It was a year ago this month that I first met Daniel Ionescu of The Lincolnite to discuss the new Lincoln UTC and initiate my relationship with this fine online newspaper. This is my twelfth monthly article and I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to stop, reflect and put pen to paper or, more accurately, fingers to keyboard.
Much has changed in the last twelve months and I am sure that when I look back in August 2015, having celebrated the first twelve months of Lincoln UTC, I will find myself once more reflecting on huge change.
For many, August is heralded as a relatively quiet month with schools out for summer and families taking time out to spend quality time together, heading to pastures new for a break and a change of scenery. Yet August is also seen as a time for change. In this month young people from across the country will nervously receive envelopes, finding out how well they did in their summer examinations. Tomorrow we will see our newspapers filled with photos of sixth form students, clutching results forms, hugging one another in happiness and, sadly in some cases, shedding a tear due to unexpected disappointment.
Next week a similar picture will unfold as GCSE students receive similar news. Nervous yet exciting times ahead for teachers and families as much as students: the pressure of expectation is equally shared.
Beside these young people, their families will wait: having lived through the last two years, they appreciate their toil and commitment and they too will have provided great support and care to help them achieve their outcomes. In the background will stand a team of school or college staff.
The teachers, who have given so much to their students by enlightening their minds, challenging their opinions, developing their thinking and growing them both academically and personally. The array of support staff, who go unnoticed by the press at this time of year, yet who have provided the learning environment, resources, personal support, entered them for exams, fed and nourished their minds and ensured they have travelled safely to and from school each day. This is a team of unsung heroes, without whom these results would never have been possible.
These two weeks are certainly times to celebrate the achievements of students across the country; equally, they are times to congratulate all those who have supported them along the journey. As individuals we can only achieve so much – as a team, we are significantly stronger and ultimately more successful: it is true, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
In this month of change these young people will head off to pastures new. Whether that is to employment, apprenticeship or university, to embark on post-16 studies in a new institution or indeed to change school at 14 to join the UTC, such opportunities provide excitement and can be equally daunting. Important decisions are made and futures begin to take shape as career pathways become more refined and considered. This is a pivotal month – it is good that for many it is a time of rest, as such decisions need to be made with an uncluttered, focused mind.
Here at the UTC we are not in a period of rest – indeed, this time could not be more active! Chad Varah House is brimming with specialists in fields such as information technology, interior design, engineering and construction, to name but a few. In a little over two weeks experts in education will fill the building, preparing for the arrival of those young people who have made a life-changing decision to join us at the UTC.
They have taken a significant step in their career pathway, joining us to focus on their strengths and interests in Science and Engineering. We look forward to celebrating the GCSE results of our Year 12 students next week and welcoming them and our Year 10 students to the next exciting phase of their education. Education in Engineering, Science and Mathematics has never looked stronger in Lincolnshire.
We wish all our colleagues across the county the very best of luck for them and their students this week – we raise a glass to your collective hard work and achievements and look forward to reading of your successes.
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Dr. Rona Mackenzie is Principal of Lincoln University Technical College (UTC). She has a strong background in education, having worked in six local authorities during her career, and is passionate about providing an education that meet the needs of young people and their community industries. She is a keen sportswoman and mountaineer, recently trekking to Everest Base Camp, and has an interest in photography.
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Lincolnshire Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage following a two-vehicle collision in which a 12-year-old boy sadly died.
Following a call to police at 9.48am today (16 January), officers attended the B1190 at Bardney.
The collision involved two vehicles: a silver Mercedes-Benz A220 and a silver Ford Galaxy.
The 12-year-old boy, a passenger in the Galaxy, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the Mercedes, a man, has been taken to hospital. The status of his injuries is currently unknown.
Update, 6pm: All road closures have now been lifted. No one else involved in the collision is believed to have sustained any life-threatening nor life-altering injuries.
If you saw the collision, or have information, you can contact police in one of the following ways:
Call 101, quoting Incident 141 of 16 January.
Email [email protected] putting “Incident 141 of 16 January” in the subject line.
North East Lincolnshire’s MPs have stood by the Prime Minister after he apologised for breaking rules by attending a lockdown party.
