"Our merry band of three riders began our day with a tremendous welcome from Westcott Forest School. If the confident, happy faces of the children waving a ‘Welcome to Westcott’ was anything to go by, then Forest Schools are doing a great job. Questions flowed as the children led me into the “forest” where the promise of a ‘monster’ did not seem to arouse fear! The ‘Forest’ is a delightfully secret little overgrown area where the children (helped by staff and volunteer parents) have cleared some of the undergrowth, sawn down unwanted branches, uncovered a watery dell, made camp-fires and generally learnt about managing nature in a safe way that is kind to the environment and has a lot of fun thrown in. This makes learning a real adventure. Their enthusiasm is plain to see. The school, under the guidance of their headmaster, Barry Grace, is poised to take pupils up to secondary level - a clear endorsement of their success. The facilities the school offers are there to be shared with others and, thanks to real interaction with the community, a cheque was presented during my visit which would add a useful changing shed and more equipment to those facilities.
Leaving Westcott, we traversed the splendidly wooded slopes around Waddesdon Manor and continued along the beautiful Thame valley to Hartwell House, Fred Pooley’s iconic County Hall always dominating the horizon. His concrete elevation rising above the Vale has always attracted controversy but, whatever its faults, it doesn’t intrude on the peace of the fields and hedgerows through which we passed. It is fervently to be hoped that an elevated High speed train will not destroy the tranquillity of this part of the Vale. The network of footpaths and bridleways that weave their way along the Thame Valley to form the Mid Shires Way would cease to be paths of contemplation, their patterns rudely interrupted – or vanish completely.
The train that we did encounter between Bishopstone and Stoke Mandeville chugged comfortingly and seemed at one with its surroundings. The last half mile of our journey to the new PACE centre was along the A4010 – a busy enough road to warrant a little help from local Community Police Officers. Imagine our delight when we found them waiting for us as we emerged from Marsh Lane, more or less according to schedule. Thanks to them, we were able to make a safe – and I suspect unusual – entry into the old, disused garage site out of which will arise phoenix like a new Early Years Centre for PACE.
Founded in 1990, the Centre has grown in excellence and expertise in its support for children and young people with Cerebral Palsey. This is their most ambitious project but, as Chief Executive Amanda Richardson explains, Early Intervention is critical for young children with this type of disability and it will enable PACE to provide a state of the art facility on one site for both children and their parents.
Their first priority is to be able to establish these Early Years classrooms by September 2013. But the site is large enough to accommodate much needed training to practitioners of the clinical and educational expertise PACE has developed, as well as enhanced training facilities for young adults leaving education and learning to be independent. Rome wasn’t built in a day and these plans will take considerable fund raising efforts over the next four years. PACE has regular Visitor Days. If you would like to learn more about their work, contact 01296 392923 and/or http://www.thepacecentre.org/
Buckinghamshire is lucky to have such dedicated expertise in our midst. Their reputation is such that families seek out this expertise from well outside the county. It is wonderful to be able to see this prominent site on the Wendover Road house such a beacon of excellence."
If you go to Westcott School's website you'll notice that The High Sheriff had made their front page! http://www.westcott.bucks.sch.uk/
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