Thanks once again for to everyone who attended the meeting last night and great to see new faces again. We also know that there are lots of people who can't make the meetings so here is the information from last night.

BRIAN NICHOLSON - CHAIR OF GOVERNORS AT CASTLE HALL
Brian Nicholson, Chair of Governors at Castle Hall came along to last night's meeting. He thanked everyone for all their hard work and support throughout the last 6-7 weeks. He said the school had been overwhelmed by the hard work that has been put in by all the members of REACH.
However, he also stressed that the fight hasn't been won yet. Castle Hall is not saved, despite what the press are saying. We have won round 1 and now we must concentrate on round 2. He highlighted parts of Jim Dodds statement from last Wednesday that he felt were very vague without any promises that Castle Hall will stay as it is - where it is.
He also spoke of the good work the schools in North Kirklees are doing with Shahid Malik.
He said there has been criticism that Shahid is using the school for political gain. His answer was that if that is the case then it could equally be said that the school is using Shahid for Castle Hall's gain - so long as everyone is getting from it what he / she wants then it doesn't really matter.
He said he has been very impressed with the hard work that Shahid is putting in for us all and that he has proved to be a very good ally for the school and he hopes that this continues.

EMAIL FROM JIM DODDS TO CLLR VIVIEN LEES
Vivien Lees sent an email to Jim Dodds asking for information on the current situation to bring to the meeting. Jim Dodds reply was as follows:
'You can tell them that the consultation and the time frame for a decision is the same the end of January. You can also say that there was an all party BSF meeting today to look at the proposals and we are working together to bring forward proposals that have the majority of support throughout the council'

Basically, we seem to be back at using words to say nothing!!

From this we can safely say that the fight must go on.

CONSULTATION - CASTLE HALL THURSDAY 6th NOVEMBER 3pm - 8pm
Please all ensure that you attend the consultation at Castle Hall on Thursday 6th November between 3pm and 8pm. It is felt that going earlier might mean there is more chance of speaking to council officials from the education department rather than council workers from other departments who are drafted in for these events. We need clarity about what's happening now. We also need to ensure that we ask every question we want answering before the consultation deadline of next Friday 14th November.

COUNCIL MEETING WEDNESDAY 12th NOVEMBER
It has been decided to protest outside Huddersfield Town Hall next Wednesday 12th Nov from 4pm before the council meeting starts. If you are able to then please come along to support us.

Mirfield Free Grammar, Birkdale High and Birkenshaw parents are all giving deputations at the meeting and it was felt that someone from REACH should give another deputation. I will let you know the final decision on this as soon as it is made. Please let me know if you have any thoughts about this (or anything else!).

NEXT REACH MEETING THURSDAY 13th NOVEMBER - RAVENSTHORPE COMMUNITY CENTRE 7pm
The next REACH meeting is Thursday 13th November at 7pm at Ravensthorpe Community Centre.

REACH END OF CONSULTATION FAYRE - CASTLE HALL SCHOOL - SATURDAY 15th NOV 10am - 1pm
We are holding a fayre for all the family to enjoy on the Saturday following the end of the consultation. I will send a separate email out regarding this as there is quite a lot to arrange and not a lot of time to do it!! (sorry)

Thank you all again for all the hard work, time and effort you are putting into this fight. We do firmly believe we can will this, we just need to keep going!

If anyone has any information that they think would be useful to send out to the group please send it in and we will forward it around.

Many Thanks,

Karen xx