James Peacock Plummets in Ofsted Ratings

James Peacock Infant and Nursery School had a two-day inspection last month under Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework (EIF), introduced in September 2019. It concluded that the Ruddington school has fallen from being ‘Outstanding’ (in 2010) down to ‘Requires improvement’ in every category – as shown below from its Ofsted school report. Ofsted ratings are: (1) Outstanding; (2) Good; (3) Requires Improvement; or (4) Inadequate. The report states that, until recently, there’s been both a lack of leadership at the school and with its Governing Body which led to “a period of…

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COVID-19 Rife Again in Ruddington!

With the horrendous situation in Ukraine dominating the news agenda at the moment, the ongoing issue of the Coronavirus pandemic is perhaps understandably no longer at the forefront of villagers’ minds. In the last couple of months alone, the Government (in England) has dispensed with the mandatory wearing of face coverings in most public settings, withdrawn ‘contact tracing’ and removed the legal requirement for us to take tests or self-isolate. Then, just last week, as it continues its plan for ‘Living with COVID-19’, even the need for taking COVID tests…

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The Award Winning Bottle Top

When Glyn Thomas’s much loved Greengrocers closed its doors in 2018, locals feared the heart and been ripped out of Ruddington and that our village centre would never be the same again. It was clear that a shop dedicated solely to selling fresh fruit and vegetables may no longer be viable, nevertheless 2, High Street has now become a new hub of the community thanks to the vision of husband and wife team Anthony and Alex Preston. Together they brought to Ruddington a brand new business called The Bottle Top, which opened on May…

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Britmask Has it Covered

Whilst the UK’s Coronavirus vaccination programme has allowed a significant easing of restrictions since the COVID-19  pandemic hit Ruddington early in 2020, including the recent removal of temporary ‘Plan B’ rules imposed after fears about the ‘Omicron’ variant, the wish to continue keeping ourselves and others safe has made wearing face coverings in certain public places a ‘new normal’ in our everyday lives. Concerns about the environment have also led many of us to dump disposable face masks in favour of more comfortable, washable alternatives which we can use again and…

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COVID-19 Jabs Reach Ruddington!

Whilst it’s over a year since the first COVID-19 vaccinations started to be rolled out in England, village residents have been forced to travel further afield to get our jabs – until now! The good news is that the first ever vaccinations against the Coronavirus to be administered here in Ruddington were given to patients at Ruddington Medical Centre just before Christmas.  Better still, regular opportunities will begin this week at Evans Pharmacy – meaning most villagers won’t need to head off to larger vaccination centres or other pharmacies to receive…

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Have Your Say on Ruddington Doctors’ Surgery

There’s a consultation meeting this month for patients registered at Church House Surgery in Ruddington. In light of the ongoing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, the owners of the Shaw Street practice say they will be reviewing how to offer patients “best use of its resources to provide the best possible healthcare”. The Village Health Group wants to hear your views about the services it runs in Ruddington. It says: “We genuinely want to consider together with our patients where we are as a practice at this stage of the pandemic and having…

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Free School Holiday Meals to Continue

Ruddington’s schools are welcoming the announcement by Nottinghamshire County Council that it will continue to fund Free School Meals for the October half-term and over two weeks at Christmas. This means that village schoolchildren will be among more than 25,000 across the county who will receive 250,000 meals during the October break. Councillor Tracey Taylor, chairman of Children and Young People’s Committee, says that the Council recognised the cost of living challenges were impacting on large numbers of people and was grateful to receive the funding to continue the support until…

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August RuddFest Confirmed

Ruddington’s much loved annual Beer and Cider Festival, which was cancelled completely in 2020 due to COVID-19, will go ahead this year – at the end of this month! In February, a decision was made to push back further the 3rd-6th June dates originally considered for RuddFest 2021 because some Coronavirus restrictions in England would still be in force. Organisers have now confirmed it’s taking place in our village from Thursday 26th August to Sunday 29th August – less than three weeks’ away. Once again the main organisers are The Three Crowns, The White Horse Inn…

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Rushcliffe’s 5k Parkrun Returns

Ruddington welcomed the return of its weekly 5k Parkrun for adults this morning (Saturday 24th July) after an unprecedented sixteen month gap. It was suspended back in March 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic so participants today were clearly keen to get their running shoes and high-vis back on! Whilst Rushcliffe Junior Parkrun had already resumed on Sunday mornings, for 4 to 10 year-olds, in April, Parkrun UK decided to wait for a further lifting of Coronavirus restrictions before restarting the timed run for the grown-ups on Saturday mornings. Both events remain FREE to…

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Cash Help at The Hermitage

Whilst most of the remaining Coronavirus restrictions in our village were eased this week (July 19th) the loss of income these have inflicted on many Ruddington families over the past sixteen months will continue to be felt for some time yet. To help residents avoid the post-COVID economic chill, St Peter’s Church is to run FREE sessions to help local people get on top of their household finances. Members of St Peter’s decided they wanted to help their local community to best handle the changing economic climate, so underwent specialised training…

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