Surrey County Council launches Surrey Skills Plan at Skills Summit November 10. A landmark event in Surrey next month will bring together education providers and businesses in a bid to turbo charge Surrey’s local economy.

The Surrey Skills Summit at Sandown Racecourse on 10 November will give leading local businesses the opportunity to outline what skills they need in the years to come. Education providers including colleges and universities will be on hand to discuss tailoring vocational offers and training, with a view to developing Surrey’s workforce of the future.

The event will also launch the Surrey Skills Plan, including recommendations and actions to help deliver the skills, jobs and opportunities for Surrey’s economy to thrive.

The Summit will also include:
 Presentations from experts on the national skills landscape, including developments and their implications for Surrey businesses and training providers.
 Case studies from Surrey businesses who have taken creative approaches to meeting their recruitment, retention and skills needs
 The chance for businesses to have their voice heard to help build a world class skills system in Surrey that meets the needs of all businesses and residents.

Learn more and register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/surrey-skills-summit-tickets-
415842374737

Matt Furniss, Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Transport, Infrastructure and Growth, said:
“Surrey has the UK’s second largest GDP after London and for decades has been a natural home for companies from across the world. As competition for talent becomes tougher and skills shortages become more pronounced, it’s essential for Surrey to become more proactive in planning for the future. The Skills Plan and events like the Skills Summit are essential for growing a sustainable economy for Surrey. We need to come together to provide the right conditions for business to thrive, delivering skills, jobs and opportunity for all.”

Surrey County Council News

To Dorking Halls next month, for its first live performances in three years. The live show has been performed in front of 190,000 young people between the ages of 16-19 since its inception in 2005 and is an emotionally engaging and thought-provoking education production, coordinated by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service.

Working with the other emergency services, the event aims to raise road safety awareness amongst young people and positively influence their attitudes to driving as well as their role as a passenger in cars.

The performance has been designed to engage an audience of young learner and novice young drivers, a group that is at higher risk of collisions, injury and death on the UK’s roads and aims to make young people aware of their responsibilities as road users and the wide ranging and potentially devastating consequences should these not be taken seriously. The ultimate aim is to reduce the number of road traffic collisions involving young people and the number of deaths and injuries amongst this at-risk driver group.

The performances comprise a series of films featuring people recalling true stories and real-life impacts of road traffic collisions. Between each of these films, speakers, including personnel from the emergency services and members of the public personally affected by a road death, recount their own experiences.

Over the last 17 years, 285 performances have been held, with, this year, 70 different schools, colleges, youth groups and even army bases from across the county attending. In the past two years, Coronavirus restrictions forced the event to be staged online, where an estimated 28,000 young people tuned in.

This year, Safe Drive Stay Alive are offering free tickets to the public performance on Wednesday 9 November, providing an opportunity to witness this impactful performance for yourself. Spaces are limited, so secure your today by visiting: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/safe-drive-stay-alive-tickets-430812460667

The event has been supported by organisations including the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Surrey, Surrey RoadSafe, Toyota GB, esure and Sheilas’ Wheels, Ringway, Surrey Educational Trust (SCC), as well as the High Sheriff of Surrey, the Safer Guildford Partnership and Safer Surrey Heath. Additional funding is provided by a large number of town and parish councils across Surrey. This funding allows the event to be put on free of charge, and cover venue hire and transportation costs for attendees to and from the venue. To find out more about Safe Drive Stay Alive, please visit: https://safedrivesurrey.org/

Surrey County Council News

Surrey Arts inclusion music teacher Raghad Haddad has won the Inspirational Music Leader Award at the Youth Music Awards 2022. Raghad received her award on 19 October in Troxy London in recognition of her work for Surrey Arts as a diverse leader of refugee background, supporting vulnerable children in Surrey.

Raghad Haddad is a viola player from Yabroud, a small town in the mountains north of Damascus. Since being granted asylum in the UK in 2018 she has performed at numerous charity events in London and Brighton and recently performed with Damon Albarn, The Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians.

On behalf of Surrey Arts Raghad has worked on multiple projects supporting vulnerable children including SEND and refugee children and has been the executive producer of a major international music project involving the United Nations and 120 participants from around the world.

After finding out she won the award, Raghad said: “I was speechless when they announced my name as the winner of the Inspirational Music Leader at the Youth Music Award 2022 this week!

