MORE THAN 30 families with children at Tylers Green Middle School have signed a pledge saying they will restrict children’s use of smartphones after the school said that use of the phones can lead to some “well-grounded children making poor choices.”
In a newsletter to all parents last month head teacher Sam Isaacs said: “We are increasingly seeing friendships… in school being influenced by social media and online group chats outside of school…
“This can sometimes create feelings of official, locked friendship groups; feelings of exclusion or social pressure that we have observed contributing to well-grounded children making poor choices.”
He added: “Even when digital life is thoughtfully managed at home, these wider group dynamics can still have an unintended negative impact.
“So thank you for continuing to talk openly with your children and working alongside us to promote kindness, boundaries and healthy online habits.”
The families who have signed the pledge have committed to:
- Delay the use of smartphones until their child reaches Year 9 (13/14 year olds)
- Deter them from using social media until the age of 16
- Keep the school day phone-free
- Encourage play and a way of life that ensures a smartphone-free childhood
The school is hoping more families will sign the voluntary commitment which is being organised by a group of local schools under the title Chiltern Area Partnership.
Its aim is to support families “in navigating smartphones, social media and childhood well-being”.
Middle School parents can find out more on https://www.tylersgreenmiddle.bucks.sch.uk/guiding-digital-childhoods/
Details of the Smartphone-free Childhood Parent Pact are on this link: https://www.smartphonefreechildhood.org
Local news
Vicar scammed – Penn and Tylers Green vicar, the Rev Samuel Thorp (above), has had to warn parishioners that a scam email is circulating purporting to come from him. He’s warning people not to click any links contained in the fake email and to double check that the sender’s email address is actually his.
Parking plea – Tylers Green Middle School is again asking parents to park at least five minutes walk away from the school when picking-up or dropping off their children. It follows an incident last month when a pupil was “bumped” by a car during pick-up time, fortunately without injury.
Fun Run day – Penn and Tylers Green fun run day, followed by the Party by the Pond, has been fixed for Saturday 6 June and funds raised will be in aid of the Thomas Ball Fund, a Prestwood based charity which provides holiday breaks for children suffering from cancer and their families.
Andreas tribute – Penn and Tylers Green Football Club last month named a spectators stand after Andreas Latta, their vice president and secretary, who died late last year after many years service to the club.
Game on – Manor Farm Junior School in Rose Avenue is appealing for any spare chess sets people may have as its Chess Club is proving increasingly popular. Meanwhile Curzon School in Penn Street is appealing for any old Meccano sets no longer needed for their pupils to use.
Pothole anger – Wycombe (and Tylers Green) MP Emma Reynolds (Lab. Wycombe) has asked Buckinghamshire Council how it has spent the extra £5million she says the Government gave to the county specifically to tackle the backlog of potholes on local roads.
The council hasn’t responded to her question publicly but says it has increased the number of repair crews by 50 per cent, tackling over 3,000 potholes in Bucks in the first seven weeks of this year. After an angry debate, councillors voted 48-42 against a proposal to draw £5million from its reserves to speed up pothole repairs.
GP restrictions – Highfield Surgery in Highfield Way says it is not currently accepting registrations for new patients who do not live in its catchment area which includes Tylers Green, Hazlemere and most of Penn down to Slade’s Garage. The Simpson Centre, which includes Penn Surgery, says it will consider requests from out of its catchment area on a case by case basis. Its area includes all of Penn and Tylers Green and parts of Hazlemere up to the Penn Road cemetery.
Promo logo – Tylers Green First School, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year (see last blog), has tweaked its logo to commemorate the fact. Celebration planning is still in its early stages but will include the production of a commemorative tea towel to help raise funds for the school.
Bus problems – Both Penn and Hazlemere MP Sarah Green (Lib Dem, Chesham and Amersham) and Tylers Green MP Emma Reynolds (Lab, Wycombe) have visited Sir William Ramsay School in Rose Avenue to discuss the difficulties that have arisen after bus company Carousel cancelled a direct bus service to and from the school.
Memorial garden – Parish councillors are keen to find a site for a war memorial garden in Hazlemere. The council wants to copy Penn and Tylers Green’s example of holding an Armistice Day ceremony involving schoolchildren but the site of the existing war memorial, by the main Hazlemere to High Wycombe road, makes it unsuitable.
