Parents, staff and pupils unite against forced academisation as teachers strike again

Press release from Brent ATL and NUT

Today teachers and support staff again reluctantly too strike action at St Andrew and St Francis CofE Primary in Belton Rd, Willesden, Brent against the school being forced to become an academy. They were joined on the picket line by parents and children. Two ‘Fat Cats’ informed the crowd that they were hoping to makes ‘loadsa money’ from schools like this when education was privatised. They were resoundingly booed. Union speakers made the point that if as the Interim Executive Board was saying that nothing was going to change what other reason could there be for converting. Messages of support were read out from around the country.

Irene Scorer, parent, thanked staff and parents for supporting the action. She announced that parents had organised another open meeting for next Thursday 30^th at 7.00 pm at St Andrew’s Church and urged them to spread the word among other parents. .  

The parents are demanding an independently overseen ballot with full information of the arguments for and against an academy.  Hank Roberts on behalf of the unions said that action planned for next week could still be called off if the IEB only agreed to this ballot.

After the picket the crowd marched along Willesden High Rd to Dawn Butler’s campaign headquarters. She is the prospective Labour candidate in the general election. Though the office was closed a group of parents were aiming to show Dawn Butler their petition against the academy and urge her to publicly support the independent ballot.