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Leicestershire MattersSeptember 2007 - Issue 3 It’s easy! Just order one of the cut-price bins below and follow these easy steps. Step 1
Find a sunny, level, well-drained spot for your bin.
Step 2
Add vegetable peelings, fruit waste, teabags, plant prunings, grass cuttings, cardboard, egg boxes, scrunched up paper and fallen leaves.
Step 3
Make sure you have the ‘right mix’ of water, air and green and brown materials. We can give advice on how to get the right mix.
Step 4
After 9 to 12 months it’s ready! Compost is dark brown, almost black and improves your soil quality.
For details on joining our free Rot-A-Lot Composting Club or for advice on composting please visit the Compost pages pages of this website, call 0116 305 8385 or e-mail: compost@leics.gov.uk
The bins on offer are:
 The Compost Convertor 220 litre bin (90cm high) at £8 (MRSP £40) The Compost Convertor 330 litre bin (100cm high) at £10 (MSRP £50)
To order visit: www.recyclenow.com/compost or call 0845 077 0757. There is a further £1 discount for online orders. Please quote LMS07 when ordering.
We are working with borough and district councils and Leicester City Council on this offer, which is provided through Recycle Now – a national recycling campaign, managed by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP.)
 A new website is giving young people in Leicestershire access to help and support on substance misuse. The website www.drugs.org.uk/daat aims to give those under 18 clear facts about drugs and alcohol and to dispel common myths, raise awareness of the consequences of substance misuse and direct them to where they can receive help locally.
The site includes case studies, information for parents and carers as well as links to the national drug and alcohol campaign Frank.
For help and support with drug and alcohol related issues, contact New Direction on 0116 222 9522 or visit: www.drugs.org.uk/daat
Our aim is to provide services that help local people enjoy life in a safe, prosperous, healthy and attractive County. By joining us, you can really make a difference.
 With approximately 23,000 employees we can offer a huge variety of jobs in a wide range of areas. We are featuring some of our jobs in Leicestershire Matters, to give you a flavour of working for the County Council. For other jobs, please visit the Jobs pages of this website.
We also offer lots of benefits and aim to be flexible, positive and commit to a good work-life balance. We offer a positive approach to equality and diversity, listen to our staff and encourage them to be creative and explore new ways of working.
We want you to want to work for us – because we know that to deliver the best services, we need the best people.
For more details, please call 0116 305 8300 or visit Jobs
Would you like a job where you can make a real difference? Then why not begin a rewarding career in childcare – or return to childcare?
If you have the energy and professionalism required to take on this key role in a child’s development, then exciting career opportunities are available.
There is a wide range of jobs available right across the County to suit all ages. You can choose a career that fits around your life – full-time, part-time or term-time. You could apply to work in a children’s centre, nursery, pre-school, out-of-school club or from home as a childminder.
We can guide you through your options and provide advice if you are thinking of a career in childcare.
If you are already working within childcare, we can also provide advice and support to help you further your career. You may even be eligible for financial support which could help you gain qualifications – right up to graduate level.
For more information contact us on 0116 305 8300 or visit the Jobs pages of this website.
Please quote LMA03
Could you be a childminder?
 Would you like to work with children and choose your own flexible working hours?If so, becoming a childminder could be the right career choice for you.
Byrony Telford, from Stoney Stanton, has worked at home as a childminder for the last four years. She regularly looks after a number of youngsters. Their ages range from a nine-month-old to a seven-year-old who she takes care of during the summer holidays.
“I find the job so rewarding as I love working with children,” said Byrony, who last year received an ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted. “It’s hard work, but it’s also so much fun!”
Byrony prides herself on keeping the children she looks after stimulated with a number of planned activities.
“I regularly take the children to the library and for walks in the park – they love spotting and learning about all the different animals,” she said.
“Growing fruit and vegetables, such as carrots, peas and tomatoes in the back garden is also very popular. They really get involved and particularly enjoy pulling up carrots from out of the ground!”
Byrony said: “Sometimes childminders suffer from a poor image – we’re even thought of as glorified babysitters! In reality, childminders can play a pivotal role in the learning and development of children.”
Pictured - Childminder Bryony Telford working with young children
Look out for the new edition of our FREE guide to events and activities taking place in our museums, libraries and country parks.
 The latest issue of the Leicestershire Events Guide, which runs from the beginning of October to the end of January, is packed with ideas to keep you and your family entertained.
They include our Gunpowder Treason & Plot! event at Donington le Heath Manor House, which brings to life the Tudor period and a Halloween party at Snibston Discovery Park.
Look out too for our new Kids’ Corner page and your chance to win fantastic prizes in our Find Santa’s Elves competition.
You can pick up your copy from any County Council library or museum. Alternatively, to receive regular copies e-mail: eventsguide@leics.gov.uk.
 Pupils in our schools have been celebrating after achieving great exam results.Initial post-16 results (including A-levels) show a big improvement which means we are likely to retain our position above both the national average and for ‘like’ authorities. These results will be finalised in the new year.
