downsmail.co.uk


News Home plan for newts


STAPLEHURST Parish Council andMedway Valley Countryside Partner- ship are set to embark on a home-building exercise…for great crested newts. The organisations have


joined forces to askMaid- stone Borough Council for planning permission for an 11m circular pond in the southwest corner of Wimpey Field. It would be approximately 1.2m deepwith shallow, sloped sides. The work would involve


the clearance of small trees, saplings and dead hedging, and the con- struction of fencing in a 3mbuffer around the water. If approved, the pond will be part of a wider scheme, devised and


funded by Natural England, to create and improve pond habitat for great crested newts in Kent.


‘Trust teachers on discipline’


A HEAD teacher has written to parents asking them to trust his staff when sanctions are placed on their children. Bruce Grindlay, head of Sutton


Valence School, issued a letter on January 7, reminding mums and dads that the school’s priority is the pupils’ education. Themessage has created a lot of


attention on social media, with both teachers and parents relating to the blunt but fair approach at the fee-paying school. Mr Grindlaywrote: “Last term,


dealing with these behavioural concerns from parents took up a disproportionate amount of time and energy from staff, who should be spending their non- teaching time preparing lessons andmarking.” The head of the North Street


private school continued to chal- lenge parents on what is deemed necessary to raise concerns about, andwhat is simply avoidable. He urged parents to “not al-


ways believe your child’s version of events” and added: “Children will get things wrong and that is fine if they learn fromit.” Members of staff were even


preferring not to discipline a pupil as they had a “fear of time- consuming and unpleasant reper- cussions.” MrGrindlay ended his letter by


stating that if anybody had an issue with a decision and really thought it needed challenging, they should not take this up with


Will, Estate or Power of Attorney dispute?


Do you have a dispute regarding how a Will, Estate or Power of Attorney has been handled?


the staff, butwith him. He added: “The staff aremerely


upholdingmy expectations, and I need them to do this and then to get onwith their core priority: ed- ucating your children.” The letter, shared by father-of-


two Toby Payne-Cook, has now been re-tweeted more than 700 times and has received 2,700 likes, withmostly positive responses. Jamie Nairn commented: “To-


mainstream,


tally agree with this letter. Too many parents are quick to believe their child over a professional with many years of experience, who has done the best they can do to be fair and consistent.” Sutton Valence School is a independently


funded senior school for boys and girls.


Whitehead Monckton has considerable experience in helping clients to resolve these difficult disagreements and in many cases achieving excellent financial results.


Call us today on 01622 698031


for an initial no obligation consultation by phone. E-mail enquiries@whitehead-monckton.co.uk


Whitehead Monckton Limited (no. 08366029), registered in England & Wales. Registered office 5 Eclipse Park, Sittingbourne Road, Maidstone, Kent ME14 3EN. Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under no. 608279.


www.whitehead-monckton.co.uk www.whitehead-monckton.co.uk


DM2018 Maidstone Weald February 2019 5


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