Copland teachers stage unprecedented 5th strike against forced academisation

Copland Community School teaching unions remain solid in their determination to stop the ARK academy chain taking over their school in Wembley. They will be taking an unprecedented fifth day of strike action tomorrow (14^th January). The IEB continue to refuse to take part in any negotiations let alone even reply to communications from the Unions.

Hank Roberts, Immediate Past national President of ATL said:

The IEB have yet to respond to an offer of further talks nor even yet able to respond to staff and parents demand to be given a proposed timetable for the proposed conversion! The massive strength of feeling is because staff know that this is really about privatisation and Gove intends to allow those running academies like ARK to make profit out of state education. Their intention is to impose a third world education system in England.

Our intention is to continue and increase the level of resistance to stop them.

 Tom Stone, Acting NASUWT Brent Secretary said:

Copland staff are showing amazing tenacity in continuing to be prepared to stand up for their school by taking yet another day of strike action. The NASUWT fully supports members taking action at any school where management try to impose academisation.

Jean Roberts, Joint Brent Teachers Association Secretary said:

By standing firm staff have won on a collective grievance over job titles and also, through the threat of further strike action, the threat of compulsory redundancies for teachers has been withdrawn. At the well attended joint unions meeting last week staff were up beat and fully behind the campaign to defeat ARK. Just today there were revelations in The Guardian after freedom of information requests showed taxpayer-funded academy chains have paid millions of pounds into the private businesses of directors, trustees and their relatives.

Leaflets will be handed out today outside Copland for pupils to take home to parents explaining why the action is taking place. This leaflet from the school’s anti academy working party has been translated into the most common languages used by pupils. 

This has not been done for any letters sent out by the IEB.

There will be a mass picket outside the school from 7.30 am tomorrow until 9.00 and then there will be a letter writing session to the local councillors and MPs. There will also be discussion on what further action will take place to further the campaign.

Birbalsingh Free School not welcome in Brent say teacher unions

Following my story just before Christmas on Michael Gove's controversial friend Katherine Birbalsingh's announcement  that  she has acquired a secondary  free school site in Wembley Park LINK, Brent teacher unions have issued the following joint statement:

Katherine Birbalsingh

The joint teachers' unions in Brent are very concerned that Katharine Birbalsingh, having failed to get premises first in Lambeth and then in Wandsworth due to parents, teachers and the community campaigning against, is aiming to open her 'free school' the 'Michaela community school' in the Wembley Park area.

It is uncertain where the proposed site is and there is little information on her website as to consultation with the community with the promised meetings for parents not advertised. Birbalsingh has said that ICT would not be taught at her school because the emphasis would be on maths, English and foreign languages, not skills. Birbalsingh has already been accused of wasting taxpayers' money by parents and teachers in Lambeth and Wandsworth. Each time money has been spent on PR, consultants, website design, leaflets and letters, hire of halls for public meetings, etc. The Department for Education have refused to give the information on how much has been spent saying that this information will be given when the school opens in September 2013! She has even appointed herself as the 'headmistress' according to the website – appointed by whom?

Michael Gove

 Jean Roberts, BTA Secretary said,:

Planning for school places has to be done in collaboration with the local community. Putting this school in the Wembley Park area will directly compete with our existing local schools, including the ARK academy, Preston Manor, Copland, Wembley High and the Crest academies (who are currently building new schools with increased capacity) and it is not where the shortage of school place are.
Evidence from ‘free’ schools has shown that they lead to increased social segregation, lower attainment and the Breckland Free school in Suffolk is the first being run for profit with more to come. These are not the kind of schools that will improve the attainment of any pupils except those she decides to 'select'. The free school movement is part of the plan to privatise our services and will worsen education. We will campaign strongly against such a school.

Shane Johnschwager, NASUWT Branch Secretary and National Executive Member said:

Brent schools are in the top 10 per cent in the country. This was achieved through the collaborative community approach to state education that Free School’s seek to undermine. All those who live in and send their kids to school in Brent because of traditional Brent Values should oppose this school..

Hank Roberts, ATL Branch Secretary and National President said:

We should pay serious attention to the fact that Birbalsingh and her proposals have been rejected by two communities in South London. Now she is trying it in North West London. We in Brent need to send her packing too.