In addition, our 14-year-olds have achieved the second-best results in the country.
These key stage 3 results place the County top nationally for science, second for maths, fifth for English and second overall. This is our highest ever ranking and builds on our top five national place last year.
Our 11-year-olds are also improving and remain well above the national average in key stage 2 results.
GCSE results were due out shortly after Leicestershire Matters went to press. For details on these, please visit the exam results pages of this website.
Government inspectors say that 98.6% of our schools are well run – with only 1.4% showing any cause for concern.
Schools are inspected regularly by the Government’s Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted.) If there are concerns they are put into certain categories, including ‘special measures’ and ‘notice to improve.’
Currently only four of our 287 schools are in these categories – just 1.4% compared to the national average of 8%. We expect that these schools will be taken out of their category within the designated timescale.
In the past year there have been more than 100 inspections in Leicestershire – the majority were judged to be good and two were outstanding.
For more details on Ofsted inspections please visit: www.ofsted.gov.uk call 0116 305 6505 or e-mail: tmulhearn@leics.gov.uk
A £13 million project will see services for children aged five and under and their parents provided locally.
 We already have three purpose-built children’s centres and we are working with a number of partners to set up another 24 in existing buildings by 2008, with a total of 46 by 2010. These new centres will be bases from where various services for children and their parents will be taken out into communities, for example, to village halls or community centres.
There will be a range of services, tailored for each area. These could range from ante-natal classes, speech classes for children, childcare and family activities.
There may also be a number of services in one location. For example you may be able to take your child for their jabs, be shown a new children’s learning activity and also find out about getting a part-time job.
Alternatively, you could pick up your free bookstart pack at the same time as getting support for your own literacy and numeracy.
For more details call 0116 305 7600 or e-mail: rwade@leics.gov.uk
Our comprehensive, easy-to-use guide to popular attractions, which are easily reached by Leicestershire’s bus networks, is now available.
 The Leicestershire Attractions… by Bus booklet is packed with information about the exciting places you can visit and how to travel there using County buses.
So why not use the free guide and find out how easy, cheap and environmentally friendly it is to take the bus?
Copies are available from tourist information centres, libraries and service shops. They can be downloaded from the Transport Downloads pages of this website
Alternatively, e-mail: passengertransport@leics.gov.uk or call 0116 395 8777 and we will send you a copy.
To give each child in care a home, at least 40 new foster carers are needed in Leicestershire every year.
Foster carers are needed to replace those retiring or moving away and for new children entering care.
 Short-term foster carers are always required, but we especially need those who can offer long-term homes.Mark and Wendy, who live near Melton Mowbray, are long-term foster parents.
As well as their own son and daughter, they care for two boys, aged 17 and 15, whom they have looked after for two years and 18 months respectively.
“We treat our foster children just the same as our own,” said Wendy. “They soon became settled and part of the family. We don’t think of them as being foster kids anymore, which is one of the benefits of long-term fostering.”
Mark added: “You build up a relationship of trust and it’s rewarding to see the children flourish. The main thing they need is stability and then they soon come out of themselves.
“Fostering is a challenge, not everything is a bed of roses,” he continued. “You have trials and tribulations, but we have as many problems with our own kids – you can’t bring up children without them!”
To become a foster carer you don’t need qualifications, we give full training and on-going support and all the costs of caring for a child are covered.
Mark said: “If nobody wanted to foster, then the children would have no families to go to. If my own kids were less fortunate I would hope that someone would be there to help them out.”
Wendy added: “If there are people who like children and are thinking about fostering, then I would definitely encourage them to find out more. I love fostering so much – I don’t know what I’d do if I had to stop now!”
For details on long or short-term fostering, visit the Fostering pages of this website, e-mail: familyplacements@leics.gov.uk or call 0800 5877767.
Pictured - Caring couple ... Foster parents Wendy and Mark Bond
We have launched a new consultation exercise on our plans to develop care for older people.
 The consultation focuses on proposals to create further supported accommodation for elderly people while keeping care homes open.Earlier plans to close two of our 10 older people’s homes have now been withdrawn. This is in recognition of concerns about possible distress and disruption for residents caused by any home closures.
Instead, it is proposed that six of the care homes are transferred to new owners. This will allow existing residents and staff to stay where they are and enable more supported accommodation to be provided through extra care schemes.
Extra care gives older people the opportunity to live more independently, in flats or bungalows, with access to support and care if needed.
Giving your viewsThe consultation is now underway and there are three main issues on which we would like to hear your views.
They are our proposals to:
To give your views, or for more details, visit the Consulting on Care pages of this website e-mail: adultsocialcare@leics.gov.uk write to: Director of Adult Social Care and Health, Leicestershire County Council, Adult Social Care Service, County Hall, Glenfield, LE8 3RL or call 0116 305 7404.
The consultation runs until Monday, October 29th.
Public meetings will be held at County Hall, Glenfield on Thursday, September 27th at 6.30pm and at Leicester Racecourse, Oadby on Wednesday, October 10th at 6.30pm.
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