Radical plans for Francis Bacon School revealed

Herts County Council has announced that Francis Bacon School will be supported by Sir John Lawes School, Harpenden, to eventually become a brand new 'all through' school for four to 19 year old pupils on the same site. Sir John Lawes will lead the development of the new school, in the process sponsoring it to become an academy which is scheduled to open in September 2012 with a new name.

All current pupils will automatically become part of the new academy and there will continue to be continuity of education for them. There will be some building work and changes to the existing site to accommodate the wider age range.

Sir John Lawes head Claire Robins said: “We want to work together with the staff at Francis Bacon to build on the excellent work they have already done in raising standards.  We hope to use the skills and experience of staff in both organisations to develop Francis Bacon into the kind of school that the parents of St Albans can have confidence will provide their children with the very highest standards of education."

Read the full press release.

Is St Albans city centre too congested?

St Albans City and District Council has outlined possible plans for city centre 'congestion management' to local retailers. Proposed measures to reduce traffic and improve air quality include:

·        Restricting private vehicle access in St Peter’s Street at certain times of the day

·        Improved bus transport & new bus fare payment options including by mobile phone

·        Metro-style bus routes on arterial city routes

·        Mini park and ride sites

·        Walking and cycling schemes including a green ring around the city

·        An Abbey Flyer tram route

·        Car sharing and car clubs

·        Measures to encourage electric vehicles (16 charging points around the District are planned in 2011)

·        Fresh Way To Work – transport initiatives with local employers

There will be a formal public consultation on proposals this summer. Retailers are concerned that these measures will adversely affect deliveries, collections and trade in St Albans.  Read the full SADC news release.
Do we need to reduce traffic into and through St Albans city centre? What do you think?

St Albans residents beat recycling target

We residents in St Albans are so good at recycling that we've already beaten the council's target of 50% of household waste by 2010/11 (up from 36.35% in 2007/8). To help reach a new target of 60% by 2015, the council is introducing new waste collection measures including

• the completion of the roll out of recycling facilities for glass, newspapers, magazines, plastic bottles, cans and aerosols to all flats and maisonettes in the District by the end of 2011/12;
•  the introduction of recycling facilities at schools, where practicable, by the end of 2011/12;
•  looking at a campaign to reduce the use of plastic bags;
• door-to-door visits in 2012/13 to encourage residents to make better use of the current recycling facilities available to them, and 
• a waste audit in 2012/13 to identify what is going to landfill which could recycled, composted or reused.

The Council is also looking at whether it can make changes to its current system of waste collection, either under its existing refuse and recycling contract with Enterprise which comes to an end in 2015 or under any new contract after this date. It is considering the possibility of

• collecting clothes, mixed plastics and tetra pak cartons from the kerbside,
• collecting green waste, including food, cardboard and garden waste weekly during the summer months
• providing a second green wheeled bin for garden waste with option of charging for the service.

More information about recycling in St Albans City and District is available on the Council’s recycling website at: http://www.recyclingforapremier.com

Herts CC Secondary School allocations are announced today

Hertfordshire County Council today press released the news that over 95 per cent of children have been allocated a place at one of their three preferred secondary schools and 81 per cent at their first ranked school. St Albans Cllr Chris White notes in his blog that in St Albans, one in four children did not get their first choice secondary school and a total of 26 children did not get any of their preferences (compared with Harpenden, where 90% got their first preference).


For the first time, HCC will be sending allocation letters only to parents and carers who applied on paper or who were not successful  in obtaining a place at their first ranked school.  In addition, for the first time, parents and carers who applied online will be able to accept the school place offered online. All applicants who have not been offered their first preference school will automatically be placed on the continuing interest list for any schools named higher on the application form than the school offered. Further information is at www.hertsdirect.org/admissions.