What do Michael Ball, Rick Astley, comedian Josh Widdicombe and KCC Cabinet Member Shellina Prendergast have in common? Answer: they have all taken part in podcasts produced by pupils at East Peckham Primary School – an initiative that has gained national acclaim. The school near Tonbridge has scooped Best Primary School Radio Station of the…
A number of sports men and women with ambitions to be selected to represent Great Britain at future Olympic and Paralympic Games are to be supported in their training with funding from Kent County Council. The 15 sportsmen and women represent a range of sports and include disabled and non-disabled performers. They are all from…
The search is on for people who have gone the extra mile to help Kent’s children and young people reconnect to the activities they missed out on during the pandemic. The Reconnect Community Awards are looking for nominations for people, groups and organisations, and young volunteers aged 18 or under, who have provided new and…
Headstart Kent – a partnership to improve and build young people’s emotional health and wellbeing – has been celebrating its successes at a final learning event as it moves towards a new programme across the county. Over the past six years, the HeadStart Kent (HSK) partnership, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, has worked…
A new initiative to inspire people in Kent to get more active outdoors without cost this summer has been launched. The Everyday Active campaign is run by the team formerly known as Kent Sport, coinciding with its name-change this week to Active Kent and Medway. Its summer initiative #OutdoorsIsFree is intended to highlight the wealth…
Kent Libraries’ Business & IP Centre has made an impressive start with more than 100 potential entrepreneurs making contact to get their business ideas under way. BIPC Kent, which is part of the British Library’s national network of similar centres across the country, has been established to advise start-up ventures, inventors, entrepreneurs and anyone with a…
As the current cost of living crisis begins to bite even further into family budgets, KCC has announced more targeted support for some of the most vulnerable. Families whose children are entitled to benefits-related free school meals will be provided with food vouchers over the forthcoming school half-term holiday. One £15 food voucher, to be…
KCC’s Country Park at Lullingstone has been chosen as part of a nationwide network of ancient woodlands to be dedicated to The Queen in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee. The Queen’s Green Canopy consists of 70 ancient woodlands and 70 ancient trees across the UK which will form part of the Ancient Canopy to celebrate…
A major review / a major opportunity Kent County Council is taking the lead in developing a collaborative action plan to help young people achieve their goals after they leave school by providing better pathways to post-16 education, skills and training. This follows an in-depth review into the post-16 offer in the county, commissioned by…
Efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of Kent residents have received a boost with a £3.4million grant to Kent Sport, the active partnership for Kent and Medway. Funded largely by Sport England and KCC, with support from the county’s districts and Medway Council, the partnership is one of about 120 organisations working with Sport…
After several years of planning and extensive renovation work, the new cultural hub in Tunbridge Wells, which includes KCC’s library and Adult Education Centre, has been officially opened. The Amelia Scott centre is named after the social reformer and campaigner for women’s suffrage who lived and worked in the town. The opening ceremony was performed…
KCC has responded firmly to recent criticism of its Special Educational Needs service. Stories based Information from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism followed an hour-long interview with some of the senior officers within the service and the Chair of the Kent Association of Headteachers. A KCC spokesman said: “It was a wide-ranging discussion in which…