Urgent Appeal to Parents Over Applications for KCC SEN Transport

Parents of children with special educational needs or disabilities who are changing school in September or who have had a new Education, Health and Care Plan issued since March are being urged to apply for school transport without delay.

Kent County Council (KCC) provides free school transport for eligible children and young people with special educational needs.

Not all pupils are eligible for free school transport, so it is important for parents to understand whether KCC is able to support them, or whether they may need to make their own arrangements.

Applications for school transport can be made by parents whose children are starting a new school in September or who have received a new or amended Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

KCC’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, Shellina Prendergast, said:

“We know that many parents of children who have special educational needs and disabilities need time to plan any changes to their child’s routine, especially when they are using new transport.

“We have written directly to parents to give them details about how to apply so that we can get transport organised for the start of school in September.

“We also made some changes earlier this year to simplify our mainstream transport applications so that we could free up capacity during the busy summer months to deal with SEND transport applications.

“Although we have received many applications so far, there are still some parents who have yet to apply.”

Parents can apply online. It usually takes six weeks for KCC to process applications, so any further delays in parents applying will mean that transport cannot be guaranteed to be in place by September.

If a child has SEND and attends a mainstream or special school, and already receives free school transport, parents will not usually need to reapply unless their child moves to a new school or when they move from Year 6 to Year 7.

Full details of the eligibility criteria and how to apply are available on KCC’s website

Murray Evans

Kent County Council

Letter to Residents From Holywell School Regarding Building Work Over the Summer Break

Dear Residents,

Following a successful bid to the Department for Education Condition Improvement Fund, we have been scheduled to have some significant updates to our school building and grounds. The work being carried out is essential in order for the school to remain compliant under health and safety and safeguarding regulations.

The work is scheduled to start from next week, 25th July 2022. We hope the majority of the work will be completed before the start of the next academic year in September.

One part of the job will be to replace the exterior fencing around the perimeter of the building with new 6ft security fencing and to install a new automatic main gate and pedestrian gates on the front of the school. For residents, this will mean the contractors will have to trim the hedges along the side of the field and playground in order to install the new posts and fencing. This can only be done safely once the birds have finished nesting so maybe towards the end of the Summer holiday and into the start of the new term. Please be assured this will not affect residents' gardens.

We have also spoken to our gardening company who will be cutting down a number of the very large pine trees on the field which have now become too high and dense. This should allow for more light in the gardens adjacent to the school field. This work is scheduled for September and again, we hope will cause minimal disruption.

Thank you in advance for your support and understanding.

Yours sincerely,

Mr D Callaghan - Headteacher

Stella Poulter - Secretary

Holywell Primary School
Tel: 01634 388416
Email: office@holywell.kent.sch.uk 
Website: www.holywell.kent.sch.uk

The Brown Jug by David Wood

The smallest of the three village pubs, The Brown Jug stayed in business for almost two centuries. The building was originally constructed as a farm cottage in a row of cottages belonging to the Horsham Farm estate in 1838. It’s believed that a 17th century alehouse once occupied the site.

The building became a pub in 1856 and was named after the small, brown drinking jug - popular at the time. It appeared on the National Census List for Upchurch in 1871, with 49 year old George Packer and his 45 year old wife Sarah being listed as proprietors. By 1881 Charles Horton and his wife Elizabeth from Hollingbourne had taken over and managed the pub until 1891 when it was sold at a public auction in Strood.

The Hortons were succeeded by Henry Woolley, his wife Ellen and their seven children. When the cement works became established on the marshes, Mr Woolley delivered beer to the workers on his horse drawn cart while bargemen sailing their barges along the river regularly visited the pub for refreshment. In 1904 a flood extended to the pub and submerged the cellar, but after a recovery, business continued.

Thomas Polhill became proprietor during the pre-World War One period, followed by Edward Packer, who stayed there during the 1920s and the 1930s. John and Daisy Napier ran the pub during the 1940s, followed by Gertrude Babbage during the early 1960s.

Local cement workers outside the pub in 1908.

On the left, Hannah Packer with sister and landlady Elsie Packer to her right in 1914.

The Jug's distinctive Shepherd Neame sign was a familiar sight to passers-by for many years.

The Brown Jug in December 2020. 

Click the montage to enlarge.

Eric and Pat Funnell arrived as proprietors in December 1965. They lived and worked at the pub for over thirty five years and became very well-known in the area. Eric had previously worked as a landscape gardener at Bowaters Mill in Sittingbourne. The couple managed The Brown Jug as a small, local pub and even won the brewery’s Best Kept Garden Competition. Eric Funnell also got the rights to run a bar at the Rochester Corn Exchange in 1972, but a row developed when Rochester publicans objected because Eric Funnell came from outside the Medway area. However, he won the rights to run the bar even though he had a lot of local opposition from Rochester publicans.

After Eric and Pat Funnell had departed, the building was refurbished and managed by tenant Darren Yeomans but continued to retain its small pub atmosphere with a regular band of drinkers, darts teams and visiting musicians.

Three couples followed Darren Yeomans as Shepherd Neame tenants until the Faversham brewery put the pub freehold up for sale. New owner Kate Johns and son Dan, with wife Rachel, arrived and began running the pub as a Free House in 2011.

After a downturn in trade throughout the Coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and preparing for retirement, Kate Johns applied for planning permission to convert the building into two houses. At first, the planning application was refused, but a second application proved successful, and so The Brown Jug, which had served the village since the mid-19th century, ended.

The Brown Jug finally closed on Saturday 30th October 2021.

David Wood

About David

David was born and raised at Ham Green and still lives there today.

He writes from personal experience about Upchurch village life and the changes that have taken place over the years.

David's book, Memories of Upchurch, is a very readable and detailed historical study of the village and is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk price £12 + postage and packing.

Poolside Bar & Courtyard Music Night with The Island Brothers at Upchurch River Valley Golf Course

Jenny Giles - Upchurch River Valley Golf Course

Telephone: 01634 360626

Website: www.rivervalleygolf.co.uk

Vehicle Number Plate Stolen - Newington

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: 46/135319/22

Between 22:00 on Tuesday the 12th of July and 06:00 on Wednesday the 13th of July, somebody stole the front number plate from a Mercedes parked on the road in Watling Drive, Newington.

If you have any information that could help investigators please contact Kent Police on telephone number 101 and quote the relevant crime number above.

For more information on crime prevention visit: www.kent.police.uk

Kent Community Messaging

Newington History Group - Bite-sized History

Mosquitoes caused the marshlands along the Medway and Thames to be one of the country's most malaria-infected areas for centuries and Simon Springate, from Kent Field Club, will look into the problem at Newington History Group's meeting in the Village Hall on Thursday, July 28th (7:00pm).

His talk, Much Biting in the Marsh - Mosquitoes and Malaria in Kent, containing input from Chaucer, Shakespeare, Defoe and Dickens, will examine how malaria hit the area, what caused it to disappear and return, and the challenges we face from mosquitoes in 21st century Kent.

Newington History Group actively seeks to unearth, preserve and promote the heritage of the village and neighbouring areas. It meets monthly on the fourth Thursday (7:00pm) but not during August. Annual subscription is £15 and all meetings are open to the public (£3) unless stated.

For more details contact the group at: newingtonhistorygroup@outlook.com; through its website: www.newingtonhistory.uk; or call: 01795 842711.

Follow on Facebook: Newington History Group, and Twitter: @newingtonhg

Richard Thompstone - Newington History Group