The South Glos Post

Children attending special schools in South Gloucestershire and Bristol enjoyed a day of music-making thanks to South Gloucestershire Council’s Music and Arts Service and the support of the Bristol Aztec Rotary Club.

The ‘Music Rules OK’ event was held at Little Stoke Primary School on Thursday 6th October and brought together children aged 10-15 years old with a range of learning needs.

Students took part in activities included DJ mixing, Chinese dragon music, drumming, exploring the Apple Mac music software ‘GarageBand’ and moving and creating music with a ‘skoog’, a new type of instrument designed specifically for special needs music and music education.

South Gloucestershire Council teaching and learning adviser for music Christine Wright said:

“This was a very special day for students and staff. There is a great sense of camaraderie in making music and learning new skills. The whole place was abuzz with a cacophony of music and happy faces and the disco after lunch provided opportunities to sing and dance along to the latest pop music and recharge batteries for the afternoon session. We are very grateful to Rotary for sponsoring the workshops and the gift of a hat and balloon as a reminder of this wonderful day.”

The event was sponsored by Bristol Aztec Rotary Club, whose President Sue Bamber-Powell said:

“The Club is delighted to support this special music day. This is the fifth year we have sponsored the event and fundraising for it is our main activity for the year. It is a privilege to see and hear so many young people achieving so much musically in such a short time. For us music really rules OK!”

More: Local school students helped out at the event »

Labour councillors have been urged to get behind a local bid to build a new aerospace University Technical College (UTC) in South Gloucestershire, following a government announcement that it has passed the latest approval stage.

The call from the Council’s Conservative education chief, Cllr Sheila Cook, follows criticism from Labour councillors at council meetings that the UTC will just add to the number of surplus school places in the area.

But this is a short-term issue that will be resolved once the thousands of homes that already have planning permission in the surrounding area are fully built.

The focus of this UTC on an environmental and avionic engineering curriculum has been developed through extensive discussions and research with local engineering companies, particularly those located a short distance away from its proposed site next to Abbeywood Community School in Stoke Gifford, such as Rolls Royce, Airbus and GKN.

Labour should stop undermining UTC bid says Tory Councillor »

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council

South Gloucestershire commuters can ‘dial and park’ for a special discount price at the new park & ride facility off Hunts Ground Road in Stoke Gifford (close to Bristol Parkway Station).

During September, all commuters who use their mobile phone to pay for parking will be charged just £2 per day, plus normal text charges – a saving of £3 on the normal daily rate.

The facility is the first of its kind in South Gloucestershire and gives residents the opportunity to leave their car behind before transferring to a train or local bus for onward journeys into Bristol and other parts of South Gloucestershire.

The park and ride is also on the route of the proposed North Fringe to Hengrove rapid transit network, which the council hopes to gain funding for from the Department for Transport later this year. If the bid for funding is successful, it would provide links to Cribbs Causeway, Aztec West, UWE and Emersons Green, and to Bristol city centre and on to Hengrove.

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A new congestion-busting transport link road has been included as part of a flagship rapid transit scheme, delighting local campaigners.

Approved by South Gloucestershire Council’s Cabinet on Monday (25th July), the North Fringe to Hengrove Package rapid transit scheme includes the ‘Stoke Gifford Transport Link’ – also known locally as the Stoke Gifford bypass.

The bypass had been due to open over ten years ago in order to deal with the huge congestion in the North Fringe of Bristol created by the development of 8,000 homes at Bradley Stoke and other nearby developments. It was cancelled when South Gloucestershire Council was run by the Liberal Democrats. A long campaign has been fought by local Conservatives to revive plans for the new road.

Speaking at Monday’s Cabinet meeting, Stoke Gifford Conservative councillor Keith Cranney said:

“I welcome the North Fringe to Hengrove Package rapid transit scheme and feel that the Stoke Gifford Transport Link is the most important element of it.”

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Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council