Earlier this week, Eastbury Primary School opened their brand-new reading hut which will provide pupils with a peaceful environment to read their favourite books.

 

Opened by Councillor Evelyn Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement, the reading hut was requested by students so that they could have the opportunity to read books in a quiet place and take more in. 

 

The eye-catching artwork of youngsters from one secondary school in the borough has seen them crowned winners of a national competition.

The students, from Robert Clack School, on Gosfield Road, Dagenham, decorated the hoarding that now adorns the school’s Lymington Fields site while it is being redeveloped.

The two designs by the Dagenham school were based around two themes – the community and the importance of education.

Barking and Dagenham Council has continued its campaign to clean up the borough by cracking down on people distributing calling cards for illegal massage services. 

Yesterday evening (30/10/19), an undercover enforcement officer witnessed two men dropping business cards in Barking Market and followed them to the A406 where they were questioned by street enforcement and trading standard officers. The incident was captured on CCTV which provides officers with essential evidence in dealing with these types of incidents. 

If your child was born between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2016, they are due to start primary or infant school next September.  You can apply for their school place from Friday 1 November.

Parents must submit their applications by Wednesday 15 January and will find out their results in April 2020.

No places are guaranteed. You must apply for a place even if your child already has a place at the school’s nursery class or has a brother or sister at that school.

If you apply late, you are not likely to get a place at the school of your preference.

The next issue of Write On! magazine is launching on 10 December. This issue explores the theme of ‘On Roots and Routes’, featuring an exclusive interview with the Queen of Crime fiction, Martina Cole who explains how her roots in east London have defined her stellar writing journey. 

A host of job opportunities are available exclusively for local residents – but to be able to apply for them, residents must be registered with Barking and Dagenham Council’s job shops.

This week there are trainee engineering roles, driver vacancies and site manager posts on offer, as well as full or part-time openings that need to be filled.

To view the roles, potential applicants must be registered with the borough’s job shops, which can be done for free online or in person at any one of the three venues in Barking and Dagenham.

Is your child due to start secondary school next September? If so, YOU need to get your application in by the end of Thursday - 31 October.

Even though parents won’t find out if they have been successful in their choice until March next year, it is vitally important that they apply by the deadline.

Late applications could mean parents are less likely to secure a place for their child at their preferred school.

Over 100 staff and Councillors from Barking and Dagenham council were out collecting litter, on the first day of a new campaign designed to clean up the borough. 

 

Staff from across the council volunteered their time to take part in seven litter picking events in green spaces across the borough, to show their commitment to working with residents to make the borough a cleaner place. 

 

Students who achieved outstanding grades in their GCSE exams have been acknowledged at the annual Colin Pond Trust Scholarship Awards. 

In a glamorous ceremony held at The Broadway Theatre, 52 young people, from 11 schools across the borough, were recognised with a £500 grant each for them to spend during the duration of their A-level studies. 

Now in its third year, the scholarship awards recognise the top GCSE pupils who have chosen to remain in the borough to continue their education after finishing Year 11. 

Everyone has a part to play in keeping the borough clean – that is the message from Barking and Dagenham Council as it launched a new campaign to stamp out grime crime this week.

 

The ‘Cleaner Barking and Dagenham’ campaign hopes to tackle littering, overflowing bins, fly-tipping, and dog fouling. 

 

It comes as the council is investing more than £10million in new vehicles to clean up the borough, including 18 new trucks to help speed-up the collection of over 117,000 bins that get emptied each week.