“It’s such an honour to have received this award and I’m so grateful to my colleagues at Surrey Arts for the support they have given me since I arrived in the UK from Syria. 

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity, not only to rebuild my own life but also the privilege to help others affected by war, poverty, climate change and discrimination. Sadly, the need to support displaced communities is not getting smaller and I look forward to supporting more of your transformational projects in the months and years ahead.”

Kavyan Hajirostami also won the Young Leader Award for their work with Big Leaf. Big Leaf support Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) across Surrey and work closely with Surrey Arts on a range of music and arts projects. You can find more information about Big Leaf here: https://www.bigleaffoundation.org.uk/

Surrey County Council news

Pupils at Shawley Community Primary Academy Epsom Downs will put their racket skills to the test this half-term and take part in an exciting afternoon of tennis coaching and computer-based learning activities, with education charity, Rackets Cubed.

The unique initiative combines racket sports with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) lessons at the local Sutton Sports Village, rounded off with a well-deserved and nutritious hot meal for the budding athletes and computer whizzes.

Supporting all children to be healthy, happy and ambitious learners is at the heart of Shawley Primary Academy’s approach. The school has partnered with Rackets Cubed to help widen access into sports and STEM learning for more children in the borough, empowering each pupil to realise their full academic and sporting potential.

The charity aims to improve the lives of children and young people across the UK and raise aspirations through its integrated programme of sport, education and nutrition learning. As part of the enriching afternoon, pupils in years 5 and 6 will be getting served with:

• Racket sports – a structured coaching session with a professional sports coach
• STEM activities – one hour of fun and engaging computer-based activities delivered alongside the sports coaching, to complement the core school curriculum
• Nutrition – A healthy and hearty meal will be provided at the end of the session to help the children re-energise, whilst learning about the importance of nutrition for classroom and sporting achievement

While tennis fans bid farewell to old legends such as Serena Williams and Roger Federer this year, the future is looking bright with newcomers such as Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu. This makes it a perfect time to introduce more local children to the sport and nurture the next generation of diverse tennis talent.

By providing pupils with the opportunity to try extracurricular opportunities that otherwise might not be easily accessible, Shawley and Rackets Cubed are working to help children dream bigger, develop their skills and discover new passions.

Sports Lead at Shawley Community Primary Academy, said:

“We are very excited here at Shawley to begin this partnership with Rackets Cubed and help break down barriers to sports and STEM learning. The positive growth and self-fulfilment of our pupils is central to what we do, so being able to align ourselves with a charity that is also driven by these aims was incredibly important to us. Sports can create an infinite number of opportunities and benefits when it’s regularly engaged in, so it wonderful to work with Rackets Cubed and help our pupils access professional coaching and training, which all contributes to their wider success.”

For more information about Shawley Community Academy, please visit: https://www.shawleyprimaryacademy.co.uk/

Surrey County Council’s leader said the authority will “learn lessons” from problems which left 150 families without school transport. Issuing an apology on behalf of the council, Councillor Tim Oliver said the authority had to “hold its hands up” after children, many with additional needs, had to find alternative travel arrangements. The cabinet member for education and learning, Councillor Clare Curran (Conservative, Bookham and Fetcham West), echoed his apology to the “families who have had such anxiety and delays” since the start of term.

Image: Tim Oliver Surrey County Council leader – credit Surrey Live

In a full council meeting on Tuesday (October 11) Cllr Oliver (Conservative, Weybridge) said a change in policy, along with increased demand and driver shortages, led to a backlog in processing applications. He added: “This has been a very complex and difficult situation and we have to hold our hands up on occasions like this to say that we have let some people down. However, I know that the home to school transport team have been working day and night alongside our customer services team to help as many families as they can.”

He committed to members that the authority would learn lessons from the beginning of the school year.
At the start of term, nearly 150 families were left without school transport as the authority attempted to work through more than 500 applications.

Parents came forward to the LDRS* with stories of long journeys on public transport and children who weren’t able to stay for the whole school day because of sibling pick ups and drop offs. A council spokesperson at the time said there had been an increase in staffing as well as temporary financial allowances being given to families to make alternative arrangements.

