Changes ahead for Kings Heath and Moseley schools?

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Seven local schools that are currently operated by Birmingham City Council (BCC) are considering forming a multi-academy trust. The schools in the group are:

  • Kings Heath Primary School
  • Park Hill Primary School
  • Wheelers Lane Primary School
  • Kings Heath Boys School
  • Queensbridge School
  • Swanshurst School
  • Wheelers Lane Technical College

All are reported as being rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by OFSTED.

Love Brum Schools is an action group that is opposed to the plans. The group is not affiliated with any political party, nor to the Kings Heath Residents’ Forum but education is an extremely important subject for many residents. For that reason, the Residents’ Forum is publicising the group to make residents aware of the plans. The group’s website is lovebrumschools.com. Their site includes a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section that deals with many of the central issues.

This is clearly, and understandably, a very emotive subject and residents will undoubtedly want to know more about the pros and cons. Searching the web with a search term such as ‘academy schools pros and cons’ will produce a list of websites. Two that seem to provide relevant information are published by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) (pdf, 412kb) and specialist education publisher MA Education Ltd.

Kings Heath Residents’ Forum Annual General Meeting 2017

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Kings Heath Residents’ Forum Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday 15 March 2017 from 7 pm to 9 pm at Kings Heath Community Centre, Heathfield Road, Birmingham B14 7DB.

You can download the agenda and 2016 Annual General Meeting minutes from the following links:

Green Travel Plan for Kings Heath – what does it mean?

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Kings Heath High Street has been designated a Green Travel District. This means that the area is part of plans by Birmingham City Council (BCC) to reduce congestion and pollution caused by high volumes of traffic. Councillor Claire Spencer will explain what this is likely to mean for Kings Heath at the Forum’s Annual General Meeting.

Residents will have the chance to ask questions about the plan.

The meeting will also hear about feedback received from visitors to the KHRF consultation stall at the Farmers’ Market on 4 March.

The meeting will begin with the Annual General Meeting of the KHRF. Committee members will report on the group’s activities during the year. These include working with BCC on the Council’s strategy for road safety in Kings Heath, helping residents to get dumped rubbish removed and working with local councillors and council officers to improve the cleanliness of the High Street.

The meeting is open to all residents of Kings Heath.

Date: Wednesday 15 March 2017

Time: 7 pm to 9 pm

Location: Kings Heath Community Centre, Heathfield Road, Kings Heath B14 7DB

Great British Spring Clean - Heroes Wanted

Help needed for Great British Spring Clean

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If you’ve ever complained about the amount of litter around Kings Heath, now’s your chance to do something about it. Your help is needed as part of the Great British Spring Clean.

The idea – backed by Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) and Birmingham City Council – is for neighbours, friends or local community groups to get together and to do a Spring Clean in their neighbourhood.

It’s all happening over the weekend of 4 and 5 March 2017.

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Places available at lunch club

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Posted by Kate Wilcox:

A few places are available at the All Saints Church Elders Lunch Club. The club runs every Wednesday as a social event for older people in Kings Heath. They do not need to be members of the church in order to be part of the Club’s lunches.

Members arrive at the All Saints Church Community Centre at 2 Vicarage Road, Kings Heath, B14 7RA every Wednesday at 12 noon. The lunch lasts for an hour with soup, sandwiches, desserts, tea and coffee available at very reasonable prices.

The emphasis is on providing a welcoming and friendly place for older residents to enjoy a sociable lunch and make new friends.

If you or an older relative would like to join the lunch club, call Liz Turner on 0121 604 6086. If you have difficulties getting there under your own steam, help will be provided to sign up with the Ring and Ride community bus service.

Kings Heath library

Consultation on future of Birmingham libraries

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Posted by Kate Wilcox:

Birmingham City Council (BCC) has outlined plans for the future of Birmingham’s community libraries. The plan is now out for consultation and everybody has the chance to comment on it.

The key point is that all the city’s libraries have been classified in one of four tiers. Kings Heath library is in Tier 1.

The good news is that it is expected to remain open. It will also be open for the same number of hours each week as now.

Overall the proposals mean Kings Heath library will:

  • be open for 35 hours a week (the same as now)
  • remain in its current building
  • move towards more self-service systems (details are not yet known)
  • be used to deliver other services such as benefit verification

More details about the consultation are available at the following links:

If you want to have a say in the consultation, you have until 27 January 2017 to make your views known. You can do it in two ways:

If you have any interest in Kings Heath library it is important that you are part of this consultation. Please fill in the form and send it to BCC.

Photo credit: Kings Heath library by Tony Hisgett (CC BY 2.0)