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Academy is put to schools test
GIVE us time, is the message from the acting head of Sheffield Springs Academy, which has been issued with an official Notice to Improve.
Six months from now it will be a different story, she says, stressing that seeds sown for rapid improvement are already starting to bear fruit.
It's true that the United Learning Trust faced a difficult task when the charity took over two of the city's most challenging schools, Myrtle Springs and Waltheof, three years ago.
But given all the political hype and extra hard cash given to academies, parents of youngsters at Springs have every right to be bitterly disappointed with this verdict. Parents in Shirecliffe will be apprehensive too - Parkwood High School is set to become an academy from September, and they will wonder if their secondary is taking the right route.
The next year will be a true test of the academy experiment in Sheffield. Unlike other city schools who can call on close support from the local authority in times of trouble, this is a situation ULT must sort out on its own. Families in Arbourthorne and beyond will be anxious to see them succeed.
Show us that tax system is fair to all
GOVERNMENTS are supposed to be there to make sure we are all treated fairly. But that principle is put to the test by the revelation that Whitehall has knowingly refused to correct errors concerning homes which are paying too much council tax.
The discrepancies are revealed in figures from the Communities and Local Government department, which showed sizeable numbers of homes in our region were placed in the wrong council tax bands, resulting in people paying too much to their local council.
But, bureaucrats steadfastly refused to correct the errors and continue to rake in cash to which they are not entitled. The department should come clean over the errors and make good the differences. The whole basis of a tax system is that it is fair and transparent and it is totally undermined if it is shown that the Government is conspiring to overcharge.
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Weather for Sheffield
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Fog
Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
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Sunny spells
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