Staff of Byron Court Primary School in Brent will be striking against forced academisation on Friday May 17th. This is the first of a series of strikes that will take place in May and June against the takeover of this community school by the Harris Federation.
The National Education Union have asked for support on their picket line protest from 7.30am to 9am at the school in Spencer Road near South Kenton station.
9 comments:
Sadly the Ofsted Inspection Report covered 6 areas of the schools performance. For each of the 6 the conclusion was INADEQUATE.
The implication of this are that children at this school are not receiving the quality of education they need and deserve - and this should be the over riding priority.
Complaining about the Ofsted process and trying to hide or cover up the problem will not deliver the prime objective - a good education for the 800+ pupils attending this school.
The strike action will not help the school or the children either. There is a desperate and urgent need for change and effective Leadership to turn the school around.
This is not the time for sentimental navel gazing. Byron Primary School requires New Leadership and New Management to improve the quality of teaching and behaviour at this school.
Local (Brent Council) Education control has clearly contributed to these problems. The school was excellent 12 years ago when it had 2 or 3 forms of entry. It is Inadequate now after it was forced to expand to 5 forms of entry - one of the largest Primary School in Brent.
The Harris Academy Trust manage over 50 schools - primary, secondary and 6 forms. The question parents should be asking is not what is in the Brent teachers Union's leaflet but how many of these schools are INADEQUATE?
Agree with the above comment. None of this is focuser on the education of the children. You would think that once a school receives an inadequate rating, there would be some reflection, a little contrition and an attitude to do better. There's no point telling children to have a growth mindset if the teachers themselves are unwilling to take responsibility. No point ignoring the facts. What's the point of delaying and leaving the children with a poor education. It's a fact that the majority of Harris schools are good or outstanding.
The school has been without a Headmaster for over a year and progress was being made by the interim Headmaster. The school was expanded years ago to push through the academy so let's not pretend this is not the reason for the inadequate status. Just another form of Privatisation from this corrupt Government.
Despite the draconian laws they have tried tirelessly to bring in, if you have a lawful ballot you then have the Legal right to strike. This is not taken lightly by staff as they will loose pay but it is a last resort of desperation to save the school. And as for Harris being such a great academy, why is there so many complaints about them and why are 1000 staff members taking action because they are not being paid? Hopefully you don't have a child who has SEND because they have no time for them either
Wake up people.
Why does Ofsted say in every report that SEND pupils do well at Harris schools? The majority of schools are in disadvantaged areas and yet great results. How is that worse than the current status quo of a failing school with an inadequate education and poor results. If Ofsted is fixed, why did everyone other school get good results. What is the reason for this one being an exception. By this logic, every LA school should get a poor ofsted to become an academy. Except they didn't. It's not good enough. That's why they are changing. To give children the education they deserve.
Reply received to 15th May 19.10:
Most parents don't feel that our children are getting a 'failed education'! Anyone can see the school clearly has gone through a turbulent time - 4 acting or perm Headteachers in 4.5 years, significant churn in governing body - so a period of stability is needed to make improvements and progress. What Ofsted and the DfE have done is ignore any of this important context, make a decision that will forever change everything about the school based on a 2 day inspection (despite serious staff concerns around the process and minimal parental input), creating huge uncertainty and anxiety in the process. The school has made significant progress in the last few months, including getting more members in senior leadership and Jon Parry (experienced Head of Uxendon Primary) closely overseeing things in an Exec Head role. It is only right and fair that the school be given time to continue making improvements, for Ofsted to recognise this by way of a reinspection, and a chance for Byron Court to remain a community school
Reply received to 15 May 23.04:
as a Byron parent who regularly speaks with lots of the staff, I've not heard a single one deny that some things need to be improved. However many of them have serious concerns with Ofsted’s inspection process not being fair, balanced, supportive or accurate; indeed a complaint highlighting these concerns was submitted but not yet fully dealt with. In the meantime, the Govt are forcing the school to change forever beyond recognition without any say from parents and the community - if they are so confident in Harris Fed and academies broadly, why don't they give us a say?
The same Harris Fed setup by a Tory donor and Lord? The same Harris Fed that is benefitting from sweeping up schools outside of their main South London base?
Hi all, I found this academic article useful in putting the academies and MAT issue in perspective. I recoemmnd without endorsing every word.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13632434.2022.2095996
If all 6 areas of the school were found to be inadequate by ofsted why were the council leaders and the local council not aware of these failings before this???
Our college which basically does arts and craft courses for old codgers has been doing 'deep dives' into how it's being run for months now as they are aware they could be inspected by ofsted at any time.
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