Aided by the glorious weather during the past few days, developments at Woodford Park lake have forged ahead with the foundations for the boardwalk going in.

Elsewhere on the lake, developments continue to reinforce the bank area.

New plans for Addington School

Wokingham Borough Council is proposing to extend Addington School in order to provide space for up to 50 children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and will be discussing plans with residents, parent and members at a drop-in session later this month.

The drop-in session will take place at Addington School, Woodlands Avenue, RG5 3EU from 5.30pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday February 27.

Currently, there are 133 Wokingham Borough children with SEND who are educated outside of the borough. This causes disruption for the children, in terms of long journey times and less time with their families and has also created budget pressures for the council.

Under the current proposals, a new teaching area with four classrooms and new café and social/breakout areas would be built to accommodate the expansion. It is proposed that the new classroom building will be positioned on the school’s existing hard park area with a new hard play area being provided to accommodate this. In addition, it is proposed that the existing car park is extended to provide approximately 30 additional car parking space which will require the relocation of the schools sensory garden. All proposals are within the schools existing boundary.

Details of the proposals will be available at the session on February 27 and further details will be provided as part of the planning application which will be available on our online planning portal.

Woodley’s primary schools take part in mini Bake-Off!

Year 5 children from Highwood Primary and Willow Bank Junior schools joined together this week for the annual Woodley Cluster Bake Off Challenge, hosted and supported by The Bulmershe School.  The children had come up with designs for a showstopper cake, then, after some practise at school, spent the day baking and decorating.  They also joined with a partner from the other school for a technical skills challenge, and presented their showstoppers to their families and The Mayor.

The cakes were amazing, both to look at and to taste, and our judges had a hard time choosing between them.  The winning showstopper was a fantastic burger cake with a side of shortbread fries, designed and created by two pupils from Willow Bank.  The children all worked hard during the day making sure that their cakes turned out as they had practised, and thinking on their feet when things did not go quite according to plan!  Their behaviour, team work and independence was wonderful and a great day was had by all.

Woodley Town Council Leader Keith Baker commented on how amazing the cakes were, including the taste.

The schools’ would like to thank Town Councillors Keith Baker and John MacNaught and The Bulmershe School Head Teacher, Mrs Woodfin who acted as our judges; to the Mayor, Mr Sam Rahmouni for presenting the certificates; to The Bulmershe School and their fantastic Year 10 Student Ambassadors for their organisation and support, and to all the pupils and staff for their outstanding effort.

Looking forward to Woodley Bake Off 2020!

The solar panels installed on the roof of Woodford Park Leisure Centre are now working to create sustainable energy.

A panel recording instantaneous power, the total amount of energy generated and the total CO2 saving is now in the reception area.

Woodley Town Council and the Woodley Town Centre Management Initiative are recruiting for a Town Centre Manager

Please see Vacancies for further information and to download an application form.

Application deadline: Monday 4th March 2019

Lake improvements underway as local wildlife watch on unpeturbed

Ebsford Environmental have started work on the lake this week (w/c: 11 February). The water level has been temporarily lowered to enable the works to be carried out effectively and safely.  The water level will be carefully maintained and this will not affect the fish. The next stages of the work are the removal of tree stumps in the banks, redistribution of the silt and installation of a ‘Nicospan’ membrane to retain the silt in specific areas ready for planting. Once this is complete the construction of the boardwalk will be carried out.

For more information on the project visit the lake project page and keep an eye on the website for further updates.

Addington School allocated money to expand

Wokingham Borough Council’s decision-making executive has approved a £4.4million expansion of Addington School so that more local children with SEND can be educated closer to home.

The school serves 206 children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and is rated outstanding by Ofsted. The Executive’s decision on 31 January now means Wokingham Borough Council can work with the school and surrounding community to investigate the potential for a planning application.

Some 130 (about 40%) of Wokingham Borough children needing a special school place are currently educated outside the borough. These placements, and the associated travel expenses, are disproportionately expensive as well as being very disruptive to the children.

All of the building work would be contained within the existing school site. The new classrooms would be situated where the ball courts and parking area now stand, and these would be relocated to the west of their current position.  The neighbouring popular public open space, which is protected in our planning policies as a Site of Urban Landscape Value (SULV), will not be touched by the school’s expansion.

“Addington is an exceptionally well-run school and provides first-rate education thanks to its dedicated headteacher, staff and supportive parents,” said Cllr Shahid Younis, deputy executive member for children’s services.

