News Charity theft
TWO women suspected of steal- ing a charity sweets dispenser in Maidstone have been arrested and charged. The dispenser is alleged to have
been stolen from a waiting room of a taxi company in Station Ap- proach, on September 24, 2020. Samantha White (40) of Plump-
ton Walk, Maidstone and Joanna Stansall (31) of Quarry Road, Maidstone, were both arrested on Wednesday, October 7. They were later charged with theft and bailed to appear before Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on November 12..
Festival date
MAIDSTONE Music Festival will not be in its usual form this year. The event, usually held at In- victa Grammar School, will be taking place next month. The classes, the adjudicators and the entry fees will remain the same. Each performer will be given a written adjudication and, where appropriate, a first, second or third position in their class. The closing date for entries is
November 14.
downsmail.co.uk
VIAT defends decision for earlier home time
AN ACADEMY trust has faced parent anger over its decision to send students home early once a week in an effort to minimise the spread of Coronavirus. The Valley Invicta Academies
Trust (VIAT) decided to close its primary schools in Aylesford, Maidstone, Kings Hill and Ley- bourne Chase early on Wednes- days.
The revised 1.30pm home time
was introduced in order that staff members could use Wednesday afternoons for planning, prepara- tion and assessment (PPA) time. VIAT CEO, Julie Derrick, who
also head teacher at Invicta Gram- mar School, says she understands the decision may be challenging for some families, but the safety and wellbeing of her pupils is top priority.
Mrs Derrick said: “Having had a positive case in one of our schools, our risk assessment high- lighted that the cover of PPA en-
Searching for a new job?
VIAT’s Julie Derrick
tailed too many staff moving from one class to another. "The statutory allocated plan-
ning and preparation time, which now takes
place solely on a
Wednesday afternoon, will also ensure there is adequate time set aside for robust and resilient
plans in place for all our children – both virtually and in the class- room - while minimising any po- tential risk of spreading the virus. "While we understand this may be challenging for some families, we have of course made arrange- ments to secure provision for those that need it.” The decision to close the pri-
mary schools early sparked on- line criticism from parents. The plans were put in place to
try and reduce the number of staff moving across classrooms. Writing on Facebook, reader Emma Catterall said: “Whilst this doesn’t personally affect me, I feel for the families that it does affect. Springing this on parents seems rather unfair.”
Kerry Louise wrote: “What are working parents supposed to do? They have already spent time at home home-schooling. There are ways around organising PPA time with less staff.”
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34
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