(And a reply? Priceless)
Guest blog by 'Elvin Impersonator'
Meanwhile at Copland a
‘special meeting’ for staff has been called next week to introduce the new
school uniform. Whether this will be the students’ uniform or the one the
teachers will have to wear (shiny estate agents suits, gel, blusher etc) has
not been made clear. Early booking recommended.
Guest blog by 'Elvin Impersonator'
On Wednesday this week letters were
sent to Brent Council nominating, under the provisions of the Localism Act
2011, the extensive green space of Copland’s playing fields as an ‘asset of
community value’. The Act requires local authorities to maintain a list of
sites and amenities which are used by the public and are part of local life.
The letters were signed by representatives of local residents and Copland staff
and students.
When it came to posting the letters,
however, the bill came to £25.60, or £6.40 per letter, extortionate even by
privatisation standards. Why so much? Well it’s the price of experience really.
Last year Brent claimed to have no knowledge of a petition posted to them by
first class post and signed by hundreds of Copland students opposing the forced
academisation of their school. As a result, another petition opposing the Ark
takeover was signed by over 400 students and copies posted to all 63 Brent
councillors. Again it appears that up to 60 of these must have been lost in the
post as replies were received from only three of our elected representatives.
Dozens of additional letters written on the subject and sent to those looking
for our votes on May 22nd have similarly met with no response whatsoever. As a
result it was decided this time to utilise the Post Office service which
registers the sending of the letter and effectively tracks it to its recipient.
But at a cost.
Whether it was a price worth paying
will soon become clear. But if Brent Labour, Lib Dems and Conservatives had sat
down and tried to plan how to alienate this group of ordinary voters and drive
them into the arms of Farage and the Fruitcakes, they couldn’t have done a
better job than they’re doing already. Interesting to see whether the strategy
changes over the next few weeks.
27 comments:
Brilliant Idea
The grounds of Copland can't just be given away to developers.
Hats Off the Copland teachers.
Big raspberry for current Brent Councillors in voting through the recommendation Ark Academy take over Copland
Isn't it a councillor's job to represent the people in their community? These people are cowards not leaders. I sincerely hope the information in these letters is absorbed and acted upon by those in a position to make such valuable decisions. Thank you to the teachers of Copland for fighting for the futures of our children.
NEW ACADEMY CROOKS INSPIRED BY OLD COPLAND MANAGEMENT METHODS?
‘We found that a number of the appointed head office staff were family members of either trustees or senior members of staff," says the report. There had been no "competition or advertising" of the posts, which included a director of communication at a salary of £70,000 per year plus benefits.It also queries £20,000 for a "research trip" to New York, £915 on printing Christmas cards and more than £600 for customised umbrellas. "It is questionable if this was the best use of public funds," says the report (!). Sound familiar at all? It’s from a report into the Academy chain EFT by the Education Funding Agency BBC NEWS WEBSITE 1/5/2014
Best £6.40 spent if it gets them to listen. Would they send their children to a school operating purely to make a profit?
It seems clear that people do not want Copland to become an Academy. People should be allowed to vote on it.
Brent councillors are supposed to represent the people who live here. They simply represent themselves and billionaires like those behind ARK. I have no doubt that Brent Council's lawyers will dismiss this request. Brent councillors may have legal right on their side but we have moral right on ours. We might launch a legal challenge and win. They could never launch a moral challenge and win. Individual councillors have a moral duty to stand up for the children, parents and staff of Copland School who clearly do not want ARK. Stop telling us that you know someone who wants an academy. If Councillors Butt and Pavey really think parents or students agree with them then let them vote and let the residents who live near Copland vote.
The public should have a say in what happens to something they own. Especially when someone else is about to make money from it.
Simple solution, VOTE THEM ALL OUT ON 22 May.
Vote in only NEW BLOOD
Why do we call Copland Community School if we are going to ignore concerns raised by the parent's and local community.
It is astonishing
So that's where the 'Copland 6' have been. But no free jollies to India for local council bigwigs? Standards are slipping.
If all other attempts at communication are met with failure, I've heard that attaching the message by string to a large and heavy piece of masonry has been known to yield results.
It's an old trick but it might just work.
I.P what you mean!
If the IEB is trying to help Brent donate peoples and schools land to a charity known for selling other schools land. What is in for the IEB and for Brent? They think people do not read, think, act and remember. Soon enough, Ark's ideology will show that they do not care for black, Asian, and all of the diverse communities. Read and find out more about ark, I am black and I recognize that ark do not like us at all. There are few black teachers, they teach about perfect race, they have nation wide campaigs to encourage black minorities not to get pregnant, as if it is un natural. Why they dont have the same campaign in wealthy areas? Their charity status does not requires them to teach to our kids, and because they are known for their spoon feeding, factory like educational model, our kids will be in disadvantage.
Making a change does not have to be big, awareness of what is going on around us, and thinking in our children is enough. Fight for our green space, fight for our freedom, fight because we matter.
A small change and pressure towards our elected politicians to carryout what we want is very easy. Les spread the word, lets support that letter, lets make it count with a small action, and awareness.
Do not believe that a school is bad, this is a direct criticisms because our kids are not bad, we love them and expect the best of them.
Is NEW BLOOD some mystical earth/soil/racial purity wing of UKIP that I haven't yet heard of? I certainly haven't had their leaflet through my door yet. Can they give me a lift to the polling station?