Grimsby MP Lia Nici dismissed calls for him to resign, saying ‘nobody is perfect’, and Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers said it was the wrong time to call a leadership contest.
Boris Johnson admitted this week he went to a ‘bring your own booze’ party in the first Covid lockdown.
He has apologised for the decision, saying he believed it was work related but regretted it in hindsight.
Although opposition MPs have called for him to resign, Lia Nici, Martin Vickers and other Tories have stood by him for now.
However, the Cleethorpes MP said the party was ‘irresponsible and reckless’.
“He was certainly right to apologise, and the party in question shouldn’t have taken place,” Mr Vickers said.
“I share the anger and frustration of my constituents at these events and it does appear that lockdown rules were broken. That is irresponsible, reckless and unacceptable and disciplinary action, and possibly prosecutions should follow.
“It begs the question of how it got to the stage of the events taking place. Senior figures should have realised that this was wrong and the event should never have got off the ground.”
Grimsby MP Lia Nici (Conservative)
Grimsby MP Lia Nici also welcomed his apology for breaking the rules.
“I think it’s a positive thing that he has apologised for being outside in that garden on that day in 2020,” she said.
“He clearly wanted to thank staff who have been working hard under under Covid rules. Was it advisable to thank them that way though?
“It certainly would have been safer than inside, but the email from the civil servant telling employees to ‘Bring Your Own Booze’ is concerning.
“People are quite rightly upset about it. Everyone should have been following rules that the public were abiding by.”
A probe into the parties is now being carried out by civil servant Sue Gray.
Neither MP joined the Labour party in calling for Mr Johnson to quit – but said the report should come out quickly.
Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers (Conservative) | Photo: Steve Smailes for Lincolnshire Reporter
Mr Vickers said: “My colleagues and I need to consider what’s in the best interest of the country. A leadership contest would paralyse the country while we’re managing the pandemic and a volatile international situation.
“The last thing we want is a complete vacuum of power at the centre of government for six weeks.
“We should wait for Sue Gray’s report into the parties that is being prepared.”
Mrs Nici said: “Nobody is perfect. The Prime Minister is a good man who wants to do the right thing for the UK and Grimsby.
“We need to focus on where we’re going – not having the national media fixated on today.
“However, as a manager and a leader myself, I can say we need to see the report sooner rather than later. If people have intentionally been breaking the rules then there should be disciplinary action.”
If the report finds that Johnson broke rules, it could convince Conservative backbenchers to trigger a leadership contest overthrow him.
Mr Johnson said he hadn’t realised he was at a party and “bitterly regrets” that way that it was handled.
Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer said that Mr Johnson’s denials were “so ridiculous it’s actually offensive” to the public at a heated Prime Minister’s Questions.
New CCTV cameras will be installed north of Lincoln city centre after Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner secured an additional £50,000 of funding.
The original £400,000 scheme came after a successful bid by Lincolnshire’s PCC Marc Jones. This involved broadening the CCTV coverage to include the main walking routes out of Lincoln city centre and in three areas.
The funding will extend the new Safer Streets CCTV and will allow for the creation of 360 coverage out of the city centre. It will now allow the cameras to monitor walking routes to and from Bishop Grosseteste University.
The money for the plan – developed in partnership with the City of Lincoln Council – comes from the government’s Safer Streets Fund.
The scheme also includes funding to develop teaching materials which promote women’s rights and challenge attitudes; a Night Safety Charter pledging to design public spaces to make them safe at night; and training for bar, hotel and restaurant staff regarding vulnerability and tackling predators.
All elements of the plan will be co-developed with women and girls and experts in the field.
Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones. | Photo: Daniel Jaines
The Lincoln-based bid is the third successful Safer Streets bid for Lincolnshire. So far the PCC has brought £500.000 in additional funding to the county for projects in the north and east coast.
“I am delighted to be able to secure additional funding to extend the CCTV cameras even further,” said Mr Jones.
“The project was already going to make a significant difference in helping residents feel and be safe and the extra money will ensure that security is extended to even more people.
“It is excellent news and another step forward in protecting our communities.”
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