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At summer schools and sports camps, 315 Formentera children in Council programmes this summer

Foto escola estiuThe Formentera Council's Office of Youth Services has reported on the start of the 2017 Escola d'Estiu, the summer learning programme held at the island's three public primary schools (Mestre Lluís Andreu, Sant Ferran and la Mola). One-hundred seventy children are enrolled in the programme, which is run by a staff of 21 youth workers and one head director.

Activities are devised for children aged 3 to 14 (born between 2003 and 2013). The programme unfolds weekdays in July and August from 9.00am to 2.00pm with early start available from 8.00am. The assorted activities programme will focus alternately on arts and crafts, fitness, games, music, dance, theatre and cooking. There will also be field trips to the beach and other outings like swimming.

The goal, says social welfare and youth services councillor Vanessa Parellada, is to create “a fun and educational space where children can spend summer and learn how to make productive use of their free time”. She also pointed to the importance, particularly on Formentera, “of being able to offer a resource for parents juggling work and family”.

Sports camps
The Council's Office of Sport is piloting two sports camps as a summertime option for young people. One of the two, synchronised swimming, is geared toward children born between 2003 and 2012. The 103 registered youth will get a taste of acrobatic gymnastics, cognitive and physical development, dance, theatre and synchronised swimming. The programme, which runs through summer's end, is managed by eight staffers and one volunteer.

The second of the two Council-backed summer programmes is an athletics camp. Forty-two children aged three to six will explore a host of topics, including cognitive and physical development, crafts, swimming for leisure, healthy habits and art. Classes, which began earlier this week, end on August 31 and are overseen by four staffers and one health and safety assistant.

With wildfire in Cala Saona contained, fire brigade sets sights on dampening surrounding area

feines bomber incendi cala saona juliolFormentera firefighters continue working today to control the forest fire that began yesterday shortly after 4.00pm in Cala Saona, es Cap de Barbaria. From the first site of flames till 2.00am the following morning, seven firemen with two fire engines and two pick-ups toiled to put out the blaze. Two men took the reins after that and carried on till 9.00am, when four more took up the charge.

Having earlier declared the blaze to be stabilised, the two agencies responsible for coordinating fire control efforts—the Balearic institute of nature (Ibanat) and the Govern balear's ministry of environment—reported the blaze controlled at 11.30pm. In the process they deployed five planes, three helicopters, one fire engine, 17 firefighters, two environmental agents and two staff specialists. From Betera, València, members of Spain's military emergency unit (UME) arrived as twilight approached.

In total, 10.2 hectares were affected by the flames, which crews will continue soaking this morning and in the coming hours and days. On the scene this morning are the firefighting chief, four Eivissa and three Formentera wildland firefighters, four Formentera firefighters and nineteen UME operators. The UME, in addition to an environmental agent and an urgent response staffer, has at its disposal three fire engines.

Formentera Council chairman Jaume Ferrer as well as the chief of staff of Mr Ferrer's office, Bartomeu Escandell, and environment councillor Daisee Aguilera visited ground zero of the scene yesterday afternoon. Escandell returned there today and thanked crews—including 15 volunteers from the civil protection league, local police, Guardia Civil and other emergency response teams—for their work. Another wildfire struck the area on May 20 and scorched 14 hectares of forest. The Civil Guard is leading an investigation into the cause of the incident.

Administration celebrates ten years of local government

The Formentera Council president's office reports today on upcoming plans to celebrate ten years in government. At 8.00pm on Monday, July 10, the administration will stage a commemorative ceremony in the plenary hall of the island's care centre for dependent persons. Council chair Jaume Ferrer invited the entire island to come out for what he called “a tenth-anniversary event and a look back at how we got started and where we've been in ten years”.

Attendees will hear from former mayor Isidor Torres, the man who helmed Formentera's Ajuntament (a representative body later replaced by the locally-run Consell, or "council") as well as the Formentera official who presided over that period of administrative overhaul, Pep Mayans, and the current Council's first chairman, Jaume Ferrer. The event will include musical entertainment from Aires Formenterencs and refreshments.

The Formentera Council was incorporated on July 10, 2007, forty-five days after islanders cast their ballots in a May 27 election. Another milestone that year was the March 1 publication of Spain's official bulletin, the BOE. Appearing in the bulletin was an updated version of a regional document known as the Estatut (“statute”) of the Balearic Islands, which split the Formentera Council and the Eivissa Council into two distinct entities. The previous version of the Balearic statute, issued in 1983, had created one single council to govern both islands.

Help for sports and athletes groups on Formentera

Basquet3The Formentera Council Office of Sport has announced they have begun accepting applications for grant money as part of Esports 2017, a programme to fund local clubs and associations oriented around sport. The aim is to help associations promote and carry out seasonal activities (assistance with sign-ups and membership documentation, trainer costs, equipment, etc.) and ensure their economic viability by proposing mediation and counsel in areas such as business administration.

The deadline on applications is July 17. More information, plus application forms, can be found at the Formentera Council website and at esportesmes.org. Esports 2017 is a €74,000 programme that is funded by the Council. The administration issued the call for applications earlier than in years past in an effort to guarantee that this year advance payouts—an anticipated 50% of the total—are sent before the start of the 2017/2018 season.

Other assistance
Also being accepted are applications for support for young sportswomen and men and their trainers (applicants and aides must be participants in the support programme for under-18 athletes). That funding was unlocked thanks to a deal with Fundació per a l'Esport Balear.

Thirteen thousand euros in grant money is available and recipients are selected based on a series of factors in a process that is overseen by a committee formed by representatives from both the Formentera Council and Fundació per a l'Esport Balear. The deadline on those applications is July 17 and all the details can be found on the CiF website and at esportesmes.org.

Next year, Formentera's 'escoletes' will provide preschool care to 125 children

EscoletaAccording to the Formentera Council's education office, the island's two nurseries, or escoletes, have the resources available to give 125 children early-childhood care. Together, the pair, Sa Miranda and the Escoleta del Camí Vell (“the nursery on the old road” to la Mola), have announced their potential to take in 52 new pupils this autumn. The task of caring for the children falls to 16 instructors at the two schools, a sign, chief of education Susana Labrador said,  “of the Council's serious commitment to Formentera families”.

In 2017-2018, Sa Miranda will comprise seven groups—one for newborns (children born in 2017), three for one- and two-year-olds (infants, born in 2016) and three for two- and three-year-olds (toddlers, born in 2015). Eleven educators will be responsible for the school's 98 pupils and at least one aide will oversee children with special needs.

At Camí Vell there will be two groups, infants and toddlers, and overall capacity for 30. Next year, with three spaces in the toddlers' group left unfilled, the school expects to have a total of 27 pupils. Three people steer instruction at Camí Vell.

The two schools follow similar approaches and staff from the centres meet weekly to coordinate instruction. They also share a kitchen, and a cook and kitchen assistant in charge of daily meals.

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