I'm giving my full support to all the teaching staff at copeland school in wembley as I would support schools anywhere in the country. Education is seriously important to have, we the ordinary people can't let any government run the education boards into the ground with the lack of proper funding. Without schools or libraries, how does the government expect children to get decent school exams or university degrees
I support all teaching staff at copeland
No former eton college public school boys that are now working for government in white hall will dare try to enforce major changes on schools that's designed to mess things up. Remember Mr Gove you have an election coming up very soon. You would be out of your cosy office job if you don't change the governments education policy. Other political parties would face the very same fate...so please minister gove, Do your job properly
i like the comment above about the libraries. another thing that is happening at Copland is that the school libraries are being run down. could anyone from the council let us know your opinion on that. you seem to think that all the changes are for the better. do children from brent not deserve books, do they not deserve playing fields. does eton school still have a properly functioning libraries? does it still have its playing fields?
I love the sentiments expressed in the simple solution above. it is true in a way. almost everyone i know wants to get rid of all our current politicians. this is no democracy, does anyone imagine that the Queen or those from ARK who plan to make a profit out of Copland will be sitting nervously on the night before the general election wondering if David Cameron and Nick Clegg will be ousted by Ed Milliband? The billionaires of this country have a system that allows one of their 3 big parties to make the government. no-one else currently has a chance coz the billionaires use all their money to support those 3.
The playing fields at Copland are a precious green space in a very crowded and built up area. The Council should canvass local views on this carefully before it is built on. Once developed it's not going to revert back to grass and trees.
As a Sudbury Independent Candidate I call for a Judicial Review.
Copland school could be developed for the benefit of Brent young people and not developers.
Few people initially realize the high rise proposal for Copland, that the community did not want back in 2006 has just been resurrected by Brent Labour.
Only vote for those who oppose an Ark takeover.
I oppose an Ark takeover and call for a Judicial Review and scrapping of the new plans for high rise on Copland
Toby Chambers
Sudbury Independent Candidate
Brent labour council should be ashamed of themselves ignoring copland campaigners like this when they should be on the picket lines and Demos leading the fight against privatising education. Brent trade union and socialist candidates in harlesden, preston, dudden Hill and Kilburn are pledged to fight academisation along with all other cuts and privatisation. ....vote TUSC on May 22ND
A cheeky plug for TUSC but see this blog for how Brent Greens have been solidly campaigning on this issue since Wembley Matters began.
I'm so used to not voting that I probably won't this time either. As far as I'm concerned elections in this country are a bit like Christmas lights in that we have them every year but they're not very illuminating. They tell us nothing about what ordinary people really think for the 3 big parties have the billionaires with their billions of pounds behind them. Having said that i do think the Martin and the Green Party has given us a lot of support. Then again so has TUSC. The Green Party and TUSC have turned up to our picket lines and to our public meeting. We have also got support from Toby Chambers who is standing as an independent and then there are 2 Liberal Democrats who have supported us too (Mark Cummins and Dhiraj Kataria).
Brent councillors should be ashamed of themselves for not having playing fields inside the grounds of copeland school. Children at that school deserve proper area on school grounds for PE activity. The NHS are wasting billions every year on patients with over weight problems. It's very important of people of all ages including children too be physically fit at all times.not just copeland school, but all schools. It's pointless do government to promote a healthy lifestyle for all...and yet half or most of the county's schools sporting areas are almost not there. Message for the con-den government is that you shouldn't contradict yourselves as it makes you all look very stupid. People are smart, even those like myself that left school without a GCSE or A-Level exams. I invested my time and money in books over the past 20 years and now have a mindset like a person with a PhD qualifications... As I said the people are not STUPID.
It is absolutely appalling that those who are supposed to represent the people of Brent and have their best interests at heart, are so easily able to ignore and discount their strong feelings of discontent. The 6 numerous Anti-Academy strikes taken by myself and other teachers at Copland (not forgetting the students) gives clear testimony to the fact that teachers, students, parents and the community alike, oppose this move. It is totally absurd that Councillors like Butt and Pavey play blind to this fact and continue to pursue their own political interests for their own self-gain! Councillors, let me tell you, this is not a game, you are seriously messing around with the future of our students!
Surely the students of Copland deserve better... For so long, their learning needs have been ignored by fiddled and corrupt finances, the school library being shut at most break times, lunchtimes and after school when they need it most, the mentoring department being dissolved, and now in its 3rd round, another wave of teacher redundancies pushing good qualified and highly competent staff, out of the door.
Yet those in School Management and the IEB, and more so the Councillor's and MP's in power, repeatedly claim that "they are here for the students" and that their priority is "to achieve the best outcome for these young people". Pity their theory does not match what they are doing in practice! This is simply another fine echo of the richer getting richer and the poorer getting poorer. Pull the ladder up Jack!
Perhaps we should go back to the old Labour saying: "Education, education, education", after all, isn't that why we are all here - to give the students of Copland the best possible start in life that they so much deserve?
If Councillors Butt and Pavey do not quickly wake up to this fact, it will be too late to save the children at Copland. Once again, we all urge them both to "do the right thing" and keep Copland a Community School away from the private hands of the Ark Academies. Otherwise when things do go terribly wrong, and they will, make sure that they are around to look the students, their parents, and the teachers in the eyes and explain why they had let them down so badly and why their life-chances have come tumbling down to a ruin!
One would expect the Brent Council and the councillors to stand for the rights of students and staff at Copland. Surely forcing the school to spent a lot of money on postage alone just to gain the attention of the councillors is absurd. I really hope that they will take seriously the issues being raised by the staff and students at Copland.
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