Up yours! – Reform parish councillor Matthew Dean caused uproar at Hazlemere Parish Council when he refused to sign a pledge all councillors are expected to sign saying he would treat councillors, employees and members of the public “with civility and respect.” According to a Bucks Free Press report Mr Dean said he had not been shown any civility since joining the council last May.
Out of print – Chepping Wycombe Parish Council, which covers Tylers Green, is set to scrap the printed version of its quarterly newsletter because of the difficulty of delivering it. It is likely to appear digitally on the council’s website.
Free spuds – (Updated 2 March) – Families who intend taking part in the Penn and Tylers Green Village Show heaviest potato competition can pick up their free chitted spuds at the village hall between 9am and 10am from 16 to 27 March. You’ll need to enter via the village show website https://www.pennandtylersgreenvillageshow.com/family
Quiz success – A quiz night in the village hall organised by Penn and Tylers Green Residents’ Society last month raised £2250 for local charities.
Disabled parking – Discussions are underway to provide disabled parking bays at the Cosy Corner shopping centre in Hazlemere.
Taking shape – Following the demolition of the 1960s buildings at the former Penn School work began last month on creating a basement for what will become Rayners, Penn a luxury hotel complex on the site. The original Victorian buildings, parts of which are listed, will be retained and restored. A very wet February didn’t help the builders who employed a daily road sweeper on roads to the site to keep it clear of construction debris.
A chimed life. Penn’s ancient bells begin a new chapter in their appealing story
THE ANCIENT bells of Penn’s medieval church were dismantled last month before being taken to a foundry for renovation.
It was the first time the six bells had left Holy Trinity’s bell tower since they were last installed after repair at the end of the First World War 107 years ago.
Then, there were five bells that had been in place since 1702. But it was decided to cast a new sixth bell, known as a Peace Bell, to commemorate the end of the Great War.
While the bells are away the clock tower and the bell framework are also being renovated and strengthened.
Once they are re-tuned the bells will be rehung on new fittings which enable what’s called full-circle ringing.This involves the bells again being mounted on wheels so they can be swung a full 360 degrees in each direction rather than just rocking from side to side.
Back in 1919 the older bells were “quarter turned” and the fittings replaced but their return was delayed because of a strike by moulders at a Whitechapel foundry. They returned just in time to be rung for Christmas 1919 and the bill came to £395.
This time they’ve been sent to a foundry near Abingdon from where, providing the moulders are not in striking mode, they should be returned and in place in the 12th century church before Easter. The cost is thought to be around £40,000, paid for by private donations and charities.
Memories of Tylers Green School
THANK you for your comments on the 150th anniversary of Tylers Green First School (see last blog).
This lovely picture has been sent in by John Palmer, who writes: “As a pupil of Penn and Tylers Green School in the 1950s, and a member of the 1952/53 school football team, I always enjoy reading the P&TG Blog. I wonder if the attached photo of the team taken in front of the school would be of interest?
“Now in my 83rd year and living in Devonshire, I still keep in regular touch with some of those team members. Where have the years gone!”
Thanks John, and don’t forget if you have any photos or memories you can share via this blog to help celebrate the school’s important anniversary this year please get in touch at peter@pennandtylersgreen.com
No gin but fresh tonic
IT’S FUNNY how things turn out. Just over a year ago the Griffiths Brothers gin distillery in Penn Street packed up and its brands were taken over by another distillery.
But although the booze itself didn’t sell as well as hoped, the number of people visiting to see how it was made boomed.
Noting the people seemed to enjoy the bar and its surroundings for an after-tour tipple, the company then started holding private functions. They too took off.
All that stopped when the distillery closed down.
But the people in the same block – a development company – think they’ve seen a business opportunity.
They’ve acquired the property and are seeking planning permission to convert the distillery into a multi-purpose events space.
They think its location away from houses and with plenty of parking makes it an ideal spot for private parties and corporate events in the evening and activities like yoga classes and art workshops in the daytime.
Indeed, they say they’ve already been approached to use the building for regular jazz evenings.
Better late than never? Politicians at last get round to considering if local services can support thousands of new homes…
THE GOVERNMENT is to meet with a local MP this month to see if there is sufficient infrastructure in place to meet the pressure that thousands of planned new homes will bring to the area.
