Education
UXB: Falmouth told to prepare for mass evacuation
By Harold Callahan More than a thousand people in Falmouth are likely to be evacuated from their homes this morning (Wednesday) as Royal Navy explosive experts deal with a...
Cornwall’s heritage chief takes charge at Stonehenge
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The boss of English Heritage sites in Cornwall is to become the organisation’s new manager in charge of Stonehenge. Georgia Butters began her English Heritage role...
SEND: when going to school means driving 200 miles
By Anne North The difficulty of meeting the Special Educational Needs of scores of children in Cornwall has been thrown sharply into focus by the recent award of a...
A restored freight railway line into Falmouth docks? Your questions should soon be answered
By Graham Smith A feasibility study is underway to investigate the possibility of reopening a freight railway line into Falmouth docks. A £24,600 contract has been awarded by Cornwall...
Geography students lose their way to Falmouth
By Lee Trewhela The University of Exeter has verified that it is cutting the geography degree programmes at its Penryn campus. A university trade union has slammed the move...
Cornwall’s school discipline crisis: it wasn’t just the pupils who were bullied, says teaching union
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The South West’s biggest teaching union has said the school discipline crisis which has rocked Cornwall’s education establishment exposes an existential problem at the heart of...
Summer Holiday
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Many of Cornwall Council’s movers and shakers were in Lorient, France, for yesterday’s (Saturday’s) launch of this year’s Inter-Celtic Festival. The cost to local and national...
Wings for Victory!
By Peter Tremayne Driving past St Columb on the A39 yesterday (Thursday) I was astonished to see a familiar sight in the skies above me: a Supermarine Spitfire Mk...
Jumpers for goalposts (part 94)
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Work has still not started on a synthetic all-weather sports pitch at Langarth, Truro, despite promises made repeatedly over the past year that it would be...
Are you local? The curious case of who is Cornish, who is not Cornish, and where promotion of the Cornish language should sit in the annual budget debate about County Hall spending priorities
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A County Hall “public consultation” exercise designed to encourage the use of taxpayers’ money to promote the Cornish language appears to conflict dramatically with a live...
Coke-snorting maths teacher banned
By Harold Callahan A Pool Academy maths teacher has been banned by the Teaching Regulation Agency after hearing how he took cocaine at a school Christmas party. Rowan Barnicoat,...
Athena Trust quits Cornwall over school discipline row
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Athena Academy Trust, which runs six schools in Cornwall, has announced it is seeking to hand responsibility to alternative providers in the wake of a...
World Cup Football: will Cornwall be cheering for Mexico?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane "If there is a hole dug anywhere on earth, you're sure to find a Cornishman at the bottom." Some stories sound too good to be true. ...
Heatwave closes more schools in Cornwall
By Rashleigh MacFarlane With temperatures forecast to again exceed 30C, Cornwall Council says the following schools will either be closed all day today (Thursday) or will close early: Altarnun...
Several schools in Cornwall closing because of heatwave
By Rashleigh MacFarlane School pupils in North and South East Cornwall face disruption today (Wednesday) because of the public health aspects of the current hot weather. Temperatures are forecast...
Man in the news: a new face arriving soon on County Hall’s fourth floor
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council has appointed Leicester’s education chief, Tim Browne, to be its next strategic director for families and children’s services. Cornwall’s children’s services are currently rated...
Ask a silly question: County Hall gets the result it wanted from culture “consultation”
By Julia Penhaligon Only 332 people responded to Cornwall Council’s public consultation about its new culture strategy, which is the basis for spending £170,000 a year on promoting the...
Our approach to culture returns £40 for every £1 invested, claims Cornwall Council
By Lee Trewhela A Reform UK councillor has questioned whether there is public demand for Cornwall Council’s strategy to promote use of the Cornish language over the next ten...
School discipline and local populism: never waste a crisis
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The Athena Leaning Trust, which runs several schools in Cornwall and Devon, is considering how to review its disciplinary procedures after several Cornwall councillors joined parents...
“Penzance Pixel hobbyists” enjoyed £100,000 subsidy last year
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The £10 million Penzance Pixel arts studio is costing Cornwall’s taxpayers more than £100,000 a year in subsidy. The Pixel, which took three and a half...
15 schools in Cornwall facing immediate cash crisis
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council is to lobby the government for more money for rural schools. Fifteen schools are running out of cash, posing questions about their future. The...
