Putting the clocks back always makes me a bit gloomy; I know that we're in for months of dark evenings and some pretty dark mornings as well, and the Church's calendar doesn't help a great deal.

On Sunday we shall be remembering our loved ones who have died, then it will be Remembrance Sunday and shortly after that we shall be into Advent which is all about remembering the sin that brought Jesus into the world.

And then we have had the terrible bombing in Bali and the horrific siege in that Moscow theatre.

So I wanted to find something a little happier to write about, and by good fortune what did I read in last week's News Shopper but that the Council have thought again about giving us back our secondary school.
Now it's still too early to start counting chickens, but I have it on good authority that Bexley Council is perfectly serious about its plans to open its second "Business Academy" in Slade Green. (The Thamesmead one opened to a great fanfare of publicity in September.)

And yet not so long ago the Director of Education came down to a Public Meeting in the Community Centre and told us in no uncertain terms that we hadn't got a hope in the hot place of seeing that school re-open. Well, three years is a long time in politics and now it seems our hopes may be realised after all.

Why the change of heart?
Well, I like to think that our prayers and our lobbying has born fruit.

One of the attractions of living is Slade Green is that many of us still have friends we made in our school years - we are what they call a stable community. And many of us still live within walking distance of our brothers and sisters and our children and grandchildren. This goes a long way to making us the tight community that we are.

(It can also make it difficult for newcomers to break into the circle, but I'll come back to that in a moment.)

When I talk to people who bump into old school friends at the shops it makes me realise the price I've paid for losing touch with my own roots, and it makes me all the more determined to make sure that our children don't have to.

Moving from primary to secondary school can be one of the most stressful times of a child's life, and that stress is made ten time worse if you lose touch with your friends at the same time.

And this daily ritual of transporting children half way across the Borough every day costs money and wastes time, both of which could be put to more productive use.

We have good schools in Slade Green. They may not be the best but they are often working with children who do not have a great deal going for them at home and if you were to measure improvement rather than just achievement we would be up there at the top of the table.

Keeping our children together where they can make lasting friendships (and where we can keep an eye on them) would strengthen our community, and it would help those who move into this area to put down roots themselves and feel part of Slade Green.

And to have a flagship secondary school would make working in Slade Green more attractive for teachers and support staff as well.

As I say, it's early day yet but please get down on your knees and pray that these plans get the go-ahead; for all our sakes.

God bless you all
Alan
1st November 2002