For months, if not years, a number of individuals and community groups have expressed concern that services ranging from schools to medical facilities and from roads to the water supply will be unable to cope with the influx of new populations.
Penn and Hazlemere MP Sarah Green (Lib Dem, Chesham and Amersham) told the House of Commons last month that community groups had struggled to get more information.
“The cumulative effect of lots of smaller developments on the sewerage system and GP provision is the same as the effect of one large development,” she told MPs.
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said he would meet with Ms Green to look in more detail at the issue.
He said: “We recognise that there is more to do to ensure that the right infrastructure is built at the right time.”
Mr Pennycook had earlier blamed Buckinghamshire Council for taking too long to finalise the county’s Local Plan, which not only finalises where new housing will be built but indicates what infrastructure will need to be put in place to support it.
He used special Government powers to instruct the council to put forward its Local Plan by the end of the year.
The council said the minister was pushing at an open door because public consultation on the Local Plan opened last month and the council was on course to submit its findings by the end of the year in line with its timetable.
…the council outlines where to build 95,000 new homes…
MEANWHILE, kicking and screaming against the imposition of building 95,000 new homes in Buckinghamshire in the next 20 years, the council has produced its ideas for where to build them.
Its proposed Local Plan obviously includes the Gomm Valley and Ashwells sites in Tylers Green where permission for 650 new homes has already been given and Terriers Farm in Hazlemere where a further 450 homes have been approved.
It also includes Pennwood Grange in Hazlemere where developers Bellway are currently building 259 houses.
There are also a number of sites in the Beaconsfield area, plus Holmer Green/Widmer End, and there’s concern that Flackwell Heath, Wooburn Green and Bourne End would in effect merge into one urbanised block under the plan.
But the mass of proposed new housing is in the central and northern part of Buckinghamshire.
The public consultation on the plan ends on 15 March. You can find out more and take part on this link: https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/planning/2aa4b313/
…leaving a little breathing space back at the ranch
THREE open spaces in Penn and Tylers Green which were suggested as potential development sites for housing have been ruled unsuitable in the proposed Local Plan
The council had asked for new ideas of where housing could be introduced and received three suggestions – presumably from developers – for Penn and Tylers Green:
- the fields between Penn Free Methodist Church and Oldfields in Church Road, Penn
- the former Chiltern Yard in Hammersley Lane
- the open space between Sandpits Lane and Folly Meadow in Hammersley Lane
However they have been deemed unsuitable in the proposed Local Plan because they are all in Green Belt which the council says it is still determined to protect.
If the Local Plan as proposed is agreed and adopted it will protect these relatively small areas from any speculative infilling development for the next couple of decades.
Anglo Saxon treasures on display for the first time
SOME OF the artefacts found in one of the biggest Anglo-Saxon burial grounds in Britain go on show for the first time in Aylesbury this month.
They were discovered by archeologists working on the HS2 route as it passed through Wendover.
They found scores of brooches, beads, knives and buckles dating back over 1200 years as well as toiletry items such as tweezers, toothpicks and ear wax removers.
The exhibition at the Buckinghamshire Museum also includes treasures – loaned by the British Museum – unearthed at two other important Anglo-Saxon burial sites at Taplow and Marlow.
The exhibition runs from 28 March until 1 November. Details on this link: https://www.discoverbucksmuseum.org/whats-on/the-saxons/
After the cut, the cover
NOW that engineers have finished the cutting part of the cut-and-cover tunnel for HS2 at Wendover, they have started the covering part.
HS2 call it a Green Tunnel because eventually it will be completely buried with trees, plants and shrubs so it won’t disturb the spectacular view from Coombe Hill over the Aylesbury Vale and the Chilterns Natural Landscape.
The finished product is still a few years off but in the meantime construction workers are busy filling the sides of the mile-long tunnel with crushed rock before letting it settle and then filling the rest with top soil.
Regional news
Legocake – Legoland celebrated 30 years in Windsor last month, building a giant cake made from 200,000 Lego bricks. Picture: Legoland.
Job freeze – Buckinghamshire NHS Trust has frozen its recruitment because it is overspending its salary budget. Acting chief executive Raghu Bhasin told the board the trust was doing all it could to reduce the impact on existing staff but warned there would be a reduction on the use of temporary staff. Sixty per cent of the trust’s budget goes on pay.
What’s in a name?– A fresh attempt to change the names of Prince Andrew Road and Prince Andrew Close, Maidenhead is likely to be made after the council agreed that the number of residents needed to agree such a change in the streets should move from 100 per cent to two-thirds.
Early 11 plus – Eight grammar schools – none in Buckinghamshire – have agreed to hold their 11 plus entrance exam in July this year instead of September so that children don’t have to spend their summer holiday cramming. The test, devised by Reading School for Boys, will concentrate on questions that need imagination and critical thinking to answer in preference to those that can be learned by rote. The school says the new test is fairer for children whose parents can’t afford private tuition.
Global centre – Slough is set to become the second biggest data hub in the world. There are already 40 data centres in the town and more in the pipeline providing vital processing equipment that powers everything from AI to online banking. Only Virginia in the USA is bigger.
Swan concern – Around 60 swans are thought to have died from bird flu this winter on the Thames between Windsor and Maidenhead, according to the Bray-based charity Swan Support. Meanwhile, fire fighters and wildlife experts rescued a stressed deer which had swum to an island in the middle of the Thames at Hurley and was too scared to swim back.
From Wycombe Marsh to Milan/Cortina via Piccadilly Circus – Multiple sclerosis sufferer Nina Sparks, 37, who practised as a teenager on The Summit dry ski slope in Wycombe Marsh, is representing Great Britain in the Paralympic Winter Games this month. She’s the first woman to represent Britain at the Games in her chosen sport, snowboarding, and a dramatic picture of her in action is featured prominently in the famous advertising hoarding in Piccadilly Circus.
Lucky escape – The flying tip of a helicopter blade which crashed at Chalfont St Peter whizzed across a main road and narrowly missed a petrol station before embedding itself into a garden wall, an inquiry into the accident found. The pilot attempted an emergency landing in a field after becoming disorientated in bad weather last June an Air Accidents Investigation found. He was uninjured.
New town – Kidlington, near Oxford, officially became a town last month. It was one of the country’s largest villages with a population of 13,600 but new housing developments within its boundaries means that by the time of the next census the population will be over 30,000.
Reckless dumping – Yobs who fly-tipped lorry loads of household junk into a field in Hedgerley where horses were grazing are being sought. The RSPCA was also called to check the horses were not affected by the contents. There’s been an increase in fly-tipping in the county. The council said it had to clear fly-tipping from 58 public rights of way in Buckinghamshire in the past year compared to 19 the year before.
Still struggling – Although there have been improvements in the way Buckinghamshire handles children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND pupils) there is still much to improve, said a report last month from Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education. It said four out of five categories inspected last November needed improvements, although it rated the actual experience and progress of children in care as “good”.
Books and booze – Following the closure of Wetherspoon’s Hope & Champion pub at Beaconsfield Services off the M40, WHSmith has applied for a licence to sell alcohol at its outlet in the service station.
Active future – Plans are being prepared to convert the former River and Rowing Museum at Henley into an activity centre featuring laser tag, indoor bowling, a basketball court, a climbing wall, a table tennis corner, a splash pad, a music recording studio, a cafe, bar and co-working space.
New dawn – Sue Morton, above, the real-life Vicar of Dibley, left to take a sabbatical last month after serving for 14 years as vicar of six parish churches in Hambleden Valley, one of which was St Mary the Virgin in Turville, where the BBC comedy series was filmed.
By the way…
- There was some disquiet, but not much, when local elections were cancelled in Buckinghamshire six years ago because the council was a year off changing its structure into a unitary authority. There didn’t seem much point and it would save a lot of money (elections are expensive things). Robert Jenrick, the Government minister responsible at the time, said: “Elections in such circumstances risk confusing voters and would be hard to justify …”
- So there was some surprise in the county when last month the Government was cajoled into allowing elections in council areas where other councils are in exactly the same position as Bucks was six years ago. Reform UK had threatened to take the Government to court over the issue, so the Government backed off. This time the same Robert Jenrick, now a leading figure in Reform, said it would be a “complete disgrace” to cancel elections, telling ITN: “You don’t have to cancel elections in order to reorganise local councils.” (Thanks to Private Eye magazine for letting us know.)
You can contact this blog at peter@pennandtylersgreen.com. It will be updated as necessary this month, but will be fully updated on 1 April.