Strict discipline rules at Cornwall schools must change, parents tell council
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Pupil discipline at three large schools has forced its way on the agenda for a full Cornwall Council meeting next week. Parents’ concerns at Launceston College,...
Votes at 16: might this extension of the democratic franchise save Cornwall’s school transport?
By Julia Penhaligon Children who have not yet decided which GCSE subjects to study will be able to vote in the next Cornwall Council elections. Thousands of school pupils...
Let’s Talk: Cornwall Council’s latest online public consultation tells voters “We are going to spend your money on promoting the Cornish language. There is no alternative”
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Should primary school children be required to learn the Cornish language? Will elected Cornwall councillors be allowed to vote on this when they come to consider...
Authorities are “encouraging the use of River Camel as a sewer”
By Lee Trewhela A parish council has spoken out against a decision by Natural England to remove environmental protection from a section of the River Camel, which councillors say...
Disgusted of Wadebridge writes: say NO to Maccy D
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The North Cornwall coastal zone between Padstow and Port Isaac is often described as a magnet for foodies: celebrity chefs Rick Stein, Nathan Outlaw and Paul...
Cornwall’s educational space camps “paused” due to budget cuts
By Peter Tremayne Cornwall’s spaceport has ended its educational role for local schools, as a result of budget cuts. The spaceport says its educational programme is “paused” but cannot...
Synthetic community sports pitch plan dropped
By Lee Trewhela The decision by a Cornish college not to proceed with a much-anticipated 3G sports pitch for the community has been described as a “huge blow” and...
If you’re ever lost on the battlefield and wondering how to escape, there’s a training course in Cornwall which can help
By Harold Callahan The remarkable rescue of a US airman shot down in Iran could focus attention on a little-known aspect of a military base in Cornwall. The UK...
“Something is fundamentally wrong” with overly-strict school disciplinary regime, says councillor
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Another Cornwall councillor has raised concern about school discipline. Parents of pupils at Launceston College met in the Town Hall last night (Friday) to discuss what...
Where exactly would you prefer to feel the pain? Tamar Crossings tells motorists they will have to pay more and there is no alternative
By Peter Tremayne A public consultation aimed at asking motorists about proposed increases in the cost of crossing the River Tamar does not include any mechanism for reducing the...
After the gold rush: Imerys switches off its lithium project in Cornwall
By Peter Tremayne Imerys British Lithium has announced it is pausing plans to mine in Cornwall. It is bad news for jobs and investment, dealing a serious blow to...
“Unleashing potential” vs “back to basics” – it’s a choice between the money-lenders and school buses
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council must cut its £2.1 billion capital spending programme by at least £90 million if it is to save school transport, according to an analysis...
14 years and £35 million later, Cornwall Council finally hands over Heartlands management to the National Trust
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A year after Cornwall Reports first revealed that the Heartlands site at Pool, Redruth was to be taken over by the National Trust, the deal is...
That’s the way the money goes: Cornish language will sail under the radar at next week’s budget debate
By Rashleigh MacFarlane When council tax goes up by 4.99% next week, and councillors debate £154 million cuts to public services, one area of spending which County Hall has...
Fears for future of Torpoint sports centre
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Time appears to be running out for the Torpoint community sports centre, managed by the YMCA charity. The centre provides a gym and sports hall but...
EXCLUSIVE: “Fifth nation” adult education, devolved from Whitehall and now run from Truro, brings mixed results
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The devolution of adult education from Whitehall to Truro, which required the closure of six learning centres, appears to have had a patchy impact on the...
Game over? St Austell’s footballers kicked out of league for not answering emails, and other crimes
By Peter Tremayne The Jewson Western League board has expelled St Austell’s footballers for failing to comply with the rules. As Cornwall Reports noted last week, St Austell had...
Cornwall Council on the road to using its Code of Conduct disciplinary process to answer “what is a woman?”
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall’s transgender community has launched a volley of complaints against a councillor who asked “what is a woman?” Chacewater and Threemilestone’s Independent councillor Dulcie Tudor asked...
Empty aeroplanes or school buses? Could next month’s council budget meeting actually witness a real debate?
By Julia Penhaligon Fears are growing among senior County Hall officials that some councillors are planning to target the heavily-subsidised but mostly-empty Newquay-Gatwick Skybus flights and transfer savings to...
What’s the first thing you think of when you think of Redruth? Is it most cultured town in the UK?