“An expansion would allow us to educate more of the borough’s children locally. We currently send far too many of our children out of the borough to expensive special schools elsewhere. Expanding Addington will mean more of our children can benefit from this outstanding provision, have a better quality of family life, and it will also save taxpayers money in the longer term.”

Sunday 17th February 2019

The public toilet will be installed in Woodley town centre on Sunday 17th February.

Crockenham Road at the junction of Waitrose will be closed from 5.30am until approximately 9.00am, with resident access at all times, with only one entrance and exit into Waitrose.

Please see the below letter, which has been circulated to all residents by Danfo, including a map of the road closure.

As already stated, the electricity and water supplies will still need to be fitted before the toilet can be used.

Keith Baker, Woodley Town Council leader, comments: “On Sunday the 17th February, the new public toilet will be lowered into position at the Crockhamwell Road end of the precinct. Unfortunately this will necessitate the closure of this part of the road from 5:30am, with the objective of opening it up again at 9am subject to completion of the work. We apologise to local residents for any inconvenience and the contractor has indicated they will attempt to keep noise to the minimum. Once the toilet is positioned, work can then be commenced in the coming weeks to connect up the various utilities to make the toilet operational.”

Click below to download the vacancy notice.

Vacancy Notice

WOKINGHAM BOROUGH LIBRARIES YOUNG PEOPLE’S LIBRARY EVENTS FEBRUARY HALF TERM 2019

Wokingham Borough libraries are running a range of activities this February half-term for young people across the Borough. Please contact the relevant library to book a place on an activity.

Explore Learning – Angular Architecture

Pop on your hard hats as the children become architects and learn the areas and angles required to construct the homes of our future. Can they tell their right angles from their acute? Free session with Explore Learning for children aged 7 to 9 years old. Places must be booked.

Wokingham Library, Wednesday 20 February, 10.45am to 11.45am

Lower Earley Library, Thursday 21 February, 10.45am to 11.45am

Woodley Library, Friday 22 February, 10.45am to 11.45am

Explore Learning – Fun with Phonics

The children will investigate rhyming words and why they rhyme. They will use their phonics to help them sound the words accurately. What do the words bat, hat and rat all have in common? Free session with Explore Learning, for children aged 4 to 6 years old. Places must be booked.

Wokingham Library, Wednesday 20 February, 9.30am to 10.30am

Lower Earley Library, Thursday 21 February, 9.30am to 10.30am

Woodley Library, Friday 22 February, 9.30am to 10.30am

Get Arty

Arts and crafts for children aged 4 to 12 years old. £1.50 charge. Just drop in!

Wokingham Library, Friday 22 February, 10.30am to 11.30am

Guide Dog Morning

Just drop into learn and meet guide dogs and their owners.

Wokingham Library, Monday 18 February, 10am to 12noon

Quirks Animal Roadshow

Children interact with a variety of animals.  For families with children aged 4 to 12 years old, £4 a child. Please phone to book a place.

Wargrave Library, Wednesday 20 February, 11am to 12noon

Wokingham Library, Thursday 21 February, 11am to 12noon

Rhymetime

Rhymes for under 5s and their parents, just drop in.

Twyford Library, Tuesday 19 February, 11am to 11.30am

Finchampstead Library, Friday 22 February, 11am to 11.30am

Wokingham Library, Wednesday 20 February, 10am to 10.30am and 11am to 11.30am

Sand Art

Just drop in and create a picture with Kids Bee Happy with Maddi. For children aged 4 to 11 years old, £4 a picture.

Wokingham Library, Tuesday 19 February, 10.30am to 12.30pm

Woodley Library, Wednesday 20 February, 10.30am to 12.30pm

Storytime

Stories and rhymes for children aged 7 and under.

Twyford Library, Tuesday 19 February, 3.45pm to 4.15pm

Wokingham Library, Tuesday 19 February, 4pm to 4.30pm 

Storytime with author Rachel Jane

Come and join author Rachel Jane to listen to Lil’s Cupcake Delivery. Enjoy the story of Lil the Campervan on her quest to help her friend deliver all of her cupcakes and, see if she can deliver them all on time and in one piece! Places must be booked.

Lower Earley Library, Thursday 21 February, 1.30pm to 2.30pm

Woodley Library, Thursday 21 February, 10.30am to 11.30am

The Magic Tinderbox

Join The Enchanted Players Theatre Company in this show about a soldier on a special journey. We ask the children to help him with his important decisions, the moral being: “to be happy with what you have, not to crave for more.” Free face painting after the show and children decorate their own box to take home.  Please book with the library, £5 charge per person.

Woodley Library, Monday 18 February, 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Woodley Library: 0118 9690304