at any stage during the journey! The Bishop of Manchester will also be visiting the school on 30 April 2008.

– There were some concerns about the “shiccane” as part of the new 20mph zone on Heywood Road as it goes past both St Margaret’s and Parenthorn schools. The Governors broadly welcomed the speed reduction effects of the scheme (which was the original idea), but there are concerns about the shiccane from an accident prevention point of view. I’ve agreed to ask the traffic engineers to come down to the site after school one day and we’ll see how we can resolve the situation.

Tim