By Lee Trewhela Redruth has today (Wednesday, January 14) announced its official bid to become UK Town of Culture 2028, led by a partnership between Redruth Town Council, Redruth...
Tamar Tag U-turn complete, as bridge and ferry bosses are sent back to the drawing board
By Peter Tremayne The cost of crossing the River Tamar will not go up again any time soon – reversing a decision councillors made only last month – but...
Schools close ahead of Storm Goretti “weather bomb”
By Rashleigh MacFarlane More than a dozen schools are closing early today (Thursday) because of the strong winds associated with Storm Goretti. Some have dubbed the storm a “weather...
“Back to basics” vs “Unleashing Cornwall’s potential” – a plain English explanation of what it means for County Hall’s budget
By Julia Penhaligon One of the more eye-catching aspects of the Liberal Democrat-Independent £133 million budget cuts proposals for Cornwall Council is the £2 million saving proposed for school...
The unleashing will continue until the potential is realised! More news from Cornwall’s “Fifth Nation” front
By Julia Penhaligon Councillors contemplating amendments to County Hall’s budget, which again proposes slashing school transport by making children walk two miles to their classrooms, are wondering how much...
Stranger Things: Cornwall’s upside-down budget thinks Newquay’s subsidised tourist trains and second-home-owners’ planes are more important than school buses
By Graham Smith Cornwall’s Liberal Democrats and their Independent coalition partners are proposing to slash council services by £133 million over the next three years. At the same time...
Perranporth “free” school axed
By Lee Trewhela The government has scrapped plans for a new 1,050-pupil “free” school on the north coast of Cornwall. In May 2022 Boris Johnson’s Conservative government promised the...
Overdue library book returned just 45 years late
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The 369 pages of “Music Notation,” published in 1969, offer “information on traditional and idiomatic notation for all instruments and voices and provides instructions for writing...
Can Tintagel Parish Council be saved? Visitor centre rumpus threat to local democracy
By Julia Penhaligon County Hall is attempting to resuscitate Tintagel parish council, which has collapsed after an acrimonious row over funding for its visitor centre. The centre was opened...
Flu closes Budehaven community school
By Anne North A North Cornwall secondary school has closed because of flu. The 1,140-pupil Budehaven community school is moving to a “remote curriculum” from tomorrow (Thursday) and on...
Going Dutch: Newquay Zoo is under new ownership
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Newquay Zoo has been sold to a Dutch leisure conglomerate. The zoo’s owners, the Wild Planet Trust, announced the deal this morning (Wednesday.) It becomes effective...
When the boat comes in: debt management advice for Cornish fishermen
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall’s fishermen are being invited to drop-in money-advice sessions to help smooth the rise-and-fall of their cash-flows. Citizens Advice and the Cornwall Rural Community charity have...
We saw it first! Truro City wants priority use of Langarth’s new artificial sports pitch
By Peter Tremayne The battle for control of Truro’s new synthetic sports pitch has become public before the first blade of plastic grass has been laid. Cornwall Council admitted...
Jumpers for goalposts: they used to play on grass
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council leader Leigh Frost has promised to investigate the health and environmental risks posed by a proposed artificial sports pitch at Langarth, Truro. Councillor Frost...
When snow falls, nature listens
The village playing field at St Mabyn, whose country lanes are this morning (Thursday) passable but only with great care. Map via Kernow Weather Team
Cornwall’s children still in need as council forced to abandon “illegal” housing solution
By Anne North Cornwall Council has been forced to withdraw a multimillion-pound recruitment drive to staff illegal children’s homes. County Hall had wanted to explore ways of easing its...
Will there be unicorns? Planners to consider request for North Cornwall wildlife park
By Lee Trewhela Cornwall Council has received an application to turn an equestrian centre into a new wildlife park which would be home to rhinos as well as other...
Money’s too tight to mention, but there’s still plenty for Cornish language fans
By Julia Penhaligon Cornish language enthusiasts are to get an extra £440,000 next year, at the expense of Cornwall Council’s community services’ budget. The “robbing Peter to pay Paul”...
Big boost for Cornwall’s youth services
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The government is about to hand over £8 million to Cornwall Council in a bid to restore youth services, which have faced severe cuts in recent...
Another County Hall data breach
By Lee Trewhela A Cornwall Council data breach has seen the personal details of multiple children, including their home addresses, sent to complete strangers. The council has apologised for...
