Councillor Clive Hooker, the new chairman, was a magistrate for more than 30 years. The chairman role is the formal representative of West Berkshire Council. As well as chairing council meetings they officiate at civic functions and welcome distinguished visitors of national and international significance on behalf of the district. Cllr Hooker, who represents Downlands ward, was appointed to the role at West Berkshire Council’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 6. The new chairman said: “It’s an honour to have been elected as chairman. I’m looking forward to the year ahead and, Covid permitting, getting out and about to attend local events on behalf of the council.
The old Theale Primary School on Church Street A former primary school in Theale could become a special education needs and disabilities (SEND) school, West Berkshire Council (WBC) has revealed.
WBC announced the plans on Friday, which follows on from a six-week consultation last year asking for views from residents. The council is planning to create a new specialist secondary school for up to 42 learners aged 11 to 18 years with complex social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, who may also have a diagnosis of autism. WBC says it has searched across the West Berkshire district and identified the old Theale Primary School building, on Church Street, as the most viable option.
Newbury s Parkway hand out gifts to West Berkshire children
Laptops and PCs will help issues with home schooling
John Garvey
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HOMESCHOOLING will become a little easier for some West Berkshire children as a result of a gift from Newbury’s Parkway Shopping centre.
Following a refresh of the centre’s IT equipment, centre manager Andrew Marmot contacted West Berkshire Council to offer its recently decommissioned computers for use by local pupils.
As a result, four laptops and two PCs will be winging their way to schools in the district, who will then loan them out to local families who are in need of equipment to support home learning.
Asylum seekers on board a Border Force boat after they were caught attempting to cross The Channel Council leaders in West Berkshire were expecting more unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to arrive in 2020 but “they just didn’t appear”. Each year West Berkshire Council takes responsibility for desperate children who end up in the district after climbing aboard lorries that travel along the M4 and the A34. It is also part of voluntary National Transfer Scheme, which allows unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to be transferred from one local authority to another. The Home Office called on councils across the country take responsibility for more young refugees after Kent County Council was overwhelmed by an influx in August.