4th-21st July 2022 - ending and beginning
Good morning, welcome back to my village diary after a break of a couple of weeks. My mother’s brief illness and then death last week left me without words for a bit - but seeing that the last things my mum shared on her facebook page were links to this blog has made me want to get back to my publication schedule.
I’ll begin with a picture of me taken by my brother in Wales last week when we went for a walk on my mum’s favourite beach, Borth y Gest, where she camped every year as a child with siblings and cousins. The things that have comforted me have been that my dad, brother and I were with her till the end, and then spent time together in the beautiful landscape that she loved. Her legacy was the help she gave to others, most obviously through the charity Nightsafe where she worked for 20 years, but also in smaller, daily, uncountable ways.
At the beginning of the month I went to the Rusthall Parish Council meeting on Monday 4th July. I was there to ask a question about whether there was anything the council could do to support Rusthall St Paul’s Primary School, and because I had asked them in advance if the topic could be put on their agenda, they discussed the issue at the meeting. I’m really pleased to say that (almost) unanimously the parish councillors want to see the school continue to thrive. They also said that in the results of last year’s survey asking what village residents would like the parish council to spend its money on, education and children’s services came out as a high priority for Rusthall residents, and so they will consider financial donations to the school. It is wonderful to hear that the Parish Council understands the value our school brings to our community.
In Wales last week I was feeling solidarity with the little village school Ysgol Borth y Gest, which my dad says has dwindling numbers of children because so many of the houses in the village are holiday homes, and long-term tennants are being evicted in favour of Airbnb guests. Here in Rusthall we are lucky to have more than enough families with children to fill a school, but it is an inescapable fact that the majority of children who live in the village now travel out of it to school. This drift over decades has been driven by parent choice, but it is a choice of the priviliged that leaves those least able to bear it with diminshed options. Now there is a new executive head teacher at St Paul’s, who is also the head teacher of St James’s, John Tutt. A friend and fellow school parent reports that the Vicar of St James’s says that Mr Tutt is the most ambitious and visionary person he knows, and failure isn’t in his lexicon. In a letter to school parents the new head has told us that his great-grandparents lived in Parsonage Road, and he cares about the village and its school deeply. With strong leadership vision and the community behind it, the holistic far-reaching benefits of going to school in your own community will hopefully be felt by more children and parents, rippling out to the whole village.
At the Langton Green Village Fete I visited the launch of Langton Thrive, a project bringing the whole village together to help each other’s mental health and wellbeing. It’s a great example of what can be achieved when a community comes together to raise money and do something to help those who are struggling. Head teacher of Langton Green Primary School Alex Cornelius, one of the driving forces behind the project, told me, “You bring some magic, you make alchemy, and everyone wants to be part of it.” While we all know magic and alchemy aren’t real, the people brought in by energy and commitment are real enough - it’s the human gold in community that makes things happen. Langton Thrive is only open to people from the Langton Green community or with a strong connection to it.
In Rusthall our Community Larder has also been set up by people with a strong vision to help others with the cost of living at the same time as reducing the impact of food waste on the enviroment. It is a project that draws on Rusthall volunteers and Rusthall resources but it is open to anyone wherever they may live. When I volunteered there earlier in the month it was one of the busiest larders the volunteers had seen in a while, a testament to its success and how much it is appreciated. I won’t be able to volunteer during the school holidays, but I’m looking forward to going back in September because it is such a satisfying thing to be involved in. If you have some free time I would totally recommend it, and they are looking for new volunteers.
On Saturday 9th July I went to Rusthall Rocks for Ukraine. It was organised and paid for by Keith Hayes, so that all the ticket money and other amounts raised could go directly to help the people of Ukraine. It was a balmy summer evening with gorgeous light, and a pleasure to see so many familiar faces en fete. I was sad that I had to leave before the headline act Wott the Hoople began because my daughter was tired out and under the weather, but such are the joys of parenthood!
As we all struggled through the heat wave earlier this week, the walks I took were all short and shady, in Nellington Woods, Farnham Lane and Happy Valley. The decision was taken to postpone the Environment Committee meeting until cooler times. The irony was not lost on us - it is clear that rising temperatures are caused by human activity in the fossil fuel industry, and there has never been a more urgent time to take action.
I am writing this on my daughter’s last day of term, and I’ve had the good news that her EHCP has been approved. This has been the result of the teachers at Rusthall St Paul’s recognising her dyslexia early, bringing in Educational Psychologists to observe and report on her, offering her the support she needed so that the evidence was there to get her High Needs Funding. Her teacher and teaching assistant are both fantastic, and look after her self-esteem and wellbeing as well as her academic progress. An end of term present is the least I can give them, and this year I went for gorgeous scented handmade soaps from Botanica on Rusthall High Street.
I hope that you have found a way to keep cool this week - for me on Tuesday jumping in my friend’s garden pool with my daughter after school saved my sanity. As ever, thank you for reading, I really appreciate it and wish you all the best for the coming weekend and week ahead.
Jayne
Linda Sharratt 24th August 1953-13th July 2022