Automatic free school meals for eligible children in Cornwall
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Children in Cornwall who are eligible for free school meals will be automatically enrolled from next year, Cornwall Council leader councillor Leigh Frost promised today (Wednesday.)...
A poor show: we need a strategy which put children first, says County Hall’s public health boss
By Anne North More than a fifth of all children in Cornwall live in poverty, according to the latest draft annual report of the local Public Health Director. The...
Glittering prizes: the A-level results are in, and everyone’s a winner as long as we don’t look too closely
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Regional differences in A-level results have again caught the eye, with only a quarter of students in Cornwall achieving top grades. Cornwall scored 24.5% of students...
Coming soon: a 10-year-plan for the Cornish language
By Rashleigh MacFarlane County Hall is planning to continue its £50,000 a year project to teach the Cornish language in some primary schools. Funding for GoCornish has been guaranteed...
If in doubt, paddle out: surf school joins Boardmasters’ boycott in protest at links to genocide in Gaza
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The genocide in Gaza continues to cast a shadow over the Boardmasters’ festival at Newquay, which is now owned by an Israel-supporting hedge fund based in...
Cornish language teachers should be paid properly, says report of how the council spent £500,000 to promote Cornish
By Rashleigh MacFarlane An evaluation of how Cornwall Council spent £500,000 promoting the Cornish language and culture has recommended that in future projects should develop links with businesses and...
A year after the government gave County Hall £500,000 to promote the Cornish language, it is still the case that in an emergency, it pays to speak English
By Rashleigh MacFarlane It does not look as if next month’s nationwide testing of the government’s emergency alert system will be carried out in the Cornish language. Even though...
Facelift for Saltash leisure centre
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Saltash leisure centre, which four years ago was on a Cornwall Council hit-list for closure, is about to benefit from a £890,000 facelift – paid for...
Cornwall’s D-Day defined
“Operation Overlord 1943-44 and Cornwall’s contribution” is a meticulously-researched and well-illustrated account of what happened, where and when. More than 150 A4 pages in hardback. £25 including post and...
Boardmasters: this ain’t rock’n’roll, this is genocide
By Graham Smith Once the revellers have departed, a handful of Cornwall councillors will meet to consider a request that they should revoke the licence previously granted to the...
Hot rocks energy project in North Cornwall threatens site of King Arthur’s last battle
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Plans to drill holes 2.8 miles deep into the countryside at Slaughterbridge, Camelford, have upset locals. Cornwall Council officials are recommending that the plans for a...
The most dangerous man on the planet is coming to Cornwall
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The long list of modern-day musicians hell-bent on corrupting the nation’s youth is completely without shame. Elvis Presley, Sid Vicious, Cliff Richard….and now, Bob Vylan (are...
Will Cornwall Council’s new regime now help Penryn see through the purple haze of County Hall secrecy?
By Rashleigh MacFarlane As the dust settles on the 1st May Cornwall Council elections, residents in Penryn are again asking what is to become of a huge purple student...
County Hall wants to “refresh” its approach to economic development
By Graham Smith Cornwall Council has launched a public consultation over its approach to skills and training, designed to inform the way it hands out cash in attempts to...
Why did we do that? County Hall wants a new inquiry into the eviction of military aviation museum from Newquay Airport
By Peter Tremayne The new Liberal Democrat-Independent political administration at Cornwall Council is investigating the previous Conservative decision to evict from Newquay Airport the former museum of military aviation...
MPs will not debate the Cornish language after all, as Private Members’ Bill is withdrawn
By Julia Penhaligon A Parliamentary Bill intended to promote the teaching of the Cornish language in state schools has been withdrawn. The Cornish Language and Heritage (Education and Recognition)...
And what did you learn at school today? “Dydh da Dolly!” Cornish language will make MPs think on Friday
By Julia Penhaligon To say that “excitement is growing” might be an exaggeration. But this Friday (20th June) will certainly be a day to remember for observers of Parliamentary...
“Insensitive, but not a crime” – police verdict on Mylor parish councillor could prove tricky for County Hall
By Harold Callahan Police say they will take no further action against the Mylor parish councillor whose comments about Hitler and the Holocaust triggered more than 100 complaints to...
Back to basics? Cornwall Council says it has no plans to enter the next “City of Culture” beauty contest
By Julia Penhaligon Maybe the party really is over and the hangover now kicking in. Following the departure of several senior County Hall officials and the brutal ejection...