Cllr Nick Darby (Dittons and Weston Green Residents, The Dittons) thanked local media for bringing attention to the issue and said there had been a “woeful lack of communication” with families when transport was withdrawn or delayed before the start of the school term. He added: “Lessons need to be learned, and quickly, to avoid any repetition. Sufficient resources in place well in advance, regular communication. This year [there was] none of that, the problem could have been identified months ago. Sorry may be the hardest word but here it is entirely appropriate, as you have said leader, addressed to our numerous left-behind children, their left-behind and stressed parents, our left-behind officers doing their best to sort out the problems.”

Cllr Curran said it was not the intention that a new policy, which said individual transport would only be agreed in extenuating circumstances, would push more parents through the appeals process.

Meeting documents also showed that no SEND (Special Education and Needs Disability) children had had their solo transport removed since the new policy was implemented. She said: “I repeat and reinforce the leader’s apology to those families who have had such anxiety and delays in the recent weeks related to home to school travel assistance.”

Saying the council chamber had been turned into a “political environment”, Cllr Oliver admitted that though the authority’s ambition was to ensure that no one in Surrey was left behind, “that isn’t currently the case”. He added: “But it is our ambition and it will remain our ambition to make sure that we do look after every vulnerable member of this county, whether that’s a family or a child or any resident.”

Cllr Curran confirmed a review was being carried out into what had gone wrong.

See our earlier report: Families ‘in limbo’ as SCC fails on school transport

*LDRS BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service with which Epsom and Ewell Times is in partnership

Epsom College has been judged Independent School of the Year 2022 at an annual awards ceremony that celebrates the very best in education and student experience in UK independent schools. The winner of the overall Independent School of the Year Award is seen as a standard-bearer for the sector. This year’s esteemed judging panel of industry experts selected Epsom College, stating that the school is a ‘beacon of excellence’ and showcases the benefits of an independent education in the UK.

The award is not one that can be applied for. The judging panel looks at schools from across the country who are shortlisted for one of the 22 award categories for the Independent Schools of the Year awards and selects the school that has impressed them the most as the overall Independent School of the Year winner.

Dr Helen Wright, Chair, Independent Schools of the Year Awards 2022, said: “Epsom College is a shining example of all that is best about independent education in the UK. Epsom College is renowned as achieving academic success whilst delivering an exceptional student experience to its pupils of all ages, skills and backgrounds. The College is a worthy winner of the overall Independent School of the Year 2022 accolade and I congratulate all the students and staff who have helped to make the school the beacon of excellence which it undoubtedly is.”

Epsom College was also named as the winner of the Student Wellbeing Award at the ceremony, hosted at the Royal Thames Yacht Club on Tuesday 11 October. The judges were hugely impressed by the evidence of the whole-school approach to mental health and the wellbeing of both its staff and pupils. Especially the supreme importance of such support in the 2021-22 academic year and beyond, as school communities continue to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Independent schools are part of their local community and the College’s commitment to its outreach and service programme was found to be a shining example of best practice in that area.

Emma Pattison, Head of Epsom College, said: “What an incredible honour to be named Independent School of the Year. This Award acknowledges what a fantastic school Epsom College is. The founding principles of the school, benevolence and excellence, are two things we live by every day. We put focus on time, space and heart and spirit to give all the young people in our care everything they need to become the best version of themselves – in the classroom, on the sports field and in any field of interest that lights that spark within them. There is so much amazing work to be celebrated in the industry at the moment, so this is a real privilege to be named the best of the best. I am incredibly proud to be Head and we will display this award with real pride!”

Emma Pattison, who joined Epsom College at the start of this academic year, takes over from the previous headmaster Jay Piggot after a ten-year tenure.

Epsom College was officially opened in 1855 by Prince Albert and granted Royal Patronage by Queen Victoria the same year. The reigning monarch has been Epsom College’s patron ever since. The College – originally known as the Royal Medical Benevolent College – first opened its doors to 20 pensioners, who were either qualified medical men or their widows. They were provided with free accommodation and an income. The College also looked after 40 foundation scholars; these were the sons and orphans of medical men who were fed, clothed and educated by the College.

Today, Epsom College provides a rounded education to 1,100 girls and boys aged 11-18, where excellent results are aligned to a breadth of opportunity outside the classroom. The school is in the top 1% in the UK according to data from the Department of Education. Its co-curricular programme has been voted for six years running among the ‘Best of the Best’ in UK independent education by The Week magazine.