Schools' concert in Oxford

This afternoon I had the pleasure of attending the Oxfordshire Central Music School concert which is given especially for primary school children at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. Over 700 children and their teachers from all over the county were in attendance and I was pleased to see Grove Church of England primary school in the audience.

Music performed included movements from the 'Enigma Variations' by Elgar and 'Finlandia' by Sibelius. It was an excellent performance which was enjoyed by all of us who were there. Oxfordshire's Music Service always comes up trumps on these occasions and we are very fortunate to have this available to the children of Oxfordshire. If you would like to learn more about the Music Service click here.

Footpath renewed by Letcombe Brook

I am pleased to report that the footpath alongside the Letcombe Brook on the Green by Brooklands House has been properly resurfaced. I had reported this due to the poor state of repair it was in. The path had virtually disintegrated in parts and was becoming dangerous. County Highways came out and did the work last week whilst the brook was being desilted. I went to inspect it this afternoon and it looks much better now.

Educational Achievement in Oxfordshire

This afternoon I attended a seminar at County Hall looking at the county's examination results for last year. What is apparent looking at all the figures (and there are so many!) is that Oxfordshire does not perform as well as its statistical neighbours. Indeed, in most cases, we are bottom of the table. This needs to be looked at seriously, because Oxfordshire county should be doing better. Indeed we should be above the national average, but we seem to be just about tracking the national average in most cases.

A number of senior advisors and new members of staff have been taken on in the Children, Young People and Families Directorate to try and address these issues, and I hope that measures will soon be in place to improve the situation. If you wish to take a look at the national league tables for Oxfordshire then click here. It does make interesting reading.

We also heard about the new plans for the 14-19 agenda and the measures which will be coming on board, especially around apprenticeships and training. This all sounds quite inspirational especially some of the work-based training projects. We certainly need to be skilling up our young people especially during this time of recession.

Desilting the Letcombe Brook

One of the complaints during the 2007 Floods was about the levels of silt in the Letcombe Brook and there were calls for this to be looked into by the Environment Agency for the future. I have been following this up with the Letcombe Brook Project Officer recently in the light of some flood grant money which has been made available through the Vale of White Horse District Council.

This week County Highways have started the work in Grove and have been out every day since Monday and are due to finish tomorrow. This is sure to make a big difference to the flow of the brook under the arches of the bridge at The Green which is where the work is taking place.

Work will also be done in Wantage at The Mill once this has been given the all clear to go ahead.

Hopefully both of these schemes will help to alleviate some of the flood risk should the heavy rains reappear in the future.

Grove Joint Environmental Trust

Yesterday I attended a meeting of the Grove Joint Environmental Trust which is made up of representatives from the Vale and Parish Council along with co-optees from local organisations. The Trust is set up to consider projects for improving the environment in Grove and works closely with the Letcombe Brook Project Officer who is partially funded by the Trust.

We discussed tree planting in the village, restoration and installation of benches, restoration of the bus shelter on the village green and future projects which we may wish to undertake. We had asked the local schools for ideas on improvements to the main entrance to Grove by perhaps installing a 'Welcome to Grove' sign. Grove C of E School had come up with an idea which we shall pursue with landscape officers from the Vale. Other ideas for improvements which include the entrance to the Day Centre and the possibility of an improved footpath by the brook at the Green will also be looked into. We were also updated on flood alleviation projects along Letcombe Brook.

Community Woodland for Grove

Residents must have noticed the new trees (pictured above) which have been planted next to the Mably Way Health Centre and the new sports pitches in Grove. This is going to be a community woodland in the future with open access for all. The trees have to be planted quite closely to start with to ensure that the best ones will continue to grow whilst the smaller ones can be removed. It is also fenced off at the moment so that it can be kept secure and minimise damage from rabbits etc. This is all being managed by the Vale Council who have a long term lease on the land. We can look forward to watching this grow knowing that it will be an asset to the communities of Grove and Wantage in the future.

This has all been planned for some time so I am pleased that action has taken place now that the sports pitches have been completed. All being well, the new pitches will be ready to hand over later on in the year.