Here we go again: Cormac hired to produce “route assessments” as officials try to cut costs and make children walk to school
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Cornwall Council has awarded a £99,000 contract to its own company, Cormac, to assess pedestrian routes that might be used by children walking to school. The...
Sits Vac: County Hall starts its quest for a £166,000-a-year “Community Wellbeing” boss
By Graham Smith Plans to create a new post of “Strategic Director for Community Wellbeing” - on a salary up to £166,000 per year - took a significant step...
The blackboard jungle: what did you do at school today?
By Harold Callahan Devon and Cornwall police have dealt with more than 70 incidents where children have brought knives or similar offensive weapons into to school in the past...
Travellers’ vehicles tear up youngsters’ football pitch
By Rashleigh MacFarlane A junior football team has raised nearly £3,000 in less than 24 hours after travellers trashed their pitch. The Ludgvan Lions club, near Penzance, was heartbroken...
That’s the way the money goes: the new Head of Future Air and Space discovers what life at the spaceport is really all about
By Peter Tremayne “What exactly do you do here?” is the question most frequently asked by the eager schoolchildren who regularly troop round the Newquay spaceport, looking in vain...
County Hall U-turn on Pencalenick school, following legal challenge
By Lee Trewhela Cornwall Council has reversed it decision to cease funding a boarding facility at one of the county’s foremost special education schools following a legal challenge by...
A Cornish Language Tsar? We were only joking…
By Julia Penhaligon The prospect of the Cornish language being taught in local schools has taken a small step forward after Cornwall’s six MPs backed a 10-minute private members’...
Going round in circles? Bodmin Moor’s huge stone labyrinth is open to the public, but work continues
By Rashleigh MacFarlane More than five years after it was first announced, a stone labyrinth on Bodmin Moor is finally open to the public. It is still not finished...
91% said don’t do it – but council scraps funding for Pencalenick special school residential service anyway
By Anne North Council funding for the overnight boarding service provided by Pencalenick special school, Truro, is to cease – despite 91% of responses to a public consultation “strongly...
Government announces free breakfast clubs at 15 Cornish primary schools
By Rashleigh MacFarlane The government has named the first wave of primary schools where children will be offered free breakfast, and 30-minutes of early morning childcare. Out of 750...
Do you have what it takes to be a local councillor? What the official recruitment pack doesn’t tell you…
By Graham Smith Cornwall Reports is keen to hear from any local town, parish or Cornwall councillors who can top this story, reported in The Guardian last week: The...
We’ll save household waste tips, say Cornwall’s Lib Dems
By Julia Penhaligon The threat to axe 7-day opening at most of Cornwall’s household waste tips is set to become another budget amendment when councillors meet on 25th February...
Time to stop throwing good money after bad, says MP, as 48% say former pub should be demolished
By Lee Trewhela The most popular option for the future of a former St Austell town centre pub is to demolish it. That’s the result of a survey about...
We don’t need no education, insist Cornwall’s Tories, as adult learning centres close
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Of all of the possible amendments to the Conservatives’ Cornwall Council budget that might be debated on 25th February, few are as obvious as changes to...
Who remembers the Sustainable Tourism Inquiry?
By Julia Penhaligon As Cornwall’s local politicians head off once more up the garden path in their search for votes, interest is growing in whether any of the political...
On the road again: council leader resumes her tour of Cornwall
By Julia Penhaligon Cornwall Council leader Linda Taylor resumes her “farewell tour” next week with a series of events at Camborne, Newquay, Launceston, and St Agnes. A new date...
Woman falls from Hayle South Quay
By Harold Callahan A woman is recovering after falling more than 16 feet from the South Quay at Hayle. Firefighters, paramedics and the coastguard attended. The tide was out...
Is it “game over” for horizontal-launch spaceflight? Government and councils accept that when it comes to launching rockets, the only way is up
By Peter Tremayne The jaw-dropping claim by a Cornwall councillor that five rocket companies are keen to take off from Newquay Spaceport sits oddly with the worldwide market for...
Thumbs down for Hayle solar farm
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Councillors have voted to reject plans for nearly 200 acres of solar panels in the Cornish countryside near Hayle. About 185 acres at Lanyon Farm, to...
Toddlers triumph in latest education spending round
By Rashleigh MacFarlane Early Years education in Cornwall has received a massive boost in government spending. The Dedicated Schools Grant, which is ring-fenced by the